Like many, I’m pumped to one day watch Jon Bernthal’s Punisher working alongside Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to keep New York City safe in the upcoming Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and I’m also not alone in hoping that big-screen crossover will have positive ramifications for the studio’s future MCU shows. Sadly, that won’t be the case for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, which will be too busy navigating its own complex narrative to share focus with other heroes. (At least outside of returning fave Jessica Jones.)
Showrunner Dario Scardapane is as pumped as the show’s lead actors to dig into Season 2’s increasingly complex story, though he didn’t go so far as to crap on Season 1’s original iteration the way others have during his interview with SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend. He talked up Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page in Season 2, addressed why he’s wary about the show mirroring real-world politics too closely, and talked about getting Krysten Ritter back into the fold. He also spoke to this Daredevil series following in the non-crossover footsteps of the Netflix iteration.
When asked just how interconnected Born Again is with the rest of Marvel’s expansive lineup of characters and storylines, with Howard the Duck being namechecked as an example, Scardapane addressed that he’d welcome it, but that crafting Daredevil’s overarching plot in a way that stands apart from other projects is part of the fun. In his words:
I’d be into it, because I dig the comics! But no… That’s been kind of a fun and challenging thing. We know there’s that huge world out there of the MCU. This corner of it has crossovers. We’ve seen Daredevil in other shows, there are other characters that are going to be popping up in movies and stuff, and that all goes into the larger MCU of it all.
For all that Charlie Cox's hero did appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home and in She-Hulk, it's not as if those moments have been reflected on and remembered in other projects. So there's obvious precedent for the Man Without Fear to cross paths with other franchise standouts, but it doesn't sound like Kevin Feige and other Powers That Be are eager to shine a brighter spotlight on Hell's Kitchen. Scardapane continued, saying:
The joke we make is, ‘Oh, those guys are uptown – we’re downtown!’ We kind of have a pocket that’s in this world of Hell’s Kitchen, in this world of New York. I always think that maybe these characters take little vacations into the larger world but the story that we’re focusing on is really granular. It’s this neighborhood.
In many ways, that line of thinking does make sense, given how large and spread-out New York City can be. Something happening downtown will have a huge effect, but might not immediately catch the attention of others who are busy uptown or in the suburbs. However, a big part of Born Again's Season 2 arc kind of makes the whole split-up MCU completely illogical.
My Issue: So Many Heroes Live In NYC, Yet Daredevil Is The Only One Concerned About A Corrupt Mayor?
I wouldn't ever readily expect anyone involved with Daredevil: Born Again to present an explanation for why Black Panther or Guardians of the Galaxy characters aren't constantly shown in the background of scenes, since Wakanda and outer space are obviously outside the granular scope of Matt Murdock's world. Literally all of the Avengers have called New York City home for years, however, and quite a few other MCU heroes also reside in the Big Apple.
Yet somehow, a vigilante lawyer is the only person in this metropolis who actually takes issue with Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk taking office as Mayor? Corrupt city leadership is a staple of comic book antagonism, and a variety of other superheroes should be working just as hard as Matt to remove such villanous characters from holding public office. I get that Sam Wilson and Scott Lang often have larger-than-life issues to deal with, but how is literally no one else making this a priority?
My curiosity over that issue doubles due to Fisk's Anti-Vigilante taskforce taking to the streets and making lives worse for far more than just street-level crimefighters. This would absolutely affect a ton of Marvel heroes' daily lives to have government agents skulking about and capturing those who fit the bill.
As such, while I am personally just fine with Daredevil: Born Again refraining from pushing an endless lineup of cameos onto viewers with Season 2, I do wish that the reasoning behind excluding MCU crossovers here was a bit more thought-out and considered. Even if the answer is just "Because Deadpool said it should be like this."
Check out the first trailer for Season 2 below, featuring a first look at Matthew Lillard’s mysterious Mr. Charles.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is thankfully so close, we can smell it, even if we can't quite see it yet. (This is our Matt Murdock moment, people.) But it will arrive via Disney+ subscription on March 24, so
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