The season finale of Daredevil: Born Again leaves viewers in shock with an absolutely gruesome moment – and fixes an annoying Marvel problem in the process.
Congratulations, Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’ve finally figured out what makes a series great. But above all, we should thank the creative team behind Daredevil: Born Again, who have served up a milestone in Marvel series history with the conclusion of the first season on Disney+. Episode 9 not only shocks with the hardest MCU moment ever. It also ignores everything that most Marvel finales get wrong.
Daredevil Born Again Episode 9 is finally a really good Marvel finale
As a series junkie who consumes hundreds of new seasons every year, I fear that every new MCU release will be another disappointment. Most of the new Marvel era on Disney+ are basically just movies divided into chapters that ignore the structures and narrative styles of classic series. Daredevil: Born Again is one of the few MCU series that really knows how to take advantage of its medium – and the season finale is the best example of that.
What has increasingly annoyed me in recent years is a significant problem that afflicts virtually all MCU series – with the exception of Loki and Agatha All Along. Namely, the unwritten law that finales must feature an epic boss fight, tons of CGI, new superhero costumes, and, of course, teasers for further Marvel projects. Daredevil: Born Again, however, shows no interest in this.
It’s a rare and refreshing feeling that, for once, the conclusion of a Marvel series doesn’t pass the story ball to another future MCU project, but is solely interested in its own story – and feels like a proper season finale of an ongoing series.
Not only does episode 9 complete the “rebirth” of Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) and whip itself into a dramatic climax of all the previous storylines, but the season also culminates in an epic cliffhanger that leaves me screaming for the next season. After far too many self-contained miniseries in the new Disney+ era, I feel for the first time that Marvel has finally learned that long-form narratives, in which we can follow beloved characters over the years, almost always trump 6-part mini-blockbusters.
Daredevil: Born Again creates a finale for the ages in a single moment
The finale of the first season of Daredevil: Born Again had a surprising number of highlight moments that gave me goosebumps, especially as a fan of the earlier Defenders era on Netflix – from Karen’s “adrenaline” heartbeat and Frank Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) blood-soaked fights to Foggy’s “Avocados at Law” case. When a car pulls up, the theme song from the first Daredevil series starts playing, and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) finally faces her friends Matt and Frank, Born Again overwhelms me with a wave of nostalgia that I’ve sorely missed since the first 15 minutes of the season.
After a massive blackout plunges New York City into chaos to the tune of Killing Me Softly, a special moment finally follows that transforms episode 9 into an absolutely memorable season finale and burns itself into my memory forever: Wilson Fisk’s final transformation back into the Kingpin, which is not only evident in his shoulders expanding from episode to episode.
Wilson Fisk’s anger and aggression, pent up over nearly nine episodes, erupts in a brutal act of violence that, with its explicit depiction, surpasses anything we’ve ever seen in the MCU. When he bursts Commissioner Gallo’s (Michael Gaston) head open with his bare hands, he not only symbolically shatters reason and the law, but also any expectations of how brutal a comic book adaptation can be.
Political maneuvering and intrigue give way to raw, bloody violence. The moment the Kingpin crosses this line, he is no longer human, but a true comic book villain. Rarely has the culmination of a supervillain’s evolution been portrayed with such power and terror.
Daredevil season 2 needs to come out as soon as possible
Less shocking, but just as dramatically poignant, is Matt Murdock’s speech in the finale. Over the course of the season, frustration with the broken system builds up, eventually bringing his vigilante persona back to the surface. But far stronger is the realization that Daredevil alone is not enough to save New York City from the Kingpin. It takes a whole city full of ordinary people who have the courage to stand up against injustice: “We are the city without fear!”
After this gripping season finale, the mere thought of season 2 gives you goosebumps. The Kingpin plunges New York directly into a cruel regime in which police officers are allowed to attack anyone on the street, dissidents are locked in cages, and vigilantes – and thus any form of resistance – are banned. The search for heroes who will join the devil of Hell’s Kitchen in the fight against injustice is already setting an exciting new direction for the series.
After several episodes of a new beginning, Daredevil: Born Again finally returns to the strengths of the once-scrapped Defenders saga – and the power of serial storytelling – with its season finale. I don’t want to live in uncertainty about whether and when beloved characters and story promises will be revisited in other projects. I just want to look forward to the next season of my favorite series after a spectacular finale. One thing remains clear: Marvel should finally start producing proper series again. Thanks for that, Daredevil!
