Will Daredevil: Born Again Be Marvel’s The Penguin?

After months of anticipation, the first official Daredevil: Born Again trailer has been released to the general public. Previously, only convention attendees had the chance to see any footage from the latest Daredevil TV show; now, the wider world can absorb what the next chapter of Matt Murdock’s mission to clean up Hell’s Kitchen looks like. The trailer promises plenty of new actors and fascinating developments in this vigilante’s world, while also reassuring long-time Daredevil fans that franchise staples like Karen (Deborah Ann Woll), Foggy (Elden Henson), and Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) will return.

Most intriguingly, the trailer takes fans into a grimy and gritty new corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe compared to the realms explored in other Marvel-Disney+ programming. Daredevil: Born Again doesn’t just promise to focus exclusively on a character previously established in a major Netflix/Marvel production – There’s also the potential for Born Again to be to the MCU what The Penguin was to DC TV programming.

Marvel Needs A Grounded MCU Disney+ Series

The very first Disney+ Marvel Studios show was WandaVision, which established a tendency of these programs to embrace the grandiose and heightened. This costly TV program was full of androids, explosions, and witchy powers all divorced from everyday reality. Subsequent MCU streaming shows like Secret Invasion, Ms. Marvel, and Loki would mimic this adherence to the fantastical. Even a more “real-world” outing like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had digressions into outlandish territory. This means Daredevil: Born Again could provide a grounded respite for viewers yearning for something more emotionally tangible.

Unintentionally, The Penguin, a spinoff of The Batman, accomplished something similar just by existing. The default norm for small-screen DC projects in the last decade has been ArrowVerse shows that garnered a massive fanbase for embracing all kinds of fantastical elements from the comics. Other DC productions like Doom Patrol and Pennyworth would follow suit with their flights of fantasy. Into this status quo wandered The Penguin, a show about Oswalt Cobblepot navigating the seediest corners of Gotham City’s criminal underbelly.

The Penguin’s aesthetic evoked The Sopranos or other classic crime TV shows rather than Legends of Tomorrow or Peacemaker. That allowed it to extend beyond The Batman’s distinctive atmosphere and procure its own unique fanbase. Audiences everywhere loved seeing the day-to-day world of costumed crime-fighters. Plus, the pervasive grimness of The Penguin lets viewers grapple with real-world nastiness in safer confines. The restrictions of operating within a DC Comics adaptation could make reality’s terrors a tad more bearable, without diluting their impact.

In short, The Penguin excelled because it offered something different and street-level compared to other DC Comics TV show adaptations. Daredevil: Born Again 100% has the potential to mimic that success with its own intimate gaze into the MCU’s most brutal avenues. After all, this program is building upon the legacy of an acclaimed Netflix Daredevil show that already garnered praise for its down-to-earth approach. Continuing those traits could ensure Born Again becomes Marvel’s equivalent to The Penguin.

[Related: Daredevil: Born Again Is “Even Darker” Than the Netflix Series, According to Charlie Cox]

What Could Keep Born Again From Being The Next Penguin?

If anything could keep Daredevil: Born Again from being the MCU’s equivalent to The Penguin, its major production woes. Whereas The Penguin went from a concept to HBO with steady consistent behind-the-scenes talent like Lauren LeFranc and Matt Reeves, Daredevil: Born Again experienced a massive creative overhaul in October 2023 after multiple episodes were shot. Any seams in quality stemming from all that turmoil could keep Born Again from reaching the universal praise The Penguin’s revered storytelling received.

Even with that asterisk in place, the prospect of Daredevil: Born Again giving the Marvel Cinematic Universe a boost akin to what The Penguin did to DC programming is exciting. Superheroes and comic book staples can inhabit any kind of storytelling imaginable, whether it’s sweeping sci-fi epics or grounded crime stories. The default norm in recent years has been to ramp up the spectacle in these projects to help them stand out in a crowded entertainment landscape.

However, The Penguin’s tremendous success on all fronts makes it apparent that intimate storytelling can also resonate profoundly with people. If Daredevil: Born Again adheres to those kinds of narratives, it could blaze a new trail for Marvel Disney+ programming and truly become the second coming of The Penguin.

The Penguin is now streaming on Max, Daredevil’s first three seasons are on Disney+.