What can we expect from Daredevil: Born Again in 2025?
What does a Frank Miller connection to Disney’s Daredevil mean for the devils of Hell’s Kitchen?
Daredevil isn’t one of the most Disney friendly of characters. Netflix’s Daredevil show set the tone of the character perfectly with the much admired hallway fight scene of the second episode. The fight was brutal, with a capital B.
To add the presence of Frank Miller to the Daredevil show with the subtitle Born Again, is almost incompressible in the context of Disney.
If you haven’t picked up Frank Miller’s classic take on Daredevil with the Born Again story arc from 1987, you’ll be surprised just how gritty the character can get. Daredevil is often called the Man without Fear (check out our Too Good to Miss recommendation here, no spoilers).
But if Frank Miller is writing the story you’ve got to be ready for the worse.
While it is almost impossible for Disney to apply Miller’s story literally, we can be pretty sure they will be utilising some elements of Miller and reimagining other aspects.
So, what could we expect
WARNING: Spoilers for Frank Miller’s Daredevil: Born Again are contained below. If you haven’t read it you might want to check out the spoiler free summary and come back after you’ve checked it out.
Kingpin
Kingpin appeared in the Netflix Daredevil TV show, Hawkeye Disney+ TV show and Echo Disney+ TV show. He’s also made appearances in the Miles Morales Spider-Verse movie.
In the Born Again storyline, we find a Kingpin who is most like the Netflix daredevil TV show with his hidden control of the criminal underworld and his unseen manipulation of events that bring about the downfall of Matt Murdock.
We can expect some quiet manipulation of events and a little hand-to-hand combat. Miller also delivers a few pages of brutal Kingpin violence. We saw some in the Hawkeye TV show finale and we’ll probably see more in the new daredevil TV show.
Secret Identity Troubles
Spider-Man: No Way Home (which contained a Charlie Cox (Daredevil) cameo) dealt with the issues of Spider-Man’s secret identity being revealed. Miller’s Born Again deals with the situation in a different way.
Daredevil’s identity is revealed by Matt’s ex-girlfriend (Karen Page more on her in a minute), but unlike J. Jonah Jameson revealing Spider-Man’s identity to the world, Kingpin holds onto the information and uses it to his advantages.
The process of undermining Daredevil is truly unsettling and the reader is invited to follow Matt into insanity that practically breaks him.
After the fun Matt and Daredevil have in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk, it is likely that the new TV show will be gritty and as disturbing as Disney can get.
Karen Page
In the comics, Karen becomes a film star and then becomes an addict. In a time of desperation, she reveals Daredevil’s secret identity. She quickly realises her mistake and the danger she is in. To save herself and to attempt to save Matt, Karen ends up in a cross-continent journey to find Matt.
Karen is a much more challenging character in the comics. After nearly four decades, the depiction of Karen is no longer as relevant (thankfully) so we aren’t going to see Karen from the comics on the screen (which is a good thing), it is highly likely that Karen is in for a very difficult time.
Destitute Matt
Matt loses everything in Miller’s Born Again. And by everything, we mean everything. He loses his job, his licence to practice law, his girlfriend, his friend Foggy, all his bank accounts are frozen by the IRS and his apartment building is destroyed.
Matt has nothing and ends up living in a single room in some brilliant panels that show the mental instability of the character and some of his powers.
Exactly how much of this appears in the series is difficult to say. Most recently, Daredevil was in a causal relationship with She-Hulk. Matt Murdock has also been subject to some destitute times in the Netflix series.
However, in She-Hulk and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Matt and Daredevil both look stable and comfortable with their lives. The inevitable presence of Kingpin is likely to make some changes here.
Captain America Cameo?
Miller provides Captain America with a cameo in the story which challenges Caps’ belief in the system he is working for.
Given the currently Marvel timeline with old man Captain America, it is possible that Falcon will appear as the new Captain America in an attempt to tie in the new Captain America story. However, Miller utilises Captain America’s growing apprehension which has been covered in the Winter Solider film and doesn’t give the new Captain America much room for Falcon to be doubting his role in the government and military system.
Which leads us to believe we won’t see Cap in Daredevil.
Nuke
Nuke hasn’t appeared in the Marvel cinematic universe yet and despite being a great (and hugely destructive and dangerous character) it’s not likely he’ll make an appearance. Instead it is much more likely that Bullseye will be filling in for some street-level violence in the TV show.
Ben Urich
One element that feels immensely relevant is the role of the journalist Ben Urich. In Miller’s story, Ben has to make some tough decisions about how he presents the news.
Everything points against Matt being an upstanding citizen and while Ben knows that Matt isn’t guilt, he is pressured into reporting the news he is given. When Ben starts to ask questions, his family is threatened and he is exposed to some incredible pressures to present the news the Kingpin wants to show rather than the truth.
Ben Urich was killed off in the Netflix TV show of Daredevil. But Genneya Walton is playing a journalist with connection to the original characters. So we could reasonably expect a Urich connection and some interest interpretations of misinformation and fake news.
Daredevil: Born Again has finished filming and we are awaiting the trailers that will anticipate the released of the show on Disney+ later in 2025.
If you haven’t read Frank Miller’s Daredevil: Born Again it’s highly recommended.
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