Marvel hero Daredevil has returned to the small screen through the form of “Daredevil: Born Again” on Disney+ after the original series, “Daredevil,” was cancelled over seven years ago. Struggling to live up to the hype of the first series, Marvel faced many challenges with bringing the “man without fear” back in a meaningful way.
Several months into production, Marvel executives were displeased with the direction of the show and enacted a creative overhaul. A new team began working on the show, creating an amalgamation of new and old footage. Episodes one, eight and nine were fully done by the new team. A goal of this team was to connect the series more to its predecessor. Because of this, the episodes display a lack of coherence, sometimes making it very clear that two separate teams worked on the show.
Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/Matt Murdock is accompanied by a cast of characters that continuously lack depth, especially compared to that of the original series – which was sprawling with side stories. Though new scenes were added to show Murdock acknowledge just how inauthentic his new life feels, this self awareness doesn’t make prior scenes any better. Many side characters from the original series are either quickly written off or entirely absent with no explanation.
On the other hand, Vincent D’Onofrio’s return as Kingpin has much more compelling side characters. They represent just how different his life is as he transitions from being a crime boss to the Mayor of New York City.
Though it’s common for Daredevil stories to highlight the dichotomy between the protagonist being a vigilante and lawyer, the antagonists typically evade the realm of law. Borrowing from Chip Zdarsky’s run on the characters, Kingpin becoming mayor doesn’t immediately lead to supreme power, but endless bounds of red tape he’s never had to deal with before. Seeing him struggle to adapt to this new lifestyle was engaging and fresh.
Murdock’s episodes weren’t relegated to pure boredom as episode three, focusing on the “Trial of the White Tiger,” was a deeply touching story featuring the late Kamar de los Reyes. The episode delineated from the original story in Brian Michael Bendis’ popular “Daredevil” run, changing it so that Hector Ayala is on trial without the public knowing he’s a vigilante. The court drama focused episode featured plot points that no viewer could expect.
Though largely considered filler, episode five, focusing on a bank heist, felt like its own “Daredevil” short film, similar to a one-off issue in a comic book. It gave the series time to breathe and focus on side characters with more depth.
A largely anticipated aspect of the show was the return of John Bernthal’s Punisher – alongside his murderous violence and questioning of superhero ideals. He’s written extremely close to his old self, sarcastically attempting to debunk Daredevil’s morals and violent as ever.
The issue is when the show gears towards debunking “Punisher Cops” who in the real world, largely use the Punisher logo to support “Blue Lives Matter,” which was created in retaliation to “Black Lives Matter.” While the show is clearly anti-cop, it pulls its punches when it’s time for the Punisher himself to speak to officers wearing his logo.
Punisher goes on a rant, criticizing that these officers who wear his logo lack an understanding of his pain. This argument is flimsy because it almost implies that an understanding of said pain or trauma within the officers themselves would warrant the use of the symbol on their uniform. It was satisfying to see Punisher not hold back in violence against these characters. Still, there is a lack of deeper commentary on what the use of the symbol means for “Punisher Cops” themselves and not just their feelings for the vigilante. Though it is a partially understandable dilemma, since deconstructing the idea of “Punisher Cops” would inevitably mean deconstructing the Punisher himself.
While scenes featuring the Punisher were exclusively new footage, the handling of the new villain Muse is a prime example of the issues with conjoining two separate iterations of the same show. Originating in Charles Soule’s run on “Daredevil,” Muse is a serial killer who makes artwork with his victims’ blood. Early episodes show his murals slowly covering the city, with most of his art shown being done by real-world “Daredevil” artist David Mack. Muse is a complete mystery until episode seven, which was primarily pre-overhaul and the show lazily runs through his origin before writing him off. Though the new creatives obviously wanted to do more with him, they had to make use of what was already filmed.
On and off writing like this showcases just how “Daredevil: Born Again” is torn between the two identities of completely separate teams. One is stuck in the wet cement of the other, allowing neither to truly succeed. Hope remains, as season two is in production with the post-overhaul creative team in control from the start this time.
