Daredevil: Born Again: First Impressions

Daredevil: Born Again Doesn’t Explain Itself Much

Perhaps incorrectly, I went into the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again almost without any prior knowledge. I haven’t seen the original Daredevil show past the first episode or two—and that was years and years ago. I wanted to see if this new series would be understandable. That way, if you, dear reader, are also in the same camp, I can help inform, one way or the other.

But I was not prepared for such a tightrope of a show. There’s no aggressive recapping or exposition, but it’s also not impossible to get what’s going on. As long as you have enough pop culture knowledge about Daredevil as a general character, it’s a smooth enough watching experience.

And that’s confidence. And that’s not the only confident thing about Daredevil: Born Again. For a show whose main action draw is beating up criminals with mostly grounded fist fights, the first two episodes are very light on action. It’s mostly character drama, legal battles, political drama, and even a mild romance plotline.

This Isn’t The Action Show You Possibly Expected

This is not to say that it was boring—it’s just not what I expected. The acting and pacing are both very well done. Especially the acting. Seeing Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio sit across from each other and monolog their hearts out was a joy. You get so many layers of character dynamics and emotions just from that one scene. It made me want to go back and see all the original Daredevil series just to get more context.

But even without that bigger context, the underlying theme comes across—and it’s a theme that I haven’t seen Marvel put so front and center into a series. It’s not one I’ve seen explored this heavily in any series, actually—and we’re only two episodes in. Daredevil: Born Again is about rage. I cannot see any counterargument to that assertion. Cooled off rage, repressed rage, flares of rage, systemic, societal, political rage. White Tiger has been swept up into the rage-filled vengeance of the NYPD. The on-the-street interviews are about citizens being angry. And Daredevil can barely contain his own rage against so many different things, it’s like he’s burning up inside.

Daredevil: Born Again Does A Lot With Its Themes

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of rage so far, though, is Kingpin’s plotline. It would’ve been so easy to have him be a flat, corrupt character—but he’s actually framed as a good mayor sometimes. The filing of the massive hole in the road is clearly framed to present that idea. But, even if his motivations are somehow genuine and moral, you can see how—as each machination of New York politics and the NYPD pile up—he’s constantly wanting to turn to rage and violence, yet again. Another time bomb waiting to go off.

But, like, I had to really be committed to get all of that interesting plot stuff. From bad CGI to a long, self-indulgent intro, Daredevil: Born Again would’ve booted me out at first attempt. If I wasn’t a critic and it wasn’t my job to watch shows, I might not have stuck around. Frankly, I’m starting to see this as a pattern with Marvel TV shows. I’ve reviewed a lot of them, from Agatha All Along to Hawkeye, and it’s been this way almost every time. The first episodes are often clunky. They feel like all set up, and often also feel like they’re holding back. I’m almost certain Daredevil: Born Again started off with one big, dynamic action scene, so it’s tolerable to wait so long for Matt Murdock to get back into superhero work. But we all know he will; we all know what has to happen, so impatience is assured.

The Storytelling Does Not Care If We Have To Wait

And since we’re talking problems, we do need to talk about the elephant in the room. Adapting Daredevil into any medium cannot shake the fact that having superpowers tied to a disability is a notable subject. I do not have the knowledge or the experience to really weigh in on this, but it’s my understanding that this sort of presentation is quite problematic. I have no doubt the creators of the show tried very hard to make sure that many other aspects of Daredevil: Born Again represents living with that disability as respectfully as possible, but that aspect is always going to be there.

It is impressive, though, that besides that issue, and my already explored critiques, I really don’t have any complaints with Daredevil: Born Again as a show. Like I said, the acting is good. The characters are complex in interesting ways. The use of light and camera angles and even how it handles violence has a very controlled, precise feeling to it. While a lot of Marvel feels campy, this really leans into the MA rating without feeling overly serious.

Even if you’ve never seen a Marvel product—maybe even actively avoided them—this is in its own lane. It’s got its own energy and vibe that makes me want to return to it. That second episode ending might’ve heralded the viewing experience I was originally expecting, and with all the added flavor Daredevil: Born Again also apparently has, it’s got the makings of an excellent Daredevil series, regardless of what came before.

    

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