Entertainment
Born Again’s Low Viewership Makes His Spider-Man Future Harder To Ignore
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 8.Daredevil: Born Again has been, admittedly, quite hit-or-miss with audiences. Some have praised the series (especially the second season) for its attempts to recapture the look and feel of the original Netflix Daredevil series. Others have criticized the Disney+ revival for its departures from the cast dynamics that made the original great, as well as its obvious political allegory. Whichever side of the camp you fall, it’s abundantly clear that Born Again is not the ratings success that Marvel likely hoped it would be. But there is one thing that may just turn the tables on the series ahead of its upcoming third season: Spider-Man.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Hasn’t Been the Ratings Hit That It Should Have Been
Despite the fact that Daredevil: Born Again premiered to 7.5 million viewers on Disney+ back in 2025, the series itself has since failed to chart in either its first or, again now, in its second season. For such a highly anticipated MCU series, that’s a big deal. But even more damning is that ComicBookMovie reports that, according to a third-party estimation, “Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 has accumulated 4,515,000 season views.” Comparatively, the outlet notes that “Season 1 generated 8,357,000 season views,” which means that Born Again has seen a nearly 50% decease in viewership since its debut. No amount of critical praise or build-up was enough for some to dive headfirst into the Disney+ revival, which simply isn’t pulling in an audience. With Season 3 still underway, we have to wonder if even the return of the Defenders — who have been confirmed for next season — could change that.
There are a plethora of possible reasons why Daredevil: Born Again has failed to measure up in the ratings game. For one thing, the first season was cobbled together after a creative overhaul that some believe didn’t do enough to distance itself from the original tone and narrative pre-Dario Scardapane, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead. While the overhaul certainly allowed Born Again to feel more akin to the original series, the controversial decision to kill off Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and write off Deborah Ann Woll‘s Karen Page for much of the season, combined with the heavy-handed Trump allegory, likely sealed the deal for many. Born Again‘s first season may have outshined, say, The Defenders, but it struggled to touch the original series at its peak. So, by the time Season 2 took those lessons to heart and further corrected some of its past mistakes, audiences were no longer interested.
Of course, what might actually make an impact on the ratings future of Born Again is if Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil were to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this summer — and we do mean Daredevil, not Matt Murdock, who previously showed up as Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home. We’re talking masked heroes in live-action, battling common street-level crooks and supervillains on the rooftops and back alleys of New York City. Since Marvel appears to be rebranding the MCU Spider-Man as a more “street-level” hero — a term dropped by Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Kingpin in Born Again Season 1 — it stands to reason that perhaps the best way to get audiences to return to that corner of NYC is by giving us the Spidey/Daredevil team-up we’ve long hoped for. And some of us have been waiting since Tobey Maguire and Ben Affleck wore the masks and skin-tight outfits…
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Presents a Golden Opportunity for Daredevil
Although the Season 2 finale, “The Southern Cross,” could certainly complicate things for this MCU crossover, there is no telling when exactly on the timeline that Brand New Day is set. What little we see from the trailers shows Spider-Man battling members of The Hand, the assassin organization that Matt battled back in Daredevil Season 2 and The Defenders. One shot even looks as if Spidey and The Hand are fighting in prison, which could connect to Matt’s fate in the finale. (Alternatively, this could be a montage sequence chronicling Peter’s life post-No Way Home, leaving the door open for Daredevil to appear.) With The Hand’s return, it may be possible to see Spidey battle the Hand alongside Daredevil — especially if we consider Marvel Studios’ practice of promoting their films with incomplete or deceptive shot compositions. In any event, this could be a moment of synergetic crossover that could work in Marvel’s favor.
While Daredevil has always been a part of his own corner of the MCU, Spider-Man has intersected with the entire franchise, and his popularity alone may help boost The Man Without Fear ahead of his third season next year. Prior to Born Again, Daredevil and Kingpin appeared on shows like Hawkeye, Echo, and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, all building toward their eventual revival series, and there’s no reason that technique could not be replicated. (Even Jon Bernthal‘s Frank Castle, who began his run on Daredevil, is showing up in Brand New Day, leaving us to wonder if Matt isn’t far behind.) Seeing the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen in action beside our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man may just be the best thing for Born Again‘s image — and Daredevil’s MCU future.
Daredevil: Born Again airs Tuesdays on Disney+.
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Dario Scardapane
- Directors
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Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, David Boyd, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Jesse Wigutow, Jill Blankenship, Thomas Wong, David Feige, Grainne Godfree
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