The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen Returns

I’ve got to be honest, I don’t have a clue where the Marvel Cinematic UniverseWhen it first began in 2008 with a little film called Iron Man no one suspected the empire that would follow. Superhero movies in the past, especially those not featuring either Batman or Superman, were usually terrible. And yet, Iron Man would lead to a long series of successful films, launching the most successful cinema brand in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. is going at this point. That’s not a critique on the overall storytelling of Phases IV and V, which I’ve frequently bitched about (including over on the podcast). Those phases haven’t worked, and the movies and shows we’ve been getting as of late have been pretty bad. But a weird thing has been brewing in the background that only really becomes evident now that Disney+Disney's answer in the streaming service game, Disney+ features the studio's (nearly) full back catalog, plus new movies and shows from the likes of the MCU and Star Wars. has their Daredevil continuation out on streaming: the MCU seems to be turning into the NetflixOriginally started as a disc-by-mail service, Netflix has grown to be one of the largest media companies in the world (and one of the most valued internet companies as well). With a constant slate of new internet streaming-based programming that updates all the time, Netflix has redefined what it means to watch TV and films (as well as how to do it). Marvel Universe.

That might seem odd to say since there are plenty of projects in the pipe that don’t relate to the Netflix shows – Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders – and Marvel is building to a massive crossover in Avengers: Doomsday that is meant to cap Phase VI. But, at the same time, it feels like the parts of the universe that are working aren’t the shows and movies that tie into Marvel’s massive crossover plan. It’s smaller projects, the cameos, the characters we enjoy that seem to have their own lives going on outside the crossover event. And because of that, because Marvel is letting a couple of their characters have adventures in other shows while setting up their own project on Disney+, they’re becoming the true heart and soul of this new MCU. And yes, I’m talking about Daredevil and Kingpin.

Consider the projects we’ve gotten that have featured one or the other of these characters: Hawkeye, Spider-man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, and now Daredevil: Born Again. And I will admit not all of those projects were perfect. I liked She-Hulk: Attorney At Law but I know plenty didn’t, and Echo was a mess that only got interesting right at the end. But still, even when these projects were uneven, there’s no denying that the performances from Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin were fantastic. They infused their scenes with heart and spirit and they reminded you why we liked the characters so much (something that couldn’t always be said about other legacy characters during Phases IV and V).

This speaks to the fact that Netflix managed their casting really well, and they hit on stars that were pitch perfect for their roles (at least for Daredevil and we will kindly ignore Iron Fist, thank you). When Disney finally got the rights back to Daredevil and the rest of the Netflix shows, they not only put those shows on Disney+ but they also set about ways to bring many of the characters back, not just Daredevil and Kingpin but so many of their side characters and related roles, such as Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / The Punisher. Disney and Marvel listened to the fans and realized there was still love for the Netflix shows, and so they tried to bring these guys back for more.

Now, I won’t say that Disney did this for altruistic reasons. They’re been milking everything Marvel related for nostalgia for years now, and bringing back these legacy TV shows is no different. But even then, Daredevil: Born Again could have just been a lazy cash grab like almost everything else the MCU has been churning out for the last few years. Instead, though, we have a fine return to form for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, a show that properly carries on the Netflix show, operating effectively as a fourth season for the run. And it cements Daredevil and Kingpin as characters to watch in the MCU in whatever they appear in. Now Disney just has to realize that they have great actors and great characters in smaller stories that work, and they need to refocus the MCU to take advantage of it. Because, if this first season is any indication, this is the future of the MCU.

Daredevil: Born Again picks up at the end of the Netflix run’s third season, with Matt (Charlie Cox), Karen (Deborah Ann Woll), and Foggy (Elden Henson) celebrating getting their firm back together, as well as Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) going back to prison. Their celebration is short lived, though, as Dex Poindexter / Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) assassinates Foggy. Matt throws on his Daredevil suit and goes after the shooter, getting into a massive fight with Dex that leads to Matt throwing the killer off the roof, nearly killing him. This causes Matt to question everything, leading to him retiring Daredevil, he thinks once and for all.

Several years later, Matt now works with former District Attorney Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James) in their shared law firm, taking cases big and small not unlike how Matt and Foggy handled it back in the day. Matt ends up taking on a case, pro-bono, defending a guy, Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes), who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to help someone that was getting beaten up by a couple of thugs. One of the thugs ends up dying accidentally, and the other reveals himself to be a cop, who then arrests Hector for murder. But Hector is also, secretly, the vigilante White Tiger, and this puts Matt in a spot of trying to defend a vigilante when he, himself, used to be one. Oh, and Fisk is back, now elected as mayor of New York City, and if Matt doesn’t watch himself, he’ll end up with a target right on his back.

There’s a lot going on in Daredevil: Born Again, more than I could easily summarize in just a couple of paragraphs. There are cops taking on the guise of the Punisher, fanboys killing in his name. There’s a serial killer on the loose, murdering people and painting with their blood. There’s a mafia gang war brewing, which Fisk may or may not be fueling for his own personal ends. Hell, him as mayor seems to be him turning over a new leaf, but can the Kingpin ever stop being the Kingpin? These are all storylines that feed into and thread through the first season of the show, and it makes for a very intense, twisting narrative that doesn’t let up.

But, and I think this is most important, the show also doesn’t tie up its storyline in a single season. Where other TV shows in the MCU have functioned less like shows or mini-series and more like overly long movies, Daredevil: Born Again is different. It’s episodic, even as it has storylines that carry through the season. It has episodes dedicated to specific stories, like when Matt ends up at a bank and has to stop a robbery in action. And it doesn’t rush its ending, with a planned 18 episodes, only half of which we got in this first season. It knows how to take its time, to build stories, to let us exist with the characters, and it’s stronger for it because it lets us just enjoy this world.

And it’s a dark world. While the original creative team on the show were going to give the series a lighter tone than the Netflix series it came from, Disney paused that idea and retooled, leading to something that feels like a natural fourth season for the series. And that ended up being great because we have a show that really feels like a proper continuation of a world that (as a fan of the previous show) we loved. Netflix let its burgeoning Marvel universe die too soon, but Disney found a way to pick it up, retool it, and make it work once again.

Much of the credit for why it works, of course, does go to the actors Cox and D’Onofrio easily slide back into their roles, getting dirty on the mean streets of NYC once again, and these feel like the characters these two were always meant to play. So many other returning actors bring their characters to life as well, and it doesn’t end up feeling like we’ve been gone for ten years. This is Daredevil, and it’s fantastic having the show back.

Sure, if you are new to the series there’s a lot to pick up and you likely will want to go back and watch the old Netflix shows to get all the details. This isn’t a series that bothers waiting for you to catch up. There’s no preroll, “previously on”. No time spent rehashing all the details of the previous series. This is Daredevil season four, and you just have to know. Thankfully the old shows are on Disney+, so if you aren’t already in the know it’s easy to go get caught up. This is a show for the fans, and I appreciate that Disney let it happen that way.

But back to my first point. We have a great show that we know will continue next year. We have great actors that live these roles, and have been bringing them into other MCU works, adding life to those projects. We have everything we want for the MCU right here, in a show that works better than just about anything Marvel has made in a long time. Assuming the second season holds to this high standard, and the other Marvel projects tie up well enough by the end of Phase VI that we can all move on, is it so hard to believe that Daredevil and Kingpin might be the main players in the MCU for Phase VII and beyond. Certainly that sounds better than all the casting news Marvel has been putting out about Avengers: Doomsday.

Daredevil: Born Again is the show Marvel needed at a time they needed it most. It’s a shot in the arm, a buzzy hit that has people talking. When was the last time people were this excited for a Marvel project? Probably Avengers: Endgame. All they have to do now is capitalize on it properly which, well, may be a tall order. But we can certainly hope.