Daredevil: Born Again is a solid sequel to the Netflix series Daredevil. It starts and ends strong with a more calm but still good middle section. As stated in my previous review of the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again, it starts off very strong. The series continues (almost) directly where the Netflix series Daredevil left off. Initially, the idea was to have Daredevil: Born Again take place in a different universe than its Netflix predecessor, but fortunately the makers eventually decided against that. The predecessor was very strong and it would be a shame to ignore that good foundation. This means that not only the previous Netflix series Marvel's Daredevil is also part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but also Iron First, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and The Punisher. Of the latter, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) also briefly appears in Born Again and will get his own 'special' on Disney+ at a later date.
The first season of Daredevil: Born Again consists of nine episodes, each lasting between 39 and 61 minutes. It is clear that the start of Born Again is intended as a diptych (season 1 and 2). This was to be expected because two seasons were immediately confirmed and you also notice it in the structure of the first season. There is clearly a build-up to a climax and the end of the first season is in my opinion a turning point in the story.
Daredevil: Born Again kicks off with familiar faces from the previous series. And quite early in the first episode, the famous one-taker starts. The series starts very raw and is full of action. Born Again is not afraid to let a lot of blood flow and limbs fly around. After the spectacular start of Born Again, the series calms down a bit and the foundation is laid for the rest of the first, but also the second season (yes, the first season ends with an open ending). An important part of the story is that Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) becomes mayor of New York. It seems that he has distanced himself from his criminal past as Kingpin, but it is questionable whether he is really capable of that.
One of the main points of Fisk's agenda as mayor is (you guessed it) the prevention of masked heroes. It is therefore inevitable that there will be tension between Fisk and Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox). Murdock has been suffering from an identity crisis for a while, but he continues to stand up for masked heroes. For example, you often see Matt in court to defend that group. In addition to the storylines of Fisk and Murdock, another sinister character has been added to the mix, namely Muse. In my opinion, Muse is one of the more grim characters that has appeared in the MCU and who ensures that Daredevil: Born Again is certainly not a children's series.
Daredevil: Born Again is an excellent sequel to its Netflix predecessor, retaining the spectacular action and gritty tone
Born Again is a pleasure to watch and is well put together. The cast is also very convincing. Nevertheless, there is something that I find hard to get over. Fisk had lost an eye for Born Again, but suddenly he has two properly functioning eyes again. Unfortunately, this is not explained in the first season, hopefully that will follow at a later time. Even though it is a Marvel series and you should not take it too seriously as a viewer, the makers could have put a bit more effort into this.
In short: Daredevil: Born Again is an excellent continuation of the Netflix predecessor in which the spectacular action and raw tone are well maintained but where a new course is also clearly taken. I am already looking forward to the second season and I am very curious about what will happen next.
Based on the above, the first season of Daredevil: Born Again gets a well-deserved 9.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
