WhenNetflix’sDaredevilended in 2018, fans were clamoring for the Man Without Fear to return to their TV screens the instant the beloved series came to an end. What the initial iteration of the series did so well was how Daredevil’s adversaries always came back in some way, shape, or form. The Hand was always looming in the darkness and even returned as the main antagonist ofThe Defenders. This mostly continues with Daredevil: Born Again, and the proof is in the utilization of returning adversaries such as Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio),Benjamin Pointdexter, a.k.a. Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), and even Matt Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) biggest frenemy, Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal).
Of course, to continue the series from Netflix toDisney+and the overall MCU, the street-level world of Hell’s Kitchen needed to expand with more characters.Daredevil: Born Againintroduced a plethora of new characters to intertwine with the storied history of those that came before, but the biggest issue was that the serieskilled off new characters as fast as it introduced them.Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes), Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston),Cole North (Jeremy Isaiah Earl), Luca (Patrick Murney), and the serial killerMuse (Hunter Doohan)were all canon fodder in a series that otherwise excelled in showcasing the complexities of the characters that returned from the old version ofDaredevil.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Should Have Explored the Mental Health of Vigilantes
The deaths of these new characters highlighted one ofDaredevil: Born Again’s biggest flaws— how the series completely wasted what could have been rich returning characters heading intoSeason 2 of the series.The biggest culprit of wasted potential was certainly Muse.When the series finally brought the villain into the fold,it incorporated some core concepts from its comic counterpart,but the series killed him off far too quickly. Most of the great series are proficient in showing, not telling, andDaredevil: Born Againtold the audience how dangerous and brutal Muse was, but only showed brief glimpses. Muse’s lair was a great example of showing the horrors of his psyche, but the series needed to include many more of the 60 reported victims of the mass murderer to have a more shocking impact.
IntroducingMuse unmasked as Bastian Cooperto Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), seeking helpcould have been an amazing gateway into an ongoing sagadissecting the mental health of masked heroes and villains. As Heather’s relationship with Matt Murdock grew, she even requested to speak with The Punisher and Daredevil himself to interview them and explore the psyche of vigilantes. This conversation could have led to a super-interesting back and forth between Heather and Muse having multiple sessions, leading to Heather finding out she was treating Muse, but instead of immediately having Heather kill Muse, the series could have explored Heather’s fascination with vigilantes, so when that deadly confrontation did eventually come, the stakes would have been way higher.
Jessica Jones Comes Face-to-Face With Matt Murdock in New ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 Set Footage
Krysten Ritter returns to the Daredevil universe in the upcoming season.
This journey could have mirrored Matt’s descent into darknessas his life unraveled in front of him,realizing he needed to put on the mask once againto keep New York City safe. As Matt’s newly found “normal” life slowly crumbles, Heather’s very prestigious career could have also been affected by her obsession with vigilantes, even leading to her attempting to hunt down the likes of Daredevil herself. While this seems like it would completely negate the narrative of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force, the series could just as easily end up in the same place, with Fisk and Heather working together to capture vigilantes, and instead of killing Muse, he could have been captured. Not only to show the effectiveness of the newly formed Anti-Vigilante Task Force and Fisk’s new containment facility, butto give Heather the perfect environment to study her new subjects.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Fumbled the MCU’s Most Brutal Villain
Daredevil: Born Againcertainly didn’t shy away from the twisted nature of Muse, showing him draining the blood from his victims, as well as the corpses hanging from chains in his lair, but if you look into his comic origins,there was a lot left on the table in this live-action adaptation of the character. While his intentions aren’t really explored in the series, in the comics, he believes killing is his purpose in his life, and his victims are merely tools he uses to create his works of art. His first mural in the comics was composed of the blood of 100 victims, nearly doubling the body count reported in entirety inDaredevil: Born Again.
Not to mention,Daredevil: Born Againcompletely glanced over Muse’s abilities, explaining his superhuman strength andimpressive hand-to-hand combatwith a one-off line about how he trained in Jiu Jitsu. Muse also has imperceptibility, which allows his body to act like a vortex, sucking in all the sensory information around him,rendering all of Daredevil’s abilities pretty much useless. Muse also has super speed in the comics, andall of these abilities make him an even more effective serial killer, which could have easily explained how he could have gotten away in the series if these abilities were explored even a little bit.
Now,there is a theory that we haven’t seen the last of Muse, and the supernatural aspects of Netflix’sDaredevilcould be the explanation. Throughout the series, countless characters have been brought back from the dead using the Resurrection Elixir, a concoction made up of blood from humans and dragon bones, discovered by the aforementioned group of ninja assassins, The Hand. This could be a way to bring back The Hand into the fold, as well as have the sadistic serial killer Muse return, with more comic-accurate powers. That is just a theory, and Muse could very well still be very dead, but at the end of the day, Muse should have beena recurring villain forDaredevil: Born Again.
Daredevil: Born Again
After Charlie Cox’s cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and supporting role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Daredevil: Born Again gives Matt Murdock his first show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daredevil: Born Again continues the story that started in Netflix’s three-season Daredevil series and sees Wilson Fisk ascend to mayor of New York City.
