Why Daredevil: Born Again's Muse Storyline Is The Show's Biggest Missed Opportunity

This article contains spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" episode 7.

"Daredevil: Born Again" is arguably an improvement on the Netflix series, especially in its portrayal of vigilantism and the legal drama that stems from it. That said, the long-awaited sequel saga — which is available to stream on Disney+ — isn't perfect, as the storyline centering around the mysterious serial killer Muse (Hunter Doohan) and his artistic endeavors is full of missed opportunities, such as a failing to introduce a heroic vigilante whose regular alias sneakily debuted in Netflix's "Iron Fist." Yes, we're talking about Samuel Chung (previously played by James Chen), aka Blindspot.

The latest series about Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and his crime-fighting escapades in New York plucks elements from several Marvel Comics stories. The Muse storyline, however, was inspired by writer Charles Soule and artist Ron Garney's "Daredevil" run, which sees The Man Without Fear recruit Blindspot as his sidekick, only for the young hero's eyes to be gouged out during a showdown between him and the serial killer. Blindspot gets his eyes back thanks to The Hand organization's magic, but his vision is permanently impaired.

Sadly, "Daredevil: Born Again" ignores this element of Muse's reign of terror in the comics and makes Murdock go up against the sadistic villain by himself. That's a shame, really, as not only was this storyline the perfect chance to debut Blindspot, but it could have made Muse seem like a more dangerous threat in "Daredevil: Born Again" season 1.

While "Daredevil: Born Again" boasts some admirable elements, the Muse storyline leaves a lot to be desired. For a start, the series ignores some of his most interesting powers, such as the ability to make himself near-impossible to detect. Matt Murdock tracks him down fairly easily in the Disney+ series, and he takes him out for good during their fight in episode 7. Outside of his artistic pursuits, the show portrays Muse as a fairly standard serial killer, and his crimes aren't as shocking as they could have been.

That said, having Muse gouge out the eyes of a sidekick like Blindspot could have given him a truly savage moment that established him as a formidable and unpredictable villain. "Daredevil: Born Again" gives him some nightmarish scenes, sure, but he never comes across as someone who's capable of beating Daredevil in a fight. However, having Muse get the better of a sidekick like Blindspot could have added some more stakes to the proceedings.

What's more, Samuel Chung already exists in this universe, no matter how hard some people want to forget about the "Iron Fist" adaptation. Hopefully, "Daredevil: Born Again" will bring the young hero in at a later date, but the show has already missed out on the chance to realize a gruesomely great Marvel Comics storyline on the screen.