REVIEW: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 Is Peak Superhero Television

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 faced an extensive uphill battle. Truly, the entire show did. After being retooled from an original incarnation that more or less ignored the Netflix series in the wake of Matt Murdock’s “reintroduction” in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the first season of Daredevil: Born Again was a Frankensteined together hodgepodge of a direct sequel to the original Daredevil show, and an entirely different thing.

The second season—built from the ground up—had the opportunity to be a true successor to the much-lauded Netflix incarnation. Under showrunner Dario Scardapane, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 didn’t just meet that goal; it obliterated it in one of superhero television’s finest hours. 

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 substantially improved the storytelling over the first season.

After the events of the first season, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is operating in the shadows as Daredevil, backed by an underground resistance that includes reformed police, his long-time partner Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and many others. Their mission: to counter the misdeeds of Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). 

Fisk’s, aka the Kingpin, criminal actions through the Red Hook freeport and his establishment of the corrupt Anti-Vigilante Task Force push Daredevil to the very edge. He has to ask for assistance from an old enemy, Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).

The storytelling in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is considerably improved from the first season, which was all over the place. Here, there’s a distinct vision that carries the season forward at every moment. Each episode is a vital piece to the puzzle that keeps building and building until an explosive conclusion that feels like the culmination of over ten years of storytelling with the Daredevil character.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 sinks its teeth well into modern issues.

It’s impressive just how consistent the show is from episode to episode. There are a lot of plot lines to juggle, but all of them develop at a breakneck pace. This isn’t an eight-episode movie; this is a sprawling crime saga. 

A surprising aspect of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is its ability to sink its teeth into modern sociopolitical issues. The Anti-Vigilante Task Force is a clear mirror of not only ICE, but also police brutality as a whole. Wilson Fisk could be seen as a riff on Donald Trump this season, or just what any political figure with wicked intentions can do with unchecked power.

What Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 very much understands, however, is that the power rests in the people. By the time of its rapturous season finale, I was sure I hadn’t seen a mainstream superhero show this in tune with radical sentiment. 

The fight sequences are on par with some of the original show’s.

While the fight sequences in the original Netflix run are hard to beat, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 features some of the strongest action you’re going to see in a superhero TV program in the modern era. The fights are incredibly well-choreographed, epic, sweaty brawls that continually evolve. They use their characters’ various physicalities to their advantage. The bar has been raised.

Of course, the engine that keeps the season going is the characters. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio have never been better; the benevolent Devil and false Angel, respectively, fighting for the soul of New York City. The actors have been with these characters for over a decade, so Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 plays into that.

These two have gotten to a point of doing this dance for so long that it’s time to settle the score once and for all, and settle it they do. Wilson Bethel throws a chaotic wrench into this dynamic as an antihero caught in the middle. He could almost be considered the third lead. At the very least, he’s an undeniable fan favorite.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is a masterclass in the genre.

The supporting cast is equally great. New additions like Matthew Lillard as Mr. Charles are fun, while Deborah Ann Woll is reliably fantastic as Karen Page, and Arty Froushan steals scenes as Fisk’s enforcer, Buck Cashman. A favorite character in this entire season is Michael Gandolfini’s Daniel, a man whose morality is put to the ultimate test and must make a difficult choice. His turmoil over his allegiance is a quiet yet crucial arc that is much more mature than anything Marvel Television has produced before. 

Between a debated but generally positively received season of The Boys, the acclaimed fourth season of Invincible, and now Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, we could very well be living in one of the best eras for superheroes in television. Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is such a masterclass in the genre—pure peak television in general—that season 3 has its work cut out for it.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is streaming now on Disney+.

Previous Sesaon