Daredevil: Born Again season 2 brings a renewed focus on the relationship and rivalry between Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Wilson Bethel's Bullseye that evolves their dynamic beyond what we've seen before in comics.
Beware, we'll be getting into some spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 4, so turn back now if you haven't seen it.
In comics, Bullseye is something like Daredevil's equivalent to the Joker - an utterly insane, immoral, bloodthirsty agent of chaos who thrives on making Daredevil and his loved ones suffer. He is an irredeemable villain who remains consistently dedicated to nothing but murder and carnage.
But Daredevil: Born Again season 2 puts a new twist on Matt and Bullseye's contentious hatred for one another, shakily aligning them in their quest to take down Wilson Fisk and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force. It's a departure from their traditional relationship that adds depth to the Bullseye of the MCU that is necessary to elevate him from a force of nature to a fully-fledged character.
Daredevil's worst enemy
The comic version of Bullseye takes actual pleasure in tormenting Daredevil, wreaking havoc on his life across some of the most intense and emotional battles of Matt Murdock's life. He's killed and attempted to kill so many of Daredevil's loved ones that it's easier to list out those he hasn't targeted for murder.
There's no redemption for Bullseye in comics. He doesn't slow down, even when he's maimed and killed, always being healed and brought back by the mystical ninja group known as The Hand whose secret magic includes the power of resurrection, making Bullseye one of Daredevil's most inescapable foes.
There is one example of Bullseye technically becoming a hero in comics, though even then he rarely acted in any way heroically. When Norman Osborn became the head of the US's top security agency, which he renamed HAMMER, he formed his own twisted team of anti-heroes known as the Dark Avengers, with each member taking on the identity of a well-known Avenger.
Osborn recruits Bullseye to the team, having worked with the assassin in his time as head of the Thunderbolts, then more of a black-ops squad. He rechristens Bullseye as his own personal Hawkeye, who trades his knives for arrows. Though he takes on actual threats to the world as an ersatz version of the avenging archer, he never truly reforms or gives up his brutal tactics.
That kind of intense but limited portrayal works well in comics, where Bullseye only shows up every few years with a new plan to bedevil Matt Murdock. But in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, where he's an ongoing presence, he's undergone a much needed evolution.
From assassin to anti-hero
Daredevil: Born Again twists Bullseye's bloodthirsty nature on its head, turning him from one of DD's worst enemies into a somewhat reluctant ally - or at least less of a direct antagonist. Instead, he's actually protecting Daredevil and doing his own part to take down Mayor Fisk's AVTF.
That's not to say Daredevil is having it. Bullseye still killed his best pal Foggy Nelson after all, and he's not slowing down on murdering people, as seen in his killer diner fight in Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 4. But Bullseye is still watching Daredevil's back while also plotting his own schemes against Wilson and Vanessa Fisk.
According to Bullseye actor Wilson Bethel, it's his shared hatred of Kingpin that leads him to side with the extremely reluctant Daredevil.
"I think it's [that] his main mission now is killing the Fisks. And they just happen to be on parallel [tracks]," Bethel tells The Direct. "I mean, obviously Matt doesn't want to kill them, but he wants to, you know, put them out of commission or whatever. So the fact that they are on a shared - they have a shared objective. I mean, you know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So that's where they start the season. Obviously, it is a really fun place for us to see these two very different characters."
With four episodes left in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, there's still a long road ahead to see where Bullseye and Daredevil's rivalry goes. However, transforming Bullseye from his irredeemably evil comic book incarnation into a character who is more of an anti-hero is exactly what he needs in the MCU.
Not only does the change add complexity and new motivation for Bullseye, it also enables Wilson Bethel to deliver a delightfully madcap performance that is immediately the most exciting development in Daredevil: Born Again season 2 so far.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is airing weekly on Disney Plus. Stay up to date with our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 release schedule, or check out our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 review.
