The most eye-catching stories of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s pre-release period were arguably focused on the season’s promised returns. We knew for a long time that Jessica Jones, James Wesley, and Foggy were all back (somehow), and there were lots of rumors about other MCU characters, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and even Spider-Man (the definition of wishful thinking). But it’s a different character entirely who returns in the very first episode who catches the eye because of what they represent. Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s opening episode.
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In Born Again Season 2’s opener, when we meet Margarita Levieva’s Heather Glenn again, she is still dealing with the trauma of her near-death experience at the hands of killer Muse. She has terrifying visions of the serial killer, as the villain returns as a PTSD ghost to torment her. It’s immediately great to see the underrated Marvel villain again, even if some of those other, more starry names will get more attention when they appear (or don’t). And unfortunately, despite Muse’s return, there’s still very much the lingering feeling that we should have got more from him in the first place.
Muse Was One of Daredevil: Born Again’s Most Frustrating Mistakes
Muse was a great addition to Daredevil: Born Again because he was unlike any other villain in the MCU: he was purely motivated by evil. Marvel Studios projects spend so much time developing nuance into their villains that there’s not enough Machiavellian malevolence. Muse simplified things: yes, there were some clichéd notes in his backstory (unnoticed child of rich socialites develops deep psychological issues), but Muse’s wanton desire for brutality was a refreshing change of pace. That makes me sound like there’s something wrong with me, but there is – as Hollywood has repeatedly shown – great art in capturing great evil.
Sadly, Muse was dispensed with too easily and ended up feeling more like a subplot than he deserved. I would have liked to have seen a longer battle between Daredevil and Muse, given their polar opposite positions on the moral scale, but the presence of Kingpin always tends to suck away all attention. That’s not always a bad thing when you’re talking about getting more Vincent D’Onofrio, but when it came at the cost of Muse’s further development, I was less impressed. Hopefully, we’ll see more of the ramifications of his crimes as Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 progresses (I write this before seeing them all, though I will have by the time you read it), because even a hallucinated Muse is a welcome addition.
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