Daredevil: Born Again, which will be available on Disney+ on March 4, 2025, is the exciting return of Marvel’s street-level vigilante Matt Murdock. It is a continuation of the popular Netflix series Daredevil (2015–2018). This action-packed, TV-MA rated show is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Phase Five. It gives a darker, more serialized look at the blind lawyer-turned-hero, mixing intense fight scenes with complicated character drama. Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 has brought back excitement for fans with a great cast, a new creative approach, and a nod to the show’s dark beginnings. It has also opened up new possibilities for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
Plot and Setting: A Crime Story in New York
The MCU timeline for Daredevil: Born Again is after Echo (2024), and the first episode starts in late 2025 and jumps to late 2026. Along with his partners Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), the blind lawyer with heightened senses, keeps fighting for justice through his law firm. At the same time, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), his biggest enemy, has gone from being a crime lord to a political candidate. He is running for mayor of New York City with his wife Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) and is running his empire with ruthless efficiency. As their old names, Daredevil and Kingpin, come back to life, the two are pulled into an unavoidable, explosive clash.
A new threat is introduced in Muse: a masked serial killer who turns victims into creepy street art, making things even more chaotic in New York’s criminal underworld. As Murdock looks into Muse’s murders, Fisk’s rise to power in politics creates a tense power struggle between several groups, similar to Game of Thrones because of the way different groups compete for control. The story mixes legal procedural elements with visceral action and looks at themes of guilt, redemption, and the moral gray areas of vigilantism, all of which are connected to the Irish Catholic symbolism that defines Daredevil’s character.
Cast and Characters: Old Friends and New Ones
One of the best things about the show is that the original cast is back. Charlie Cox plays Matt Murdock, the troubled lawyer and the relentless vigilante, and he does a great job. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk is a standout. His portrayal is uncharacteristically restrained but still scary, which sets the series’ darker tone. Deborah Ann Woll plays Karen Page, Elden Henson plays Foggy Nelson, Jon Bernthal plays the Punisher, Wilson Bethel plays Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter (Bullseye), and Ayelet Zurer plays Vanessa Fisk. New cast members like Margarita Levieva (Heather Glenn), Genneya Walton (BB Urich), Michael Gandolfini (Daniel Blake), and Camila Rodriguez (Angela del Toro, the new White Tiger) add to the ensemble. There are also cameos from MCU characters like Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) and Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), who is also known as Swordsman.
Changes to production and creativity
Daredevil: Born Again was first announced in July 2022 with an order for 18 episodes, but production ran into a lot of problems. Filming started in 2022, but it was put on hold because of labor disputes in Hollywood in 2023. Marvel Studios then completely changed the project in September 2023. Dario Scardapane (The Punisher) took over as showrunner from Matt Corman and Chris Ord. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Moon Knight) were hired to direct the new version of the show. The changes turned the show from a legal drama into a serialized continuation of the Netflix series, with the season split into two nine-episode arcs. Filming started again in January 2024 and ended in April. Directors Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd kept their credits for their episodes.
The Newton Brothers wrote the music, which included parts of John Paesano and Braden Kimball’s original Daredevil theme. This song came out as a digital single on March 4, 2025. Michael Shaw’s production design and Emily Gunshor’s costumes, including Ryan Meinerding’s new Daredevil suit, keep the show’s gritty look while adding some polish from the MCU.
Daredevil has a darker tone and moves faster.
Born Again is a “New York crime story” based on The Sopranos and King of New York. It has a faster pace and a wider range than the Netflix series, which balanced longer character scenes with action. Dario Scardapane, the showrunner, said that the new show would be darker than the old one, like the gritty Echo, but with less gore to appeal to a wider audience. Philip Silvera, the stunt coordinator, choreographed the action scenes, which are visceral and brutal. However, some critics say they don’t match the Netflix series’ famous fight choreography. The series keeps the grounded, street-level feel that fans loved, with religious themes and moral dilemmas, but it sometimes has trouble finding the right balance between being part of the MCU and being its own thing.
How it was received and what it did
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, which aired from March 4 to April 15, 2025, got mostly good reviews. It got an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (7.75/10, 211 reviews) and a 69/100 on Metacritic based on 30 reviews. Critics praised the mature storytelling, intense action, and performances of Cox and D’Onofrio. The series was called a “worthy continuation” of the Netflix legacy. Some people, on the other hand, said that the pacing was off, the tone was inconsistent, and the CGI wasn’t as good as in the original. A few people even said that it didn’t fully capture the magic of the Netflix series. The two-episode premiere got 7.5 million views in five days, making it the biggest Disney+ debut of 2025 at the time. However, it didn’t make it into Nielsen’s Top 10, falling behind other MCU shows like Loki and Agatha All Along.
Fans on social media loved it, calling it “bold, brutal, and timely.” Some, however, were disappointed that it had fewer religious themes and lost the original’s gritty edge. Fans were excited for more after the series ended on a cliffhanger and set up Season 2, which will start in March 2026.
In the Future
Because the series was so popular, a second season is already in the works. It will have old characters like Jessica Jones and new ones like Matthew Lillard and Lili Taylor. In 2026, there will also be a special presentation of The Punisher with Jon Bernthal. Even though it has trouble getting viewers, Marvel’s dedication to street-level heroes bodes well for Daredevil and his friends in the MCU.
Final Thoughts
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 is a bold but flawed reboot that pays tribute to the Netflix series and opens up new possibilities in the MCU. It stands out because of its darker tone, great acting, and intense action, but it has trouble finding a balance between its gritty roots and the larger Marvel universe. For fans of the Man Without Fear, this exciting return promises even more devilry to come. Watch it on Disney+ and see the guardian of Hell’s Kitchen come back to life.
