Entertainment
‘Daredevil: Born Again’s Stunning Season 2 Finale Is Among Marvel TV’s Best
Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 has officially turned skeptics into fans with a storyline that feels eerily close to the original Netflix series that started it all. Where Season 1 divided the fanbase with its loose connectivity to that original show, Season 2 has had great episode after great episode thanks to dynamite performances, no-holds-barred action, and a clearer reverence for the series that came before. From Daredevil’s (Charlie Cox) daring prison breakout to Bullseye’s (Wilson Bethel) attack on the boxing match, several scenes have easily entered the pantheon of great Daredevil moments.
Another admirable aspect of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is its willingness to put major characters at risk, as the deaths of Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer) and Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) have rocked the show’s survivors to their core. Now the final fight is here, and if you thought Matt Murdock had been put through the wringer already, think again. Not only does the stunning Season 2 finale fundamentally change Daredevil’s place in the MCU forever, but it also raises a lot of great questions about where the already confirmed Season 3 will go next.
Matt Murdock Reveals His Secret Identity in the ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 Finale
Before that historic moment in Cox’s long MCU history takes place, Matt needs some patching up. Thankfully, his partner in fighting crime, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), is here to help. He’s going to have to make a full recovery and recruit all the friends he can if he wants to take down Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), hopefully once and for all this time. Once Matt is healed, he returns to the courtroom to help get his beloved Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) out of the legal mess she’s in. It’s not going to be easy, especially when Matt’s ex-girlfriend, Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), is lying on the stand not long after repeatedly assaulting Karen. To take the lead in this rigged case against Karen, Matt is going to have to pull out all the stops, which is what leads him to call Fisk to the stand.
For over 10 years, Matt and Fisk have been engaged in a fierce battle of brawn, but it’s clear that the only way Daredevil will ever achieve true victory over the nefarious Kingpin is by using strategy, not brute force. As Matt probes Fisk about his relationship with the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, our hero does the one thing that neither Fisk nor fans of the series expected: Matt reveals to the courtroom — and the world — that he is Daredevil. It takes a little convincing, but after Matt expertly sends his cane bouncing off the courtroom walls and back into his hand, there’s no doubt he’s the infamous vigilante of Hell’s Kitchen.
For years now, Fisk has hung the threat of revealing Matt’s secret identity overhead should Daredevil get too close to dismantling his criminal enterprise. In actuality, Fisk makes clear early in Season 2 that doing so would very likely turn Matt into a martyr that New York’s citizens can sympathize with, but that’s really only scratching the surface. With Matt’s identity as Daredevil now completely out in the open, he can personally testify to Fisk’s decades-worth of crimes in a true legal setting, which could very well stop the Kingpin in his tracks for good this time.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2’s Final Battle Is an Insurrection at City Hall
Matt revealing himself as Daredevil is New York’s biggest story since Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) leaked Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) secret identity to the world (before the world magically forgot about that historic event). As a result, Fisk is officially on the defensive, and the only supporters he has left are those closest to him. Someone who is certainly not close to him is his former associate Bullseye, who takes yet another shot at the Kingpin at the courthouse, but hits his faithful servant Buck (Arty Froushan) instead.
Hours later, Daredevil’s supporters are surrounding City Hall before breaking in, kickstarting a full-blown insurrection. Daredevil, Jessica, and a now-exonerated Karen go there to intervene, and the result is nothing short of a bloodbath. With nothing left to lose, Fisk is absolutely clobbering the Daredevil protesters who have broken into the building, practically tearing them limb from limb as Daredevil (as well as Camila Rodriguez‘s new White Tiger) takes down the AVTF’s stragglers. Speaking of, Cole North (Jeremy Isaiah Earl) finally follows in the footsteps of his more noble comics counterpart by standing up to his partner Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley) when he orders Cole and his subordinates to start gunning down protesters.
In the aftermath, a defiant Fisk stands before the protesters in a vain attempt to explain why he’s a necessary evil for New York. Daredevil’s supporters aren’t listening to this nonsense from the man who just broke the spine of one of their peers just minutes ago, so they start wailing on the grieving, evil mayor. However, Matt still isn’t willing to let mob mentality rule the day, so even after everything his nemesis has done, Daredevil saves Fisk from the mob and demands he leave New York, for good this time. Fisk agrees, and once again, Daredevil has bested the Kingpin of Crime.
How Does Season 2’s Finale Set Up ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 3?
At long last, New York can rest easy now that Fisk is no more, but at a cost. Matt revealing his identity as Daredevil may have helped get Fisk out of New York, but it also outed him as someone engaging in illegal vigilante work, which puts him behind bars with some of the AVTF’s now-unemployed goons. It’s a fitting but ironic fate, especially since Fisk is seen looking longingly into an ocean while wasting away on a beach.
Matt and Fisk aren’t the only ones who have some interesting endings that chart a path toward Season 3. Heather officially completes her transformation into Muse’s (Hunter Doohan) successor by putting on the ruthless serial killer’s mask. Bullseye is seen sitting on a plane next to Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard), and a flight attendant referring to the latter as Mr. Robertson confirms what many fans suspected: that the mysterious character is simply using a pseudonym. Bullseye’s revealed involvement with Charles could also mean he struck a deal with the government or perhaps even Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to work off his sentence through some less-than-legal activities overseas.
Last but certainly not least (even though the set photos from Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 have already confirmed it), we get the cameo everyone has been hoping for: the return of Luke Cage (Mike Colter). After getting rid of Fisk, Luke returns from the mission Charles previously referenced, reuniting him with his beloved Jessica and their daughter. With Matt behind bars and Jessica back together with Luke, the possibilities for where Season 3 can go next are simply endless.
Daredevil Season 2 is streaming on Disney+ now.
- 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
- Matt revealing his identity as Daredevil is a bold and audacious choice.
- The ending insurrection is bonkers and a blast to watch.
- Introduces so many interesting angles for Season 3.
- LUKE CAGE!!!
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