Marvel has promised it won’t undo the biggest twist in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s just-aired finale — which changes the landscape of the show, and Matt Murdock’s character, forever.
Warning! Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 follow:
Speaking via the official Daredevil: Born Again podcast, published to Disney Plus, showrunner Dario Scardapane discussed the public unmasking of the series’ lead character — which sees Matt Murdock’s true identity revealed to the whole population of New York.
It’s an enormous moment for Daredevil: Born Again and the MCU’s incarnation of Matt Murdock in general — now portrayed by actor Charlie Cox for more than a decade. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a storytelling decision that required approval from the highest levels of Marvel.
Scardapane confirmed there was some “lag” between the decision being pitched by the show’s writers and it ultimately being approved — a decision that sounds like it went all the way up to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and his co-president Louis D’Esposito.
“Kevin and Lou are amazing storytellers, you don’t build the MCU if you’re not some of the greatest of all time, and very quickly they saw it was where the story needed to go,” said Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum. “And, of course, we could point to the comics. So as soon as you could point to the source material and show how it plays out and all the stories that are able to be told after the reveal of the identity, it becomes an easier argument to make.”
“But we’re probably not going to be doing Purple Man doing mass brainwashing of an entire city to buy it back,” Scardapane said, referencing the 2017 comic book run in which Kilgrave resets Matt Murdock’s big reveal. “We’re not doing buybacks. If you’re taking that step, now everyone in the city knows Matt is Daredevil, which changes the storytelling in Season 3 in such a cool way.”
“Having been in and around the Netflix show, the thing everyone was talking about was, ‘How do we change things up next time?,'” Scardapane continued. “And I feel that Marvel has been really good about not reiterating,” he continued. “Season 1 is one thing. Season 2 is another. Season 3 is another. And the type of storytelling and where the characters are at is radically different every time.”
Fans are already aware of several plot points set to feature in Daredevil: Born Again 3 thanks to various filming leaks, such as the return of more characters from The Defenders and Wilson Fisk with a beard. Several of these plot points have now been hinted at or confirmed by the Season 2 finale (such as Heather Glenn becoming Lady Muse, Luke Cage finally making an appearance, and Matt Murdock ending up behind bars), but Scardapane had a few more hints at what’s to come.
“The redemption of Cole North, that’s not done yet,” Scardapane noted, referencing the former task force cop (and comic book character) who appears to switch sides at the end of the season. “Luke Cage is going to be a big part of Season 3,” he continued. “If you know these characters’ history, and you know some of the comic book runs, you know what’s happening. We tipped our hand for Season 3 incredibly at the end of Season 2.”
Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 is expected to launch early next year via Disney+, and it sounds like that’s the next time we’ll see the character. In numerous interviews, Cox has repeatedly stated he’s not in this summer’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day (despite it also taking place in New York City, and featuring scenes shot in a prison) or Avengers: Doomsday.
In the meantime, Marvel fans at least have The Punisher: One Last Kill to look forward to, which begins streaming next week on May 12.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
