‘Daredevil Born Again’ Wishlist

One of the biggest announcements from San Diego Comic Con this year was something fans have been clamoring for for years, the return of Daredevil to our TV screens. Since the original Netflix series was cutdown at its height fans have been begging Disney to incorporate Charlie Cox’s Man Without Fear into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure enough both he and Vincent D’Onofrio have reprised their roles as Daredevil and the Kingpin in other Marvel projects. It has all seemingly culminated with the announcement of an 18 episode series Daredevil: Born Again. Stepping into some really big boots….and possible picking up a really big billy club, the creative talents behind this have the long anticipation of an entire fanbase to live up to. There are a number of hallmarks from the Netflix predecessor we want.

Supporting Cast: Comic fans always bemoan Spider-Man’s “Parker luck”, but no other hero in the Marvel Universe has endured more tribulations, hardships, and loss that Matt Murdock. It is safe to say without the support of Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, and Ben Urich he would have died or had a nervous breakdown by now. In fact Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson portrayed integral parts of Matt’s life and one would hope they too would be brought back.

Defenders and the Punisher: While he never joined in the battles against Thanos or Loki, Daredevil banned together with his own superhero allies on a street level. He joined forces with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to take down the Hand as the Defenders. While on his own series, Ol’ Horn Head forged an unlikely alliance with the Punisher who spun off onto his own series. While the Avengers will be taking on grand threats like Kang in coming years, someone will have to watch out for the ordinary citizens of the MCU and being a leader among the street-level heroes puts Daredevil in a prime position to band them together when the threats they face grow too big.

New Allies: There is no doubt about it that Daredevil is being brought into a bigger world of heroes and villains meaning he can now branch out and make connections in the superhero community. In the comics, Daredevil and Spider-Man have a long history of teaming up to take down the baddies of New York and in fact Matt Murdock was most recently seen in his lawyer role with Peter Parker as his client meaning the two have a preestablished connection in the MCU. Whether it is a darker hero like Moon Knight or a shining beacon of heroism like Captain America, Daredevil brings an interesting dynamic to team-ups which producers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be wise to explore.

Bullseye: It is an understatement to say the previous Daredevil series ended on a peak and the very last thing we saw on this peak was the birth of DD’s arch nemesis Bullseye. In season 3, the former FBI agent turned supervillain proved he had no problem going toe-to-toe with Daredevil and on any given day actually beat him in a fight. The famous rivalry between these two was just getting started and it would be a shame if we did not see its next step.

Expand the Rogues Gallery: So far Daredevil has mostly focused on the Kingpin and the Hand as his primary antagonists but having been around since 1964 Daredevil has amassed a bit of a rogues gallery. We have seen some of them pop-up in Daredevil and related shows in glimpses. The Owl was left as untapped potential in the first season; Gladiator built DD’s iconic suit; and Purple Man was the primary villain in Jessica Jones. They can definitely be expanded on and brought back into the fold to tussle in Hell’s Kitchen. Aside from them the likes of Typhoid Mary, Mr. Fear, Lady Bullseye, or even Stilt Man could be fun to see show up to battle it out.