Matt Murdock is about to wear a whole new costume in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. The partnership between Marvel and Netflix led to some of the best superhero TV shows of all time, with a dark and gritty style combined with superb casting. Marvel’s regained the full rights to the cast and characters, and the House of Ideas has wasted no time in bringing them back. Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 was a hit, and the second season is set to release in 2026.
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We now know that Daredevil is getting a new costume in Born Again Season 2. Most attention is focused on the fact it incorporates the traditional D-D logo for the first time, but there are other unusual aspects to it too; this is a much darker outfit, clearly designed for operating in the shadows. It’s presumably been created so Daredevil can act in secret, given he’s a target of Wilson Fisk, the crime lord who is now Mayor of New York. The black costume is perfect for working in the shadows.
Daredevil’s Black Costume Has a Surprising Origin
The costume design is influenced by the last design anyone really expect, one Murdock adopted during the build-up to the “Shadowland” arc. A 2010 event, “Shadowland” saw Daredevil begin to lose faith in the traditional way superheroes operate. Daredevil has always been opposed to the ninja cult known as the Hand, but he decided to try to reform them when he accepted a role as their leader. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and Daredevil learned that lesson the hard way; he was unwittingly exposing himself to the Beast, the demonic entity that formed the Hand centuries ago.
Under the Beast’s control, Daredevil took complete control of Hell’s Kitchen, establishing a “Shadowland” where crime was forbidden – and where the laws were enforced by the Hand, rather than by the police. Marvel’s various street level heroes wound up forced to team up with the Kingpin’s forces as they fought to free Hell’s Kitchen from the increasing brutality of Daredevil’s regime, and they eventually figured out the truth. Freed from the Beast’s influence, Daredevil sacrificed himself to free Hell’s Kitchen from the Hand’s magic.
Is Shadowland an Inspiration for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2?
Marvel is unlikely to draw direct inspiration from “Shadowland,” simply because it wouldn’t be a good fit for the MCU. Netflix made liberal use of the Hand, even featuring them in the ill-fated team-up series The Defenders, and essentially used them up; Marvel would need to drastically reinvent them to find a way to make the Hand feel fresh and new. More to the point, there’s been no hint of the Hand in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, so their inclusion would feel like an abrupt intrusion to the overarching narrative.
It is, however, possible that one idea will be lifted into Season 2; that of Daredevil establishing an area that’s off-limits to the police, controlled by the vigilantes the Kingpin wants to stamp out now he’s mayor of New York. Wilson Fisk’s anti-vigilante campaign is sure to become ever more brutal, meaning it would make sense for the heroes to establish their own territory. But if that is indeed the plot of Season 2, then it’s surely going to end as violently as “Shadowland” did, simply because Kingpin cannot afford to leave that challenge alone.
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images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
