REVIEW: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Fails To Capture The Heights Of The Past

The original Daredevil series was a fantastic show that took a gritty, violent, grounded approach to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It placed the story in a world of Catholic guilt, corrupt cops, and government officials. Sure, there were missteps along the way, like much of Season 2 and also the entirety of Iron Fist. Still, there were plenty of reasons to be excited when it was announced that Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock would join the MCU with the new series Daredevil Born Again.

The series stars Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Wilson Bethel, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Ayelet Zurer, Jon Bernthal, Genneya Walton, and Michael Gandolfini. Unfortunately, the revival show fails to live up to its predecessor. Instead, it delivers a misguided season of television that loses what made the original Daredevil Netflix series good while feeling like a missed opportunity to integrate the character into this larger universe.

Created by Chris Ord & Matt Corman, Daredevil Born Again takes place a year after Matt Murdock has stopped being the titular vigilante, leaving behind past identities. He now believes that he can do more good as a lawyer at a bustling law firm, taking on cases like a man accused of murdering a cop. Meanwhile, former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is running for mayor of New York City, putting his life of crime behind him to pursue his own political endeavors and exert his power in public.

When it comes to the positives, it starts with these two characters. Even if they don’t share the screen that much, it feels great seeing Matt and Wilson together again, with the history between Daredevil and Kingpin giving them a unique dynamic that is sorely missing in the MCU. Likewise, the season’s more episodic structure means that there are some great standalone episodes — like one where Matt helps foil a bank robbery with the help of an unlikely MCU TV ally or one devoted to a murder trial.

Daredevil Born Again struggles because of its episodic structure.

However, the episodic structure also brings about some big issues. Unlike Netflix wherein you could just binge the entire season and get to the cool moments quickly, Disney+’s weekly release (with a couple of exceptions) makes it a chore to get through the story just waiting for the good stuff to happen.

Standalone episodes are individually good, but they don’t make for a coherent season of Marvel television, with rather little happening that advances the season’s arc. What’s more, entire characters and subplots become a huge deal for an episode or two, only to suddenly disappear to make room for the next thing that becomes the season’s focus. Except that only lasts for another episode or two, and it’s rinse and repeat.

At a time when audiences are starting to come back around to the importance and craft behind episodic television, Daredevil Born Again feels like the worst possible use of that format. It begs the question: How much of the pacing woes are because of the reported extended reshoots, and how much of the season’s flaws were there from the start? Ultimately, it is hard to tell. Still, when the best Marvel show becomes just another victim of the Marvel TV model — a hard-to-watch season with some exciting moments that lead nowhere — you have to wonder how much longer the studio can keep this up.

Possibly the most egregious problem with Born Again is how it often feels like the writers and producers are sanding off the original Netflix show. The Catholic themes that were so predominant in the Netflix version and gave the story a unique identity are mostly gone, or at least removed of specificity.

Sure, Matt feels a lot of guilt and rage as he usually does, but with not a single church or confession booth in sight. There’s not a mention of bible verses or anything related to religion; he’s just a sad white boy with no flavor. Even the fights, though handsomely choreographed and violent, happen relatively infrequently, leaving you with nothing to invest in.

Born Again just doesn’t know what to do with cops or White Tiger.

The one Netflix tradition Daredevil Born Again does continue is its weird relationship with cops. Born Again touches on dirty cops being inspired by Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and going rogue. However, as a plot point, that never gets addressed by more than a couple of comments.

Then we have the White Tiger portrayal. The first Latino superhero in Marvel Comics, Daredevil: Born Again introduces him to the MCU, and it is a colossal failure. Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes) is reduced to just a pebble on Matt’s road to becoming Daredevil again. White Tiger becomes a narrative tool for Matt Murdock.

This Puerto Rican character is only seen in a storyline about police brutality at a time when unarmed Latinos killed by cops make up 31% of the statistic but only represent 19% of the United States population. The fact that White Tiger is reduced to this at a time when federal agencies across the country are targeting Latinos feels like an Emilia Pérez-sized mistake — a description you can apply to much of the season.

With poor pacing, a lack of superheroics, and a really bad White Tiger storyline, Daredevil: Born Again feels like a wasted opportunity. Even if individual episodes work well, together they make for a disjointed season of television. At best, the show simply reminds you of how good the Netflix version was, at worst, it makes you wonder if Daredevil should have just stayed dead.

Daredevil is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes every Tuesday.