Karen Page’s Fate in Daredevil: Born Again Is Teasing a Major Marvel Comics Development

Daredevil: Born Again marks the long-awaited revival of the Netflix era Marvel series, picking up the story a few years after Matt (Charlie Cox), Foggy (Elden Henson), and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) established the Nelson, Murdock & Page law firm in Hell’s Kitchen. However, right in the first episode, Born Again flips the script and thrusts the trio into a new direction, with each character having to decide what to do after tragedy strikes. In Karen Page’s case, her Born Again role might be teasing a big development from the Daredevil comic books, one that kicks Matt out of New York City and forces him to rebuild his life elsewhere.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1 & 2

The catalyst for these dramatic changes comes when Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye returns to Hell’s Kitchen with vengeance on his mind. After a client calls Foggy in distress, Matt rushes to help in his Daredevil suit, only to discover it’s a trap. While Matt is away, Bullseye attacks Josie’s Bar, where Foggy and Karen are spending the evening. In a shocking moment that establishes the series’ high stakes, Bullseye shoots and kills Foggy. Matt arrives too late to save his best friend, and in a moment of overwhelming rage, he throws Bullseye from the rooftop, crossing a moral line he had sworn never to cross — even though Bullseye survives the fall.

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In the aftermath of this tragedy, both Matt and Karen respond by completely changing their lives. Matt, unable to reconcile his Catholic faith with his momentary embrace of lethal vengeance, abandons his Daredevil persona entirely. He pushes Karen away during his grief and eventually establishes a new law practice with former assistant district attorney Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James). Meanwhile, Karen, having lost one friend to death and another to emotional withdrawal, makes the significant decision to leave New York behind and relocate to San Francisco.

Karen’s move to the West Coast isn’t just a convenient plot device. It’s a deliberate nod to Daredevil’s comic book history. San Francisco has been a crucial location for Matt Murdock twice in the character’s publication history, first in the 1970s and then again in 2014. The latest move is particularly relevant, as it could connect to Born Again‘s storyline featuring Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) mayoral campaign, setting up a potential future where Matt might need to follow Karen’s path out of New York.

Why Did Daredevil Move to San Francisco in Marvel Comics?

Daredevil’s first relocation to San Francisco occurred in the early 1970s, following a period of significant personal turmoil. In Daredevil #57 (1969), Matt finally revealed his secret identity to Karen Page. Despite their romantic connection, Karen struggled to accept the constant danger that Daredevil brought into their lives. Unable to reconcile her feelings for Matt with the risks of his vigilante lifestyle, Karen left New York and Matt behind, moving to California to start fresh. During this period, Matt began a passionate affair with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. The pair eventually decides to make a new start together in San Francisco, operating as both lovers and crime-fighting partners. This San Francisco era, which began in Daredevil #87 and continued through issue #107, featured Matt in his iconic yellow costume for part of the run.

The San Francisco dream ends when news arrives that District Attorney Foggy Nelson had been shot back in New York.  Matt immediately plans to return east to help his old friend, but Natasha refused to accompany him. Their already troubled relationship effectively ends in Daredevil #108 (1974) when Matt chooses his friendship with Foggy over his romance with Natasha. This first San Francisco saga was primarily driven by personal relationships rather than external forces pushing Matt out of New York.

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The second and more recent move came in 2014 during Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s acclaimed run on the character. In Daredevil #36, Matt found himself blackmailed by the Sons of the Serpent, a white supremacist group who threatened to expose his secret identity if he didn’t represent them in court. Facing an impossible moral dilemma, Matt made the extraordinary decision to reveal his own identity while on the witness stand, effectively rendering the blackmail threat moot.

This public revelation cost Matt his ability to practice law in New York, as he had previously denied under oath that he was Daredevil. Forced to rebuild his life, Matt relocated to San Francisco and fully embraced his dual identity. Rather than attempting to maintain any separation between his civilian and vigilante lives, Matt began operating openly as Daredevil without a mask. He even went so far as to defend clients in court as Daredevil, leveraging his new celebrity status to his advantage. This era represented a dramatic tonal shift for the character — a brighter, more swashbuckling Daredevil who found freedom in no longer hiding who he was.

Will Daredevil: Born Again Make Matt Murdock’s Secret Identity Public?

The first episode of Born Again features a tense encounter between Matt and Wilson Fisk, in which each man measures the other’s intentions and establishes boundaries. Matt tells Wilson that he wants to believe he’s a changed man, but warns that if he steps out of line, Daredevil will come for him. Wilson, who has known Matt’s secret identity since Season 3 of the Netflix Daredevil series, delivers an ominous warning: If Matt ever dons the mantle of Daredevil again, there will be consequences.

This threat carries significant weight because Fisk is no longer a mere crime lord. By the end of Born Again’s first episode, he is the mayor of New York City, elected on an anti-vigilante platform. If Matt decides to return as Daredevil — which seems inevitable given the show’s title — Fisk could make good on his threat by publicly revealing Matt’s secret identity and sending the police after him. As mayor, Fisk would have the perfect platform and credibility to unmask Daredevil, framing it as a public service rather than an act of vengeance. 

Moreover, a public identity reveal would dramatically raise the stakes for both Matt and everyone he cares about. Karen, already in San Francisco, could provide Matt with a safe haven away from the immediate fallout in New York. This would also allow the series to explore how a vigilante adjusts to operating without the protection of anonymity, a theme central to Mark Waid’s run and could provide rich storytelling opportunities for the MCU version of the character. Whether Born Again ultimately follows this path remains to be seen, but Karen’s move to San Francisco certainly plants the seeds for this major comic book development.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Disney+ every Tuesday.

Would you like to see Matt being unmasked in the MCU? Could Daredevil: Born Again take its titular character to San Francisco? Join the discussion in the comments!