The seven year wait is over, as Daredevil: Born Again has now premiered on Disney Plus, finally continuing the Netflix show with many of the original cast. Critical reception is a little colder than perhaps hoped for, though returning star Deborah Ann Woll is decidedly pleased with how the season has been reviewed.
The new episodes in Matt Murdock’s ongoing quest to protect Hell's Kitchen opened to 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest debuting score for a season of Daredevil thus far. Nonetheless, Woll (who returns as Karen) was quick to celebrate being on the right side of the score aggregator’s scale, sharing her own screenshot with the caption: "Fresh!"
By the time she'd checked how reviews were going, the score had gone up to 82%. At time of writing, it's at 83%, so it’s ticking upwards for the time-being. That still places it third out of four seasons overall, as seasons one and three managed to garner 99% and 97%, respectively.
GamesRadar's Bradley Russell was on the more negative side, writing in his Daredevil: Born Again review: "This is a Daredevil show that's playing dress-up and cosplaying as the far superior Netflix show, its costume too baggy and ill-fitting, with its narrative threads too easy to unpick."
Charlie Cox comes back as the titular hero for Born Again, after dropping by She-Hulk and Echo to make his presence known. Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin was also in the latter, after debuting in Hawkeye.
They're joined by Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, and Jon Bernthal as Frank 'The Punisher' Castle. The production is overseen by new showrunner Dario Scardapane.
It's the first of the Defenders crop of Netflix shows to be formally continued by the House of Mouse and Marvel Studios, although they're all now streaming on Disney Plus. Daredevil was gradually joined on Netflix by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to form a four-person team, Elektra and The Punisher also making notable appearances.
Their connection to the overall MCU was always a little tenuous, but now Matt and Frank have been properly folded in, we’ll see who else gets the call to come back from Marvel.
Once you've checked out the first two episodes, find out about the full Daredevil: Born Again release schedule, and we have a list of all the upcoming Marvel TV shows and movies for you to dive into as well.
