Daredevil: Born Again | Review, 7 things I liked and disliked about it

Main Cast & Crew:

Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (episodes 1, 7 and 8; creators of Loki Season 2)
Directed by David Boyd, Michael Cuesta and Jeffrey Nachmanoff (episodes 2-7)
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
Margarita Levieva as Dr. Heather Glenn
Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk
Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Pointdexter/Bullseye
Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blake
Genneya Walton as BB Urich
Nikki M. James as Kirsten McDuffie
Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala/White Tiger
Check out the entire cast and crew here…

Review:

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen returns, this time officially inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his own series. Along with Matt Murdock, a few familiar faces are back, carrying forward the legacy they built in the Netflix version.

From the start, fans were unsure if the MCU and Disney could match the quality that Netflix delivered. The original series stood out not just for its brutal, one-take action scenes, but also for its sharp writing and grounded storytelling.

Daredevil: Born Again serves as a soft reboot. It continues the journey of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk while introducing new characters and fresh conflicts. Both leads still wrestle with their past, even as new threats test their limits.

Not everything about this soft reboot works, and it doesn’t reach the heights of the Netflix version. But it still takes viewers on a compelling journey. Let’s break down the things I liked and disliked about the series in the sections below.

7 things I liked about Daredevil: Born Again:

1. One of the biggest rumors, reports, and speculations while the series was under production was that Marvel would completely reboot Daredevil, with new characters and a story disjointed from the Netflix version. However, the passionate fanbase that loved the original series made their voices heard, and Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios listened.
   This shift led Marvel to bring in skilled writers and directors, and that’s where Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead come in. After their success and appreciation with Loki: Season 2, they were the perfect choice to bring a fresh yet familiar touch to the series.
2. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead bring a fresh visual style to how Matt’s powers are portrayed. Although this effect only appears in the episodes they directed, it stands out. Whenever Matt taps into his heightened senses, the screen expands to IMAX format. The camera zooms in on his face as he locks onto a sound or movement, then shifts toward the focus point while the screen slowly returns to its original size. It’s a striking and immersive way to show how Daredevil experiences the world.
3. Right in the first episode, we get an incredible one-shot action sequence—classic Daredevil style—that hits hard emotionally by the time the choreography ends. The scene starts at Josie’s Bar and unfolds across the entire building. Daredevil and Bullseye fight their way from the ground floor, move up as Bullseye tries to escape the wrath of Daredevil, and finally reach the rooftop, where Daredevil faces a life-altering moment. While we don’t get another one-shot sequence for the rest of the season, that’s not unusual—even the Netflix version only gave us one per season.
4. This season focuses more on Matt Murdock’s internal struggles—his healing, growth, and attempts to move on from past losses. That’s one reason the show holds back on frequent action scenes. But when Matt does fight, his inner turmoil makes him more brutal than ever. These moments, though fewer, hit hard and give us some of the most intense action in the series.
5. One thing I’m really glad they carried over from the original series is the balance between law, faith, and inner conflict. Born Again brings back the deeper side of Matt—the Catholic boy who prays, questions, and still believes in a higher power, even while walking through darkness. His inner monologues and the way he connects scripture with the harsh reality around him are just as impactful here as they were in the Netflix version. And just because he’s a vigilante by night doesn’t mean his daytime job gets ignored. This is shown perfectly in Episode 3, during the trial of Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger, where Matt stands firm as a prosecutor while wrestling with his moral compass.
6. Coming back to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead—their creative vision truly stands out. They were brought in midway through production to fix what was becoming a disjointed series and helped reshape it with clarity and purpose. Not only did they bridge two conflicting storylines, but they also elevated the overall quality with their direction. Episodes 1, 7, and 8, which they directed, feel like cinematic experiences—visually sharp, emotionally engaging, and far more cohesive. In contrast, the rest of the season feels relatively average. Marvel made the right call bringing them in, and I hope they continue to give these two more projects. Thankfully, they’re also writing and directing Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, which is currently in production.
7. The last episode of the season gives us a powerful reunion between Daredevil, Punisher, and Karen. After escaping from Buck at the hospital, Daredevil returns home—only to find the Punisher already there, watching his back, as Fisk has begun targeting all the vigilantes in New York City. What follows is an intense team-up as Daredevil and Punisher take on the Anti-Vigilante Task Force—each in their own brutal way. While Daredevil focuses on injuring and disabling the task force, Punisher goes on a ruthless kill-streak, taking out officers one by one. The entire sequence instantly brings back the raw energy and nostalgia of Daredevil Season 2.
   While trying to escape from the Task Force, Daredevil and Punisher are later rescued by Karen. Many of the moments with Karen are beautifully curated—there are both subtle and direct hints to the deep history Matt and Karen have shared since the very beginning. These emotional callbacks add a lot of heart to the finale and serve as a rewarding moment for longtime fans of the original series.
   Even the scenes with Wilson Fisk were so wonderfully crafted that it truly felt like we were witnessing the return of his old Netflix version—the same menacing, calculated, and brutally intense Kingpin we all feared. His presence commands the screen, reminding us exactly why he remains one of the most compelling villains in the Marvel universe.

7 things I disliked about Daredevil: Born Again:

1. The inconsistent writing throughout the series is a major letdown, especially for fans who’ve followed Daredevil from the beginning. Born Again Season 1 lacks the emotional and character depth that made the Netflix version so powerful. Back then, we saw Matt process his pain through his faith, his guilt, and his inner demons. His reflections—rooted in religion and personal struggle—gave the story its emotional weight. That kind of depth is largely missing here, and it leaves the series feeling hollow in parts.
   The entire first season of Daredevil: Born Again feels more like a buildup than a complete story. Instead of delivering a full arc, it spends most of its time setting the stage for Season 2. It’s hard not to think the series would’ve been stronger if Marvel had stuck with the original 18-episode limited series plan. That structure could have allowed more room for character development, pacing, and emotional payoff.
2. Another major issue with Born Again is the lack of screen time and development for the side characters. The series primarily focuses on Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, leaving little room for the supporting cast to grow. This is where Netflix’s version excelled—the show took its time building out the side characters, allowing the audience to connect with them or at least understand their backstories. If Marvel hadn’t been under a time crunch to wrap up storylines before Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the writing for these side characters might have received more attention and depth.
   One of the most disappointing aspects of the season was how the villain, Muse, and his gruesome, artistic killings, central to the story, were handled. After building up his character as a significant threat throughout the season, his death felt cheap and meaningless, undermining the entire narrative arc. Additionally, Episode 5 seemed more like a promotional tool for Ms. Marvel, with an over-the-top advertisement for the character through Yusuf Khan (played by Mohan Kapur), who played a bank manager. Instead of focusing on that, the episode could have used its time to develop important side characters like Daniel Blake, BB Urich, and Kirsten McDuffie, characters who deserved more attention and depth.
3. The weak CGI right from the very first episode leaves a sour aftertaste for the audience. From the start of the show, we get various shots of Daredevil scaling rooftops to reach his destinations—these scenes were heavily reliant on CGI and hardly used any practical effects. As Daredevil runs and performs parkour, we can see him getting blurry, which detracts from the realism. This is an issue Marvel Studios seriously needs to address. The problem of weak and poor CGI has been prevalent since She-Hulk, and it still doesn’t seem to have been fully resolved—except for the wonderful work in Loki Season 2.
4. This might be one of my nitpicks, but the intro music of Netflix’s Daredevil was on another level and can’t be defeated. The imagery of blood falling and dripping off the Lady of Justice, the buildings of Hell’s Kitchen, the church where Matt regularly visits, and, at the end, the vision of Matt Murdock—just like he describes, “the world on fire”—the intro music and the entire context of that sequence are unmatched and can’t be topped.
5. Killing the most important character right at the beginning from the previous show just to maintain the continuity became a real turnoff for me. They could have kept the continuity by doing a sendoff for Karen, like it happens in the comics, but Foggy was one of my most beloved side characters. I hope, by any chance, we get to see him alive in the next season, if possible.
6. Other than the one-shot action sequence in the very first episode, there are just a few action sequences throughout the series. But in those action sequences, the filming looks poor on the screen. There are too many cuts whenever Matt/Daredevil is fighting someone. Considering that Charlie Cox is brilliant with his action stunts and has pulled off many one-shot action sequences, the stunt choreography could have been better in the episodes in the middle.
7. And the last point repeats itself from my previous blog on another comic book show, The Penguin. Whether it was Jio Cinema or now Jio Hotstar, Jio seriously needs to improve the quality of their streaming app. Disney+ Hotstar was doing just fine before Jio’s takeover, but since Jio merged Jio Cinema and Disney+ Hotstar, the quality has dropped off and become really terrible—even at 4K quality, which actually feels like 720p because of the lower bitrate upload quality.