Daredevil: Born Again Theory Hints at Major Twist After That Death

Daredevil: Born Again left Marvel Cinematic Universe fans and Marvel-Netflix fans alike reeling, as the opening sequence of the show killed off a major legacy character. MAJOR SPOILERS: Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) was killed in the opening sequence of Born Again, after being targeted during the revenge attack on Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) by his rival Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter – aka “Bullseye” (Wilson Bethel). The first two episodes of the series position Foggy’s murder as the galvanizing event for this soft-reboot of Daredevil within the MCU playground: Matt retires from costume crimefighting and spends a year grieving and rebuilding his life as a high-earning lawyer at a prestigious Manhattan firm. It’s made Foggy’s death seem majorly impactful (if only indirectly), but not every fan believes the tragedy will stick.

Since Daredevil: Born Again premiered, there have been MCU fan theories that Foggy isn’t as dead as he may seem. In fact, some fans have tumbled down a rabbit hole of numbers that they think add up to Foggy being very much alive.

Does This Daredevil: Born Again Easter Egg Confirm Foggy Is Alive?

Over on Marvel X there was a post that caught on with fans, which pitched a theory that Daredevil: Born Again hid a clue about Foggy’s return in plain sight onscreen. The building number for the law firm of Nelson, Murdock, and Page was #468; that number corresponds to the Daredevil comic, where #88 (or Legacy number 468) was a chapter titled “The Secret LIfe of Foggy Nelson”. The story saw Foggy struggling to adjust to a new life in the witness protection program, after having faked his death. It was an unusual departure for a Daredevil story – to the point that MCU fans can’t buy the idea that it was pure coincidence that the Daredevil: Born Again showrunners included the numerical reference in the show.

We’ve already done a deep-dive into the question of whether or not Foggy is really dead. Any comic book fan knows that death is rarely permanent within the DC and Marvel Universes – key primary and supporting characters thought to be gone make miraculous returns, all the time. Marvel fans just got back Elden Hanson’s Foggy after Born Again originally left him out of the MCU. That’s one more reason why people are having trouble believing that Marvel Studios would do the work of getting Foggy back, only to kill him off in the first ten minutes of the show. In their minds, there has to be more to it.

The real question is whether or not Daredevil: Born Again should bring Foggy back. No matter what you thought about the action and visuals of the Daredevil vs. Bullseye rematch, it’s hard to deny the level of emotional impact that scene. Foggy’s heartbeat slowing down to its last beats, as Matt listens from the rooftop, and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) is desperately trying to coax him to stay awake… it was top-notch drama and a pretty good death scene. Add the fact that Born Again seems to be making the loss of Foggy (and the deeper meta subtext about the loss of the original show) its thematic core; suddenly bringing Foggy back as some comic book twist trope feels like it would cheat the outcomes and the performances that make his death matter.

Of course, we still don’t know much about the larger seasonal story arc for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. Maybe Foggy’s death will be revealed to be something much deeper and more suspicious than we thought – paving the way for a much more believable return.

Daredevil: Born Again is streaming on Disney+.