Daredevil: Born Again’s Showrunner On Introducing Matthew Lillard And Bringing Back Jessica Jones For Season 2

Matthew Lillard and Krysten Ritter in Daredevil: Born Again, side by side.
(Image credit: Marvel)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is constantly expanding, both on the big screen and through projects streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The latter is the case for Daredevil: Born Again, which is deep into its second season currently. And I got a chance to speak with showrunner Dario Scardapane and EP Sana Amanat about not only bringing back Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, but also introducing Matthew Lillard's Mr. Charles in this new batch of episodes.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 has been pretty incredible, with the stakes being majorly raised since the first season. Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have loved seeing characters from the Netflix MCU shows return, including Jessica Jones. When speaking with the pair of producers ahead of the new season, I asked them what was more exciting between the two characters. Scardapane got real, telling me:

Like, I mean, a spoiler: the best part was putting them together. Wait till you see that. So for me, on a personal level, being able to bring my good friend Matt into this world and knowing, you know, I wrote this character for him. I knew what he was gonna do with it. I didn't have to do much convincing, but like, 'Guys, just wait.' That was really satisfying, really fun.'

As if I needed another reason to be hyped for the final episodes of Season 2. It looks like sparks are going to fly when Jessica and Mr. Charles meet face to face, and with two wildly charismatic actors playing those figures it feels like just about anything could happen. Although Dario Scardapane seems particularly thrilled about bringing Lillard to the MCU.

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While I've got issues with Jessica Jones' powers being nerfed in Born Again, I'm still thrilled to see my favorite member of The Defenders finally back on my screen. It turns out that this was always part of the plan for the show, as Scardapane went on to tell me:

Bringing Jessica and Krysten back into the world. We knew we were gonna do it. I mean, it was, that was never even a conversation. We knew first season she just needs to be part of this world. She needs to be as part of this discussion. Krysten's such a amazing flavor that comes into this. Her banter with Matt and Charlie and her's chemistry had to be done. So, yeah. I can't pick one.

There you have it. The showrunner was unable to pick which actor he was more excited to see join Daredevil: Born Again, and the season truly has been an embarrassment of riches so far. We'll just have to wait and see how things end up for both Jessica and Mr. Charles in the final entires of Season 2.

Executive Producer Sana Amanat also spoke about what it was like to see Krysten Ritter return as Jessica for the first time, as she told me:

I will say the moment she walked on set with her boots and her, her jacket, and she was standing next to Daredevil, it just all felt so right. It felt good. It felt like a comic book cover.

She's not wrong. Seeing Jessica and Daredevil kicking ass together in Episode 6 was awesome, and that was just the start of their reunion. Only time will tell how often we'll see Krysten Ritter's character moving forward, as well as where Matthew Lillard's Mr. Charles will go. The show has hinted she's working for Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Valentina, so he could end up being a major presence in the shared universe as a whole.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again air Tuesdays on Disney+ as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Fingers crossed we get more of Jessica Jones sooner rather than later.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more. 

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