#218 – The Full Daredevil Story Before Born Again Season 2

Welcome to Marvel Maniac and MCU after show. This is your host, Eric Cicada. And today we're preparing for the next chapter of one of the greatest street level heroes Marvel has ever created. Because Daredevil Born Again Season two, is finally coming. I'm so excited about it. But before we talk about where that story is going, we need to talk a little bit about how he got here. Daredevil has one of the most intense journeys in the entire Marvel universe. A story that started on Netflix nearly a decade ago and eventually led to the events of Born Again. And honestly, the Netflix stuff all connects to Born Again, and it's worth a rewatch if you haven't seen it. I'll just say that. So today we're going to do a full recap from the beginning of Matt Murdock's story to the fall of Kingpin, to the tragedy that changed everything. And finally, the return of Daredevil in Born Again season one. So let's start where the Devil of Hell's Kitchen began. The making of Daredevil. Matt Murdock grew up in Hell's Kitchen, New York. As a kid, he saved a man from being hit by a truck. But the accident blinded him when the chemicals splashed into his eyes. But the accident didn't just take Matt's sight. It heightened his other senses to an incredible level. Matt could hear heartbeats, track people through sound, and perceive the world in ways no normal person could. After his father, boxer Batlin Jack Murdoch, was murdered by criminals, Matt dedicated his life to fighting injustice. By day, he became a lawyer, opening a small firm with his best friend, Foggy Nelson. By night, Matt became a masked vigilante. Daredevil. Let's talk about the rise of Kingpin. While Daredevil began protecting Hell's Kitchen, another man was quietly building power. Wilson Fisk. Fisk believed the city was broken and needed someone strong enough to reshape it. Through manipulation, crime, and violence, he slowly built a criminal empire. The conflict between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk became the center of Daredevil's story. One man fighting for justice. The other convinced he was the only one who could save the city. Yes, he has thanos level energy. Eventually, Daredevil defeated Fisk and sent him to prison. But Fisk was never the kind of enemy who stayed down for long. As we come to learn, let's talk about the Punisher in the Hand. The next chapter of Daredevil's life introduced these two major forces. The first was Frank Castle, the Punisher. A former Marine whose family had been murdered. Frank waged war on criminals with brutal efficiency. He's got great shows on Netflix too, but they're all on Disney plus now. They started on Netflix, but they are currently streamable on Disney plus. So you still have time. Even if you're watching the Daredevil week to week and you want to learn some of the backstories of these characters. Definitely wouldn't hurt to throw on their shows. They're completely fantastic. I didn't see season two of the Punisher or. Or season four of Jessica Jones. Those are the ones I'm missing. Unlike Daredevil, though, the Punisher had no problem killing. Matt and Frank clashed constantly, representing two completely different philosophies of justice at the same time. Matt's past returned through Electra, a dangerous assassin tied to an ancient organization known as the Hand. Their arrival revealed something bigger happening beneath New York. A war that would soon pull multiple heroes into the fight. The Defenders. The conflict with the Hand eventually brought together several street level heroes. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and of course, Daredevil. Together they formed a team known as the Defenders. It's a fun show if you want to go for the long haul and go watch Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist along with Daredevil, there's watch orders. It's a fun watch. It's a lot of tv. But if you're into seems like they're doing something with these characters in this new season, I won't spoil too much. Jessica Jones is in the main trailer for it. That's all I'll say. And it it leads up to Defenders, which is the pretty much Avengers of the Netflix universe of that time. We were all waiting for it for years. Their battle against the Hand ended with a massive confrontation beneath New York City. While underground, a building collapsed during the fight directly above them. And when the dust settled, Matt Murdoch was buried beneath the rubble. The world believed Daredevil had died, but Matt survived. Barely. Now let's talk about the final war with Fisk that takes place in Daredevil Season three. So if you're watching just the Daredevil shows you, I'd recommend watching seasons one to the Defenders and then Daredevil Season three. If you're feeling crazy, you can incorporate the other shows. Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage. Great shows, a big commitment. Worth the watch if you have the time. So in SE season three of Daredevil, after recovering from what happened in the Defenders, Matt returned to find that Wilson Fisk had once again begun rebuilding his power. This time, Fisk had manipulated the FBI, turning the system into a weapon itself. And he recruited a dangerous new ally, An FBI agent named Benjamin Point Dexter, A man who would become the deadly assassin iconically known as Bullseye. Fisk used Bullseye to frame Daredevil and destroy Matt's reputation. He wore the Daredevil suit and he wreaked havoc in it. The story ended in a brutal confrontation between Daredevil, Bull, Bullseye and the Kingpin. One of the best fights you'll ever see. Watching Daredevil the original series is worth it. For this fight alone, Matt defeated Fisk once again. But instead of killing him, he forced Fisk back into prison. He threatened that the love of fish life, Vanessa, will be outed if he starts committing crimes again. With Fisk on, Matt reunited with his closest allies, Foggy, Nelson, Karen Page. Together, they reopened their law firm, Nelson, Murdoch and Page. And for the first time in years, things seemed hopeful. The end of the Netflix era. And that's where the original Daredevil story ended. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen had survived. Kingpin was back behind bars. Matt, Foggy and Karen were rebuilding their lives. For years, fans wondered if Daredevil's story would ever continue. If the series that we'd watch and come to love would was part of the expanded MCU itself. Then Marvel finally brought him back. But the next chapter would look very different. We did get a cameo from Daredevil in a new suit where he's wearing yellow and red. Kind of something from the comics. A larger than life cameo and she Hulk where they fight crime together. And Matt does the infamous walk of shame after hooking up with she Hulk. This is considered one of the funniest scenes that Matt Murdock is a part of. Ironically, we also get to see him cameo and Spider man no way home. Which was confirmation and hype to the max that Daredevil is canon. The MCU adopted the Netflix shows and they are a part of the MCU canon. It's a huge deal. Now let's talk about the events of Born Again Season one. Years after the events of the Netflix series, tragedy struck. Matt, Foggy and Karen were celebrating together when a familiar enemy returned. Bullseye Dax attacked the bar and shot Foggy Nelson. Matt chased him across the city and in a moment of rage through Bullseye off a rooftop. Bullseye survive. We find out later. But this brutality is something Matt never did. He couldn't save his friend and he couldn't stop Bullseye. So he lost it. Threw him off the roof, probably intending to kill him. Yeah. But again, Bullseye did survive that. Foggy did not. The loss devastated Matt. It devastated me too. I was happy to see the team back together again. And to think that Foggy was going to come back in some secret cameo where he didn't really die, but was in witness protection or something like that. Never happened. Still could this season in season two, but that never happened. So after Foggy dies, believing Daredevil had brought this tragedy into his life, Matt gave up the mask. For a long time, Daredevil was gone. Now the return of Wilson Fisk. This man does not stay down. While Matt stepped away from being Daredevil, Wilson Fisk was making a different move. Instead of hiding in the criminal underworld, he decided to step into the spotlight. He ran for office and eventually actually became mayor of New York City. Yes. Now, the kingpin didn't just control crime, he controlled the city itself. One of his missions as mayor was targeting vigilantes. Fisk created a special task force dedicated to hunting down massed heroes, which meant Daredevil. There's a lot of iconic scenes that happen in Born Again season one that make me a very nostalgic. Just even in the first episode or two. Matt and Fisk sitting down, knowing the history that they share and actually sharing a laugh. But it's not all fun and games. They definitely lay down some low level threats to each other. The Devil returns. At the same time Fist tighten his grip on New York, a new killer appeared. A disturbing serial murderer known as Muse. The violence spreading through the city forced men to face the truth. Hell's Kitchen still needed Daredevil. So the Devil returned. But the city he came back to was more dangerous than ever. The Punisher resurfaced. Bullseye was still alive. And Fisk's power inside the government was growing stronger and stronger by the day. Then Matt discovered something even worse. The truth about Foggy's death. It wasn't random. It was ordered. And the order came from Vanessa Fist. We get to see that in a flashback. Vanessa takes a bigger part in the criminal empire of Kingpin at this point than she ever had before in the original series. Now, where the story stands now. Well, by the end of Born Again season one, the battle lines are drawn. Wilson Fisk, completely corrupt, sits in the mayor's office with unprecedented power. He does some terrible things that we get to see on screen, including one of the grossest things I've ever seen in Marvel. He just caves in the police chief's head with his bare hands in front of a bunch of officers. The Corruption is real. The officers are now corrupt. I mean, we don't know if every single officer is, you know, the ones who don't want to be fully complicit maybe put their heads down. But Fist has basically an army. The city is turning against vigilantes as well. The Punisher is active again. Bullseye remains a deadly threat. And Matt Murdock has fully embraced being Daredevil once more. The war for the soul of New York City has begun. And we learn at the end of the season that Wilson Fisk, he's keeping hostages. People who speak out against him, who are rude to him, who he doesn't like locked up in jail cells below the city. This is pure evil, Fisk, and with ultimate power. So we end the season on a little bit of, well, a sad note, because there's work to be done and Matt knows there's a war to be won and he has to recruit people for it. Which is where, I wonder, some of the Defenders might come back into play to cameo. So, all in all, Daredevil story has never been simple. It's a story about grief, justice and faith, and the constant struggle between darkness and hope. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen has already survived the rise of Kingpin, the war with the Hand, and the fall of his closest friends. But the next chapter might be the most dangerous one yet, because with Fizz controlling the city and Daredevil back in the mask, Born again. Season two is shaping up to be a war for New York and maybe one of the best seasons of Daredevil we've ever had. This is a short recap for you. There's tons of other events that happen obviously across the whole series. Four, five seasons of Daredevil, basically including the Defenders and Born Again. And I just hit the main beats. If you really want to re watch this, I'd recommend it. If you want to watch it for the first time, I'd be on recommended. And sorry for the spoilers, but you're still listening. So basically we're good, right? Thank you for listening. It means the world to me. Can you please rate the show and give it a five star review or a thumbs up or whatever it is? Leave a nice review and we'll read it on the show. Join our Discord server. It is welcome to you for theories and we talk about everything that's going on in the mcu. It's just still getting up and running and it's a great place for us to collab. So look in the notes of the episode next week we will start covering Daredevil Born Again, Wednesday's usual time for the podcast. The shows were released Tuesday and we will be releasing our after shows the day after on Wednesday mornings. So you got a little time to think about what just happened. Thank you so much for listening. I can't wait to cover the show with you. It's been a while since we did a series week to week and it's going to be a great time. Until next time, Avengers Disassemble.