Daredevil: Born Again's Season 1 Finale Teases The Beginning Of A Marvel Comics Team
Spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" follow.
"Daredevil: Born Again" season 1 ended on a downer note for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox). His greatest enemy, Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio), is no longer just the mayor of New York City, he's the Big Apple's dictator. With martial law and an Anti-Vigilante Task Force on his side, Fisk outmatches Daredevil more than ever before. To take him down, Matt tells Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) they'll need an army.
What could that army look like? At the episode's end, Matt brings together his current allies: Karen, law partner Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James), former detective Cherry (Clark Johnson), current (and honest) cop Angie Kim (Ruibo Qian), etc. So, not a whole lot of superpowered heavy hitters. Who else could this army enlist?
Punisher (Jon Bernthal) also escaped imprisonment by Fisk, so he's probably going to be back for the next battle. This could also be a way to bring back the Defenders, and/or Matt's assassin ex-girlfriend Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung). But would this team still be called the Defenders?
Matt's talk of "an army" sent up my comic fan antenna. One of the big influences for "Born Again" so far is Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto's 2019-2023 run on "Daredevil." The first half of the run, following Matt trying to leave Daredevil behind as Fisk acts as New York Mayor, is what's inspired "Born Again" so far. The second half of the run (the "Red Fist Saga") follows Matt and Elektra putting together a vigilante army, the Fist, to fight injustice beyond what superheroes normally do.
Could season 2 of "Born Again" be about to adapt "Red Fist Saga"?
Born Again season 2 will see Daredevil assemble an army against Kingpin
Matt's description of "an army" has a lot to live up to — which Marvel Comics heroes could feasibly be in on it? I think the aforementioned Elektra is a no-brainer to include. During Zdarsky's "Daredevil," Elektra starts using the Daredevil name and costume herself to prove to Matt that she can be a hero like him. It's one of Elektra's best recent comic stories and ripe for adaptation.
Then, the Defenders. Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) have not gotten their own "Born Again" reintroductions into the MCU yet, so perhaps this could be their moment? No one is exactly clamoring for Finn Jones to come back as Iron Fist, but Jessica Henwick has said she wants to come back as Colleen Wing. "Born Again" also featured a few small appearances by Jack Duquesne/Swordsman (Tony Dalton), and he butted heads with Fisk. Those appearances now seem like teeing Swordsman up for a bigger role in season 2, likely as Daredevil's ally.
On the other hand, Tom Holland's Spider-Man is barred from appearing in the Disney+ shows. So, don't expect him to be a finger on Daredevil's Fist.
Does the army have to be all heroes, though? In the comics, The Fist was made up mostly of supervillains. Matt, who'd grown disillusioned with the criminal-justice system, broke into super-criminal prison the Raft, freed many of the inmates, and took it on himself to reform and rehabilitate them.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, though, does not have many recurring villains to reuse like this. Buck Cashman/Bullet, one of the main members of the Fist in the comics, has been reimagined in "Daredevil: Born Again" as Fisk's body man. Perhaps the show could finally bring back Alice Eve as Typhoid Mary for her overdue battle with Daredevil?
The only other loose end villain is one who Daredevil hates even more than he does Fisk: Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), the man who murdered Matt Murdock's best friend Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). Dex tried to assassinate Fisk in episode 8 of "Born Again," and the finale shows he's still on the run. Could Daredevil and Bullseye come together because the enemy of their enemy is their friend?
"Daredevil: Born Again" is streaming on Disney+. Season 2 is scheduled to premiere in 2026.