[Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Daredevil: Born Again season 1 finale.] In February, writer Chip Zdarsky shared a photo from the New York premiere of Daredevil: Born Again with Jeremy Isaiah Earl, the Chicago P.D. and Empire actor who would be making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Cole North. The character — a tough-as-nails but by-the-books cop — debuted in the pages of Zdarsky’s Daredevil comic run in 2019 and quickly became a fan-favorite.
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“There are some things in the series inspired by my work, but the coolest part is that Cole North, the character created by [artist] Marco [Checchetto] and I, is in the show, played by the awesome actor Jeremy Earl,” Zdarsky wrote on his Substack blog at the time. “It was very surreal and Jeremy was incredibly kind and cool. So then I had to keep it secret for months.”
RELATED: Good Cop, Bad Cop: Who Is Cole North in the Daredevil Comics?
Months later, fans were up in arms when the Marvel TV series introduced Sgt. North as a crooked cop in the service of Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force. The season 1 finale identified North as the assassin who shot and killed the vigilante Hector Ayala/White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes) episodes earlier, and it appeared that North died when a grenade detonated during the AVTF’s attempted hit on Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and the Punisher (Jon Bernthal).
It was a major departure from Detective Cole North in the comics, a Chicago transplant who transferred into the NYPD’s 18th Precinct and made it his mission to arrest both the vigilante Daredevil and the corrupt Mayor Fisk. Although North was initially anti-vigilante — “I don’t think anyone should be above the law,” he said at one point — he was a good cop who eventually became one of Daredevil’s trusted allies.
“A lot of people have been asking me how I feel about the fact that Cole was a bad guy murder man in this season when in the comics we made him a good guy struggling with his feelings about the law,” Zdarsky wrote in an April 17 Substack post. “Would I have preferred he be like he was in the comics? Of course! I’m proud of the work Marco and I (and many others!) did developing Cole North! It would have been super special to see that version on the screen! But, this was ALSO pretty damned cool!”
“Here’s the deal: once I leave a book, I’m done. Whatever happens with the characters after I’m gone, it really doesn’t matter to me because my story is still there, still ready to be read, it’s own little world, unsullied by the world outside of its pages,” Zdarsky continued, adding: “Anything outside that is just noise. And sometimes it’s delightful noise, like a character popping up in an MCU show and you meeting the actors and going to a cool-ass party. But, still, noise.”
Zdarsky continued, “So, no, I’m not at all upset about them changing elements of the character. The team on DD:BA had their story to tell and they did what they needed to do to tell that story. Sure, they could have just made a totally new character named Nole Corth but they made him Cole North and I’m eternally grateful because that meant Chippy got paid, yo.”
Adding that Earl “was great in the show,” Zdarsky teased, “The Punisher didn’t shoot Cole! When him and Daredevil left the scene of the crime (itself a crime! Boys!), we didn’t see what Cole got up to! Maybe … he survived??”
All nine episodes of Daredevil: Born Again season 1 are now streaming on Disney+. The show will return with season 2 in March 2026.
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