Main cast: Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil), Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin), Margarita Levieva (Heather Glenn), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Wilson Bethel (Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye), Zabryna Guevara (Sheila Rivera), Nikki M James (Kirsten Mcduffie), Genneya Walton (BB Urich), Arty Froushan (Buck Cashman), Clark Johnson (Cherry), Michael Gandolfini (Daniel Blake), and Ayelet Zurer (Vanessa Fisk)
Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
For the longest time, I thought Daredevil was just a new version of the Flash. You know, the red suit, the whole running-around-at-night thing… seemed like a no-brainer. Turns out, they’re not the same. They’re not even from the same publisher. Oops.
No, I didn’t watch the three seasons of the Netflix show, and my only exposure to this character was when the MCU decided to strip him of any last vestige of cool by making him She-Hulk’s designated one-night stand. So naturally, I am the perfect target audience for Daredevil: Born Again, since the modern MCU has never let little things like source material or continuity get in the way of a good (or terrible) time.
The first 15 to 20 minutes of Heaven’s Half Hour seem to be doing a little housekeeping from, I assume, the Netflix series. From what I can gather, hot blind lawyer Matt Murdock was in a relationship with fellow lawyer Karen Page and had a BFF in another fellow lawyer, Foggy Nelson. Then some past drama catches with them, Bullseye kills Foggy, and Matt nearly returns the favor.
Cue Matt’s downward spiral. A year later, Karen has left to work elsewhere, while Matt drowns his sorrows and does his mopey lawyer thing at a new firm. It’s a good thing Charlie Cox is so pretty, because I’m not going to lie: 80% of my engagement in this episode is due to the handsomeness factor. Fortunately for Matt, his new boss sees him struggling and, like a sitcom mom trying to set up her sad adult son, arranges a date with some lady… *checks IMDb* …ah yes, Jennifer Glenn.
And here we have a problem. We’re not even 20 minutes in, and I already feel like I need a full crime board, complete with red string, to keep track of who is who. I can only assume that the people behind this show believe we have all memorized the old Netflix series like it’s the Bible, because the character count is climbing fast.
Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk—last seen being humiliated in Echo, which I have been told under no circumstances to watch—has decided to turn over a new leaf. He’s abandoning his life of crime to run for mayor and do things the right way. His wife, who has been running his crime syndicate in his absence, is less than enthused by this change of heart. Fisk, however, has a plan, and he’s sticking to it.
Now, I will give the episode this much: it’s setting up something interesting. Both Matt and Fisk are trying to turn their lives around, but let’s be real—if Matt doesn’t put on the suit again, then what are we even doing here? The real question is what Fisk’s role will be. Will he become an antihero, or will Disney default to its bad habit of turning him into a one-dimensional stand-in for a certain Orange Man? I’d love to believe in the former, but at this point, nuance isn’t exactly the MCU’s strong suit. Still, I’ll keep an open mind.
After all, they did scrap this show midway through production after realizing the MCU has been in free fall for a while now and redid the whole thing. That means Kevin Feige and company must have really put in the effort to make sure this reboot landed, right? RIGHT?
It’s too early to say whether this show is going to be good or another one for the MCU graveyard. The acting is solid, and the script has mercifully restrained itself from Marvel’s patented cringe humor (so far). The fight scenes lean heavily on CGI, but let’s be fair—Charlie Cox isn’t getting any younger, and we must protect that beautiful face at all costs.
So, final verdict? So far, so good. But we’re only one episode in, and the bar has been set so low that the people behind this show could either clear it with ease or trip over it and fall flat on their faces. We shall see. Until then, I’ll be watching, mainly to admire Charlie Cox. Hey, I’m only human.
