Daredevil: Born Again is right around the corner, but it could be bringing with it a devastating tragedy for The Man Without Fear that will also be felt by the show’s many fans. Following a significant change in direction midway through production, Daredevil: Born Again will continue the story of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) leading his double life as lawyer by day and protector of Hell’s Kitchen by night as the masked superhero Daredevil. Early reactions to Born Again are praising it as a worthy follow-up show to the original three-season Daredevil series from the Marvel-Netflix era, but not all news related to Born Again is of the celebratory sort.
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In a series of interviews in the lead up to Born Again‘s debut, Charlie Cox and series directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson have hinted at Matt experiencing a very traumatic turn of events that forms the basis for Matt’s arc on the show. Reading between the lines, it sounds an awful lot like at least one major character will die in Born Again‘s introductory episodes. Moreover, based on the hints provided, the identity of that character is likely to be one that leaves fans just as devastated as Matt himself.
Why Born Again Could Include A Major Character’s Demise Early On
While the allusions by Charlie Cox and others do not explicitly refer to anyone close to Matt Murdock dying on Born Again, the language used to describe the tragedy Matt experiences early in the show certainly comes across as indicative of a major character’s demise. Speaking to Extra TV on how Born Again begins, Cox used words like “traumatic” and stated outright that Matt will “probably never be the same again.” Additionally, Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson also conceded that the terrible turn of events Matt experiences “is going to upset a lot of people” in an interview on Pay or Wait.
Moorehead also elaborated a bit further, stating, “If this is a show about grief and how that ripples out, first let’s present in a way that’s honoring the gravity of the act,” along with describing Daredevil as being steeped in the theme “that violent actions have violent consequences.” “Grief,” “trauma,” “upset,” “violent actions” — all of these quite clearly point in the direction of one of Daredevil: Born Again‘s major characters meeting a terrible end early in the show, with the rest of the season focused upon how Matt deals with it as both a person and as The Man Without Fear. That, of course, leads to the question of which Born Again character could be the one to meet such a tragic end.
[RELATED: Will Daredevil: Born Again Be Marvel’s The Penguin?]
Who Could Be Born Again‘s Mysterious Dying Character?
When it comes to the MCU characters closest to Matt Murdock who will appear in Daredevil: Born Again, two immediately spring to mind as the most likely to be the upsetting death that happens in the show’s first few episodes — Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). Foggy or Karen dying would indeed lead to many feathers being ruffled and fan tears being shed, though it seems that Karen might be in a bit safer of a position than Foggy. Unlike Henson, Woll is confirmed to be returning as Karen in the already filming Born Again Season 2, which at face value suggests that she lives through Season 1. However, this could also be a case of misdirection. Woll’s role in Born Again Season 2 could easily consist of flashbacks, either to Karen’s life before Daredevil (with Daredevil Season 3’s episode “Karen” being primarily focused upon her dark past), or to previously unseen events with Karen, Matt, and Foggy in the time jump between Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again. Such a possibility means that placing bets on Karen’s survival being a given would be ill-advised.
With that said, there’s even more to indicate that Foggy is likely to be the Born Again casualty that devastates Matt. Matt and Foggy have been friends since their days in law school together, which leads to them becoming business partners upon opening the Nelson & Murdock law firm. Foggy’s discovery that Matt is The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen in Daredevil Season 1 tests their bond, with Foggy both furious at being deceived and constantly worried for his best friend’s life as he fights crime every night. Even with this friction between them, Matt and Foggy’s friendship has never wavered, with Foggy eagerly reteaming with Matt and Karen to restart their law firm at the end of Daredevil Season 3. Without the safety net of returning for Born Again Season 2, it is an unfortunate but hard to ignore truth that Foggy is the likeliest character to die on Daredevil: Born Again.
Why A Major Character Death Shows Born Again‘s Close Ties To Daredevil On Netflix
While the apparent incoming death of either Foggy Nelson or Karen Page is a heartbreaking turn of narrative events, it also shows that Born Again has always maintained at least some degree of connective tissue with Netflix’s Daredevil. The mid-season overhaul of Born Again was reportedly done in the aim of guiding the series back to the same tonal foundation as its Netflix predecessor, but the tragedy that Matt experiences also seems to have been one of the elements retained from Born Again‘s initial conception (Born Again reportedly held onto some of the filmed material before the show’s reworking). Per Moorehead in the aforementioned interview with Pay or Wait, he and Benson were also “upset” by the mysterious tragedy in Matt’s life, with Moorehead stating, “When we signed on for the job, the decision had already been made.” This suggests that the apparent death of Foggy or Karen was always part of Born Again‘s story, while indicating that the show’s overhaul strove to realign Born Again in its entirety with Daredevil on Netflix.
In that respect, Daredevil: Born Again indeed is the Daredevil season 4 it has been positioned as post-reworking, since tragedy and the deaths of those closest to him is something Matt experiences quite a bit on both Daredevil and The Defenders. Over the course of the two shows, Matt loses his fellow warrior and love interest Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) not once but twice, along with the death of his mentor Stick (Scott Glenn) happening right as the two seemed to be at least willing to meet at the same table again. Coupled with the comics-derived death of Matt’s boxer father Jack “The Devil” Murdock (John Patrick Hayden) and Wilson Fisk’s cold-blooded and quite shocking murder of Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), Daredevil’s Netflix history is one filled to the brim with major characters dying.
Though the second resurrection of Elodie Yung’s Elektra certainly seems a fairly likely turn of events on Daredevil: Born Again, the description of the traumatic, life-altering tragedy that Matt goes through has all the connotations of the rare comic book character death not retconned with a subsequent resurrection. All told, the grief that Matt deals with at apparently losing someone he loves indicates just how joined at the hip Daredevil: Born Again will be with its Netflix forerunner. However, it also makes a strong case that fans eagerly anticipating the arrival of Daredevil: Born Again may also want to start preparing their goodbyes for either Karen Page, but most especially for Foggy Nelson.
All three seasons of Netflix’s Daredevil and The Defenders are available to stream on Disney+, and Daredevil: Born Again arrives on Disney+ on March 4.
