Daredevil: Born Again Review: Not Quite the Revival We Were Hoping For

Rarely does a new TV series premiere with as much built-in and background lore as Daredevil: Born Again. It’s impossible to fit the story into even a couple of paragraphs, but the short version is that this is the resurrection of the beloved Daredevil series on Netflix that fans spent literal years petitioning for. Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, and several others from that project made the jump to the MCU edition of Daredevil, which went through a serious creative overhaul in the middle of production, and the end result of those years of waiting and tinkering is Daredevil: Born Again.

The journey to the screen for this series has been long and full of headlines. Honestly, Daredevil: Born Again would have to be one of the best shows of all time to live up to the lofty expectations that have been set over the years. It’s not one of the best shows of all time, unfortunately, nor is it even as good as the original Netflix Daredevil series. But there is still a lot to like in Born Again‘s first season, more than enough to keep you locked in and coming back for more.

Daredevil: Born Again picks up some time after the third season of the previous series, with Matt (Cox), Foggy (Elden Hensen), and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) running their law firm together in New York City. A tragedy in the opening of the series causes Matt to hang up his Daredevil persona for good, believing that he “crossed a line” and could be a better hero to the city with his work as a lawyer. Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk (D’Onofrio) returns home after recovering from the injuries and mental break he suffered in Echo and decides to run for Mayor of New York City. By taking control of the most important office in New York, Fisk knows he can wield even more power, and potentially make his business affairs even more profitable than they were before.

This series really goes all the way with the idea that Murdock and Fisk are two sides of the same coin, often cutting their two stories together in such a way that it’s impossible to ignore the fact that these men are going through some very similar things internally (even if they manifest in completely different ways). And it’s in the writing and performance of these two characters that Daredevil: Born Again shines the brightest.

The casting of Cox and D’Onofrio as Daredevil and Kingpin remains one of the smartest decisions in the history of Marvel screen adaptations. They both have this beautiful mix of sentimentality and rage that is necessary for each of the two characters. Cox wears that balance like a shield, while D’Onofrio is able to wield it like a sledgehammer. They are perfect for their parts, and they are perfect for one another. The duo may only share the screen a couple of times throughout the nine-episode first season, but their presence carries into one another’s scenes and consistently makes them feel inextricably linked.

It’s also great to see these two guys pick up where they left off, not losing a step, after knowing how much Daredevil has always meant to them both. Cox and D’Onofrio have been champions for this story and these characters for years, even when it seemed like they’d never get to play them again, and their commitment bleeds into their performances. Watching them work is a thing of beauty.

There’s also the business of the returning Daredevil characters, who were worked into the series after the creative overhaul. Karen and Foggy don’t get a lot to do, but their impact can’t be overstated. Both Woll and Hensen make the most of the time they’re given on screen, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. They’re always excellent. The same goes for Jon Bernthal, who reprises his role as Frank Castle in a couple of episodes. Bernthal has always been the exact right guy to play the Punisher, and he does plenty to remind everyone of that when he appears.

Given how much of the Born Again story deals with how men with power completely misinterpret the actions of the Punisher (mirroring a real-life issue we know all too well), he probably needed to be a bigger part of the season. But this is a Daredevil show, after all, and the creative team shows a lot of restraint in never taking the focus away from its titular hero.

If Daredevil: Born Again needed to get one thing right, it would be the rivalry and relationship between Murdock and Fisk, and the series is a home run in that regard. If Daredevil: Born Again needed to get two things right, the other would be the hard-hitting action that made the Netflix series so memorable (and has largely escaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

To stick with the baseball analogy, the dynamic between Daredevil and Fisk is a home run but the actual action of this series is a single, at best. Maybe a walk? Well, maybe baseball has nothing to do with Daredevil, but the point is that the action’s not that great. Born Again purposefully crafts a story where the big fights only happen once in a while, which is a great choice given how Matt spends so much time trying to conquer his own violent tendencies. If you’re going to place an emphasis on these fights, though, you’ve got to make them count, especially when the incredibly popular series you’re trying to replicate contained some of the most well-choreographed, hardest hitting fight scenes we’ve ever seen on television.

The fights in Born Again are very inconsistent. There are a few action pieces that hold up to the Daredevil name and one particular fight between Daredevil and Muse midway through the season comes to mind. Then there are the big fight scenes that bookend Season 1 — these look downright awful. Daredevil: Born Again basically kicks off with a long and violent showdown between Daredevil and Bullseye — and it is honestly hard to watch at times. A lot of CGI is worked into Daredevil’s motions and he’s given all sorts of Spider-Man-like swinging to do throughout the fight. It’s disjointed, chaotic, and a complete eyesore. Nothing about it feels natural, gritty, or grounded; calling cards of the Netflix Daredevil series.

Instead of focusing on the stunning and often emotionally charged fight choreography that so many loved, Born Again tries to plant its “This Violence Is for Grown-Ups” flag by simply making things bloody at every opportunity. It’s cartoonish how much blood is digitally inserted into some of these showdowns. This lack of action style — which has been a major criticism of the MCU over the years — is going to be a huge letdown to anyone who considers themselves a Daredevil fan. Yes, there are some great fights mixed in there that help elevate the entire situation, but they make the misfires even more frustrating by showing us that the show is more than capable of delivering solid action.

You can pull back on the season as a whole and see that inconsistency applied to the overall story itself. It’s easy to see that a creative overhaul took place with Daredevil: Born Again; there are two distinct versions of the show present here, often competing for the right to move forward. Some episodes begin with a “case-of-the-week” premise before being dissolved into the Mayor Fisk saga.

What allows Daredevil: Born Again to work — seemingly by some miracle — is that both versions of the show are pretty good in their own right. Once each episode settles in, it’ll hook you, even if it feels disjointed from the previous episode. For example, there’s an episode in the middle of the season that revolves around a bank robbery. It’s almost completely disconnected from everything else happening in the show, but not in the way a bottle episode would feel because you can tell it was originally supposed to set up something bigger. So why keep it in there when it’s not at all needed for the new Born Again story? Well, because it’s a fantastic episode of television. Season-long saga be damned, Daredevil: Born Again would’ve been a lesser show without it.

I’m a firm believer in the phrase “all’s well that ends well,” and that’s one of the better ways I can think to describe this new Daredevil series. The final few episodes are far and away the strongest of the season. By the time you get through the finale, it’s easier to forgive some of the season’s earlier transgressions, because the ending is certifiably great and leaves everything in such a fascinating place heading into Season 2.

Daredevil: Born Again is a lot like Matt Murdock, when you think about it. The show has the potential for true greatness, and it has no problem showing that greatness off from time to time. But it’s a show that is largely at war with itself, never quite sure of exactly what it wants to be. And, like Matt Murdock, Daredevil: Born Again is best enjoyed when you accept it for what it is. This is the Daredevil we’ve got, warts and all, and a world with it is far better than one without.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes premiering Tuesdays.