Daredevil: Born Again: Review

There's no denying the opening episode of Disney+'s take on Daredevil is anything but devastating.

The first salvo of the nine sets up the proposition effectively and with a great deal of urgency and poignancy before flashing forward to Hell's Kitchen one year later.

Returning to the world of Matt Murdock is an easy feat and with this latest, no prior knowledge of the first two series of the Netflix show are truly necessary. With Murdock (a brilliant Charlie Cox) retiring the masked vigilante Daredevil, he decides to focus more on making a difference via the legal system rather than through fists and nighttime violence.

But when Wilson Fisk (a greatly restrained Vincent D'Onofrio) is elected mayor of New York - picking up a story thread from the miniseries Echo - he, like Murdock, seems determined to put his past behind him and repress his true nature.

However, the path to redemption for both is paved with temptations...

While the latest season of Daredevil deals with a lot of legacy and also a great extended feeling of set-up for a second part due to release in 2026, its storytelling is compelling, propulsive and engaging.

Essentially a tale of dealing with inner conflict, of grief and loss and of fighting with your true nature, Daredevil Born Again's 9 episode arc offers a gritty take on life in Hell's Kitchen, along with several contemporary parallels on police states, mayoral corruption and Trumpian values.

And while some of the action is brutal (and occasionally lacks some of the finesse of the CGI needed), the human side of the series shines through the darkness of the show as it progresses.

At times, it feels like a legal procedural with a case of the week vibe emerging from the second episode, but rather than falling back on lazy ideals, the show folds all of those elements into a wider arc about Murdock's disassociation with the world around him.

While Cox remains extremely watchable as the conflicted lawyer, the show's organic growth of its supporting characters helps to flesh out some of the narrative elements. It feels like it takes portions from the WB miniseries The Penguin in terms of the political manouevrings, but also manages to become its own.

Both D'Onofrio and Cox excel in their roles, as their characters orbit each other - and certainly it feels like Fisk has grown from his previous outings,and been shaped by some of the elements of Echo rather than having them cast to the wayside. But again, the strength of the show is that there's no need to be invested in the myriad of spinoff shows, this stands alone as its own piece.

Ultimately, Daredevil Born Again manages to shake off some of its foreshadowing edges and becomes an eminently watchable and human story about two people struggling with their legacies and their true natures. 

Daredevil Born Again launches on Disney+ on March 5.

9 out of 9 episodes in the show's first season were watched for the purpose of this review.