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Daredevil: Born Again is finally here - and The Man Without Fear is now officially canon to the MCU (though I guess his appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk already confirmed that). Now that everyone's favorite attorney has returned to the small screen, there's never been a better time for a Daredevil recap.
It's been seven years since Netflix canceled the original series, despite high ratings and die-hard fans, and you might not remember how everything went down. Or, you might've just never gotten around to watching the show at all. No worries: that's where we come in.
There's a plethora of characters from the original show in Born Again, and you might need a refresher. We also have explainers on new characters like BB Urich, who was created for the show, and Heather Glenn, who is straight from the comics.
We've powered through all three seasons of the original Netflix series to give you a recap before you dive into the unofficial fourth season. You also might need to do some catching up on The Defenders and The Punisher before you start watching the show. So, scroll on down for a brief but thorough history lesson on the 2015 show that is now finally canon to the MCU. This is your ultimate Daredevil recap so far.
Is Daredevil: Born Again a continuation of the Netflix show?
First things first. Yes, Daredevil: Born Again is indeed a continuation of one of the best Netflix shows, the Daredevil series, just not officially. Kind of. A little. If there's one thing to remember about the 2016 show, it's that as great as it was, the one thing it didn't quite manage was keeping its ties to the Marvel timeline. Initially referring to the attack on New York in Avengers as "the incident," the bonds to the bigger Marvel Cinematic Universe began to lose their grip as each show progressed, and the street-level stories that began with the stellar adaptation of Matt Murdock's world kind of spun off on their own.
Now, though, Daredevil and the characters he faces and befriends are being welcomed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with open arms. Described by the cast themselves as a solid continuation of Murdock's mission to protect his city. In an interview at the show's premiere, Vincent D'Onfrio explained to Deadline, "It's like a fourth season of the original show. I mean, we're calling it Daredevil: Born Again, and it's the first season of that, but it's the same tone, the same guys, the same misery, the same excitement, the same emotions, and more."
What happened to Matt Murdock: He went through hell, but what else is new?
Okay, you're up to speed on the important bits about Matt Murdock’s life, right? Son of a boxer? Gets splashed with chemicals after saving some old guy crossing the street and loses his sight, but has his other senses heightened in the process? From there, he lives a double life, serving justice in court by day and beatdowns by night as the devil of Hell's Kitchen, with a grand old time had by all.
By the time the third season finale rolled around, Matt had gone through it and then some. Nursed back from the brink of death after battling an ancient order of ninjas (more on that later), Murdock faced off against Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) once more, whose power was limitless even while behind bars. The rivalry that spanned three seasons culminated in a bloody and brutal clash, with Fisk's plans collapsing under the roped-up fists of his nemesis, and it was awesome. Both sides reached a stalemate, with Fisk threatening to reveal Matthew's true identity, while the top-tier lawyer threatened to expose the Kingpin's newly married wife, Vanessa, as an accomplice and threatening to go after her if he dared break free.
Ultimately, Mr. and Mrs. Fisk were taken away with justice appropriately served, and Matt once again defeating his long-time foe. A job well done, right? Perhaps, but it seems that once again, Wilson has managed to wriggle his way back out of prison and into the mayor's office. How did he get there, and what role does the love of his life play in her husband's 'work' since the last time we saw them together? More importantly, what is Matt going to do to stop him?
What happened to Wilson Fisk? Kingpin returned to the MCU…somehow
So here is where things get tricky, and we look to Daredevil: Born Again to fill in the gaps regarding Wilson Fisk. While Matt Murdock has been working cases for friendly neighborhood wall-crawlers in Spider-Man: No Way Home and leaving She-Hulk, aka Jennifer Walters', apartment in the early morning hours, the Kingpin has escaped prison following the events of Daredevil season 3 and returned to criminal activities in Hawkeye and Echo. The confusing thing is that neither of those Marvel spin-off shows addressed how Fisk got out of incarceration.
Yes, we know, as the big guy claimed that no prison could hold him, but it still doesn't clarify how he managed to return to anything resembling illegal activity after such a damning scandal. We can only hope that upon facing his old foe again, some light will be shed on how Fisk made it out of prison and, more importantly, what he did between the events of Hawkeye, Echo, and now to present himself as a mayoral candidate worth voting for. Will the avenging archer and his sidekick get a mention? Could Echo even appear following the events of her standalone show, which Daredevil briefly visited? Ultimately, there's a lot to catch up on, and we can only assume that the teased chat in a diner might feed us something.
How is Bullseye back in Daredevil: Born Again? He survived a different kind of snap
Following the events of the Daredevil series finale, which were a mix of red, white, and blood, one bad guy that came out the worst of the entire mess was Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye (Wilson Bethel). The former sniper-turned-FBI agent who always got his target missed the mark when he found himself working for Fisk and gradually becoming more unhinged the deeper he got with Kingpin. After posing as Daredevil and staining the good name of Hell's Kitchen's number one hero, Dex soon realized just how much he'd been played by Wilson and turned up while Matt was hoping to bring the big bad guy down. The three-way fight ended with Poindexter's back being broken by an enraged Fisk and Dex being taken out of action.
As revealed in the final moments of Daredevil, though, Poindexter was seen on an operating table having his back worked on, only to wake up revealing the comic book character's signature bullseye logo reflected in his eye (gotta love that bad guy branding). Of course, we never got an official update on how Benjamin returned from the brink, as the show was canceled along with every other Marvel-based series. Of course, now we know that Bethel's bonkers assassin is back in action for Daredevil: Born Again and is gunning for our favorite blind superhero. Just how much he'll play a part in the new show has yet to be revealed, but you can bet it will end with someone entering his crosshairs and not making it out of them alive.
What happened to Foggy Nelson and Karen Page in Daredevil? The pair got back on the case
After successfully putting Fisk back behind bars in season 3 (even though it didn't last long), Karen (Deborah Ann-Woll), Foggy (Elden Henson), and Matt ended on a brighter note and a napkin to start afresh. Throughout the Netflix series, the relationships between these three had their ups and downs and even straight-up fractures to the point that portions of this beloved trifecta came close to cutting ties forever. Thankfully, they all made up and, with a nudge from Foggy, began a new firm as Nelson Murdock & Page, having a drink at Josie's to celebrate their new business venture at the end of Daredevil season 3.
Shortly after the events of Daredevil's final season, Karen reappeared, this time to help the trigger-happy hero Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, once again in the second season of the spin-off show. What might make for an interesting element to Born Again is that Karen has given those big blue doe eyes to both Matt and Frank during her time in their respective stories, so there's every chance that some kind of love triangle could present itself now that all characters are set to reunite, as well. It's just a question of how damaged one particular side of it will be.
What happened to Punisher? Frank Castle was still hard at work at the end of his Netflix series
One appearance fans will undoubtedly be happy to see is the one-man-army, The Punisher, who was so brilliantly brought to life by Jon Bernthal. Making his explosive debut in season 2 of Netflix's Daredevil series, Frank went off to fight his own battles in his spin-off series, which lasted for two seasons and ended in 2017. Just like Matt had Fisk to fight throughout his story, Frank went after his old war buddy Billy Russo, aka Jigsaw (Ben Barnes), for the murder of his wife and children. Successful in his mission, the show ended with Frank back in action as The Punisher, continuing to put down bad guys permanently in a way that Matt was very much against.
It's that classic dilemma between two iconic vigilantes that will likely reappear in Daredevil: Born Again, but potentially not in the way we expect. As the trailer reveals, Matt tracks down Frank for reasons that have yet to be revealed. Could it be that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen needs to visit a real monster of a man to do something that he isn't willing to do and will involve Frank's body count growing even higher during the events of Daredevil: Born Again? We already know that the murderous Muse is the new villain on the block, and sometimes, it takes a killer to catch a killer in the end. It's also worth noting that a Punisher special presentation is also on the way after Born Again, so there will be plenty more punishment on the way, too.
The Defenders dismantled, but could they make a comeback?
While it's confirmed that Frank Castle is most certainly back in action for the new chapter of Daredevil's story, one thing that fans are holding out hope for is an appearance from a Defender or two. If you've watched The Defenders saga in order then you'll know that the street-level superheroes that joined forces in the limited series still had their own stories to tell after they stopped the ninja assassin group, The Hand, from collapsing in New York. Luke Cage (Mike Colter) got his own half-brother put in The Raft, while Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter, who hinted at a possible return) coincidentally sent her sister to the same prison in her third and final season.
As for the Immortal Iron Fist, aka Danny Rand (Finn Jones), his gig was passed over to Colleen Wing, who took up the mantle of Iron Fist in the show's second season. With all these open-ended stories, one or all of the aforementioned heroes could come to Daredevil's aid in the coming weeks.
In an interview with CBR, Marvel Television head Brad Winderdaum said, "So, you know, we're not going to do anything just to do it." At the same time, it sounds like the brains behind Born Again and other small-screen sections of the MCU is taking his time with things."I think the key to the story is to follow the characters, and let them lead the path for us. That being said, they live and breathe in the same universe as those characters, so collisions are probably inevitable." We can only wait and see...
Daredevil: Born Again is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more, check out our Daredevil: Born Again review, or, stay up to date on new episodes with our Daredevil: Born Again release schedule.
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