Daredevil: Born Again Could Have an X-Men Connection
Major character returns in Daredevil: Born Again open up the possibility of a significant connective thread to the X-Men franchise.
Marvel's Daredevil: Born Again continues generating some big headlines, with the most recent ones being the return of Netflix Daredevil characters Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), as well as Daredevil Season 3 villain Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).
That latest bit of news – that Bullseye will be showing up in Daredevil: Born Again - also comes with several potential crossover points with the X-Men franchise.
How Daredevil Season 3's Ending Set Up Wolverine & The X-Men
In the climactic showdown of Daredevil Season 3, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin injured psychotic FBI agent Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter in battle, leaving him facing permanent paralysis. The final scene of the season shows Dex undergoing radical surgery, with the surgical team led by one "Doctor Oyama," which was a clear reference to Marvel Comics' Dr. Kenji Oyama. Oyama (aka "Lord Dark Wind") was the developer of the infamous Adamantium bond process that would later be used to create Wolverine's Adamantium Skeleton and claws in the Weapon X program.
Dex's spine was being upgraded with a metal called "Cogmium Steel" in the scene, but showrunner Erik Oleson admitted that it was only because the Disney-Fox merger wasn't yet allowing them to actually say "Adamantium":
"Well... he is not yet fully Bullseye... I'm not even allowed to use the word 'adamantium' because Marvel and Fox and Disney haven't merged yet," Oleson told ComicBook in 2018. "But in the comics, obviously, Bullseye, he's got abilities that are heightened, and I was more interested in telling the grounded psychological story of how a real person becomes Bullseye, because that fit in with not just the tone and style that I wanted to use for Season 3..."
How Daredevil: Born Again Could Help Setup MCU X-Men
One of Bullseye's most famous arcs in 1980s Daredevil comics saw the villain similarly paralyzed while taking on Matt Murdock/Daredevil, only to have Kenji Oyama eventually come to NYC from Japan looking to recruit Bullseye as an assassin. Oyama made a deal to repair Bullseye's spine using his rediscovered Adamantium bonding process and allied with Kingpin to battle heroes like Daredevil and Wolverine who tried to prevent the deal. Oyama ultimately succeeded and Bullseye got the key upgrades he needed to not only recover but become an even worse threat than he had been.
If Daredevil: Born Again is doing a loose continuation of the Netflix series, now set in the MCU world (and all signs keep pointing to that scenario), then picking up exactly where Daredevil Season 3 left off with Bullseye makes sense. And, in the new context of the MCU, that final season of Dex getting repaired and upgraded by Kenji Oyama hits so much differently and has much bigger ramifications for the MCU. Even though Daredevil: Born Again could tell its own street-level grounded story about the "Mayor Fisk" election, bringing back Bullseye and Oyama would establish Adamantium, its value, and all the history of Wolverine and Weapon X that would be hanging over it all. The same goes for Wolverine's history in Japan and major character lore centered around that location.
There's even potential to establish a major X-Men/Wolverine villain, as Oyama's daughter Yuriko becomes the killer cyborg Lady Deathstrike. Deathstrike is one of Wolverine's most deadly foes besides Sabertooth, thanks to her Adamantium claws and self-repairing body; her history with Wolverine also touches so many other corners of the X-Men Universe (The Reavers, William Stryker, Spiral and the Mojoverse, etc.).
What Is Daredevil: Born Again About?
Daredevil: Born Again will bring back Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio as Daredevil and Kingpin (respectively), as well as the aforementioned returning characters. New cast members/characters will include Sandrine Holt, Michael Gandolfini, and Margarita Levieva. Jon Bernthal will also return in his previous role of Frank Castle / The Punisher.
It's no secret that the original plan for Daredevil: Born Again has been changed significantly. The show's episode order has been shortened, but it got a new showrunner in The Punisher's Dario Scardapene. Moon Knight and Loki Season 2 directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are now directing the remaining episodes. It's expected a new pilot will be filmed, and the series will keep the five or six episodes already filmed. Instead of the original 18-episode order, fans should be able to expect something in the range of the original 13-episode seasons on Netflix.