Daredevil: Born Again season 2 review – Marvel drama still needs incubation

After behind-the-scenes turmoil almost brought a premature end to Charlie Cox's Marvel comeback, this second season of his Disney+ drama could more accurately be called Daredevil: Reborn Yet Again.

Fans may remember that production on the first outing stalled partway through, as producers wisened up to the idea that a revival which completely disowns the lauded original might not go down well with viewers.

Out went showrunners Matt Corman and Chris Ord, and in came former The Punisher boss Dario Scardapane to salvage what remained, repurposing old footage and filming new material to form a Frankenstein's monster that miraculously lived.

In season 2, the head writer is clear of the abandoned work of his predecessors, which benefits a confident first half. Alas, that momentum dissipates as we close in on the disappointingly flat finale.

The story picks up with Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) maintaining an iron grip on New York City's mayoralty and its residents, including through the regular use of his brutalising Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF).

Fisk's special officers are ordered to clamp down on masked crime-fighters 'running amok', but their general lack of integrity, compassion or finesse ends up putting innocent civilians in the line of fire.

In this hostile environment, Matt Murdock (Cox) has gone underground with lover Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who together head up a humble resistance to their arch-nemesis and his cronies.

This renewed focus on Matt and Karen is one major point of difference between Scardapane's Born Again and that of the earlier showrunners, who had planned to kill off Woll's love interest in their scrapped version of the show.

This, to be fair, is not out of step with the source material, but would have surely been anathema to those fans who had already waited several years for Cox and Woll to be reunited.

Scardapane managed to hit 'undo' on that dark twist, but could only feature Woll sparingly in season 1 due to the remnants of the earlier plan. Now, she's at the centre of everything – and those who called for Karen's survival should feel vindicated.

The chemistry between Cox and Woll is strong as ever, easily reminding us of the intensity of feeling between Matt and Karen – both in their romance and the friction of their clashing philosophies.

Frankly, it gets harder and harder to see Matt's point of view as the season progresses, even if you can identify with some good ol' Catholic guilt.

Ultimately, his dogmatic approach culminates in a bizarre, tone-deaf conclusion that can't reasonably be considered fair or moral – despite the show's efforts to depict it as such. I'm genuinely fascinated to see how people respond to it.

Karen's reinstatement as Born Again's female lead regrettably results in less substantial roles for Matt's legal partner Kirsten (played by Nikki M James) and troubled ex-girlfriend Heather (Margarita Levieva).

If only Scardapane could have diverted some screen time from the dull double-act that is BB (Genneya Walton) and Daniel (Michael Gandolfini), whose agonisingly drawn out arc in this season is both boring and, frankly, a bit ridiculous.

Unfortunately, at this point, you could describe Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin in similar terms.

He's had an admirable run since his debut, more than a decade ago, in the first season of Netflix's Daredevil – some fans would even argue he's the MCU's finest villain – but the character has simply run its course at this stage.

That signature voice and looming stature doesn't strike fear in our hearts as it once did, even in the moments of extreme violence that have become Wilson Fisk's grim specialty.

His tenure as mayor hasn't helped matters, creating a confusing dynamic tangled in the machinery of US politics and undermined by the vastness of New York City (let alone the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole).

Fisk's office is the scene of a litany of unspeakable crimes – including oft-stated (but not always visible) oppression of the local population – and yet it incongruously frets over a visit from Lili Taylor's mild-mannered state governor.

She and her enigmatic associate Mr Charles (fellow newcomer Matthew Lillard) seem to view Fisk's reign as an inconvenient frivolity, which in turn makes Matt and Karen's exile seem like an act of self-indulgent make believe.

All this to say, Born Again's dramatic stakes are muddled and, besides evoking some surface-level comparisons to real-world events, it also fails to spin any insightful political commentary out of its Mayor Kingpin plot.

Despite the structural issues with the story, Daredevil: Born Again season 2 can just about scrape by on the strength of original stars Cox, Woll, Ayelet Zurer (as Fisk's wife, Vanessa) and Wilson Bethel (as Benjamin Poindexter, AKA Bullseye).

It also benefits from the much-hyped return of Krysten Ritter's private investigator Jessica Jones – the specifics of which I won't even attempt to hint at coyly.

As previously reported by Radio Times, the big reveal is held back until a later part of the season in typical Marvel fashion, yet somehow still feels abrupt (random, even) when it does eventually happen.

The heavy-handedness aside, it's great to have one of Marvel's most memorable heroine's back in play and Ritter hits a familiar note in the role, while alluding to meaningful growth for the character in her seven-year absence.

Overall though, it's clear that Born Again season 2 is still recovering from the breeched delivery of the first, meaning it has to juggle its underbaked original elements with reincorporating (or giving closure to) those of the Netflix era.

By the end of its deflating finale, there is a sense that the most painful hours of labour might be over.

Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Wednesday 25 March 2026 on Disney Plus UK. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month.

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