Is ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 getting heavenly reviews?
Is ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 getting heavenly reviews?
See what critics think of the latest MCU TV series to release a new season here.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is back on Disney+ this week. The streamer has released the first episode of “Daredevil: Born Again” Season 2 as of Tuesday, March 24. Fans of the character were initially trepidatious when they learned that Disney+ would revive the Charlie Cox version of Daredevil that first appeared on Netflix in 2015, unsure if the streamer would maintain the gritty, action-fueled tone that made it so popular.
Those fears were mostly allayed by Season 1 of “Daredevil: Born Again,” and initial reviews suggest that Season 2 is even better. This season, Maatt Murdock and Wilson Fisk will descend even further into the identities that lurk within them, and their war for the soul of New York City will escalate. Can Daredevil bring down the Kingpin once and for all, or will Mayor Fisk reshape the city in his own image?
Cox returns to star as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio also stars as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Deborah Ann Woll plays Karen Page, and Season 2 of the show will welcome fellow former Netflix hero Jessica Jones — played once again by Krysten Ritter — to the screen. Matthew Lillard will portray Mr. Charles through Season 2, and Ayelet Zurer portrays Vanessa Fisk.
The show’s second season has been a hit with critics thus far. It scores a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and also has a Metascore of 72 on Metacritic, which translates to “Generally Favorable” reviews. Read the critics in their own words below, and watch new episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again” Season 2 on Disney+ on Tuesday evenings at 9 p.m. ET.
Daredevil: Born Again
Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
Watch the trailer for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2
See what the critics are saying about ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2
Dominic Baez | Seattle Times
Whereas the first season was defined by suffocating guilt born of loss and regret, the second season is more about penance, of seeking redemption and second chances. It leans into the philosophical — What is a vigilante? What is a hero? — and the religious. (Matt’s Catholicism plays a much heavier role this season.) It asks questions that don’t have easy answers: Who deserves forgiveness, and who can grant it? Who gets to make the call between life or death, and when does it cross the line from justice to vengeance? It also wonders — best shown in a clever sequence of interwoven flashbacks in a midseason episode — if people are capable of change, or if the past is the only thing that defines us.
Bob Strauss | San Francisco Chronicle
As set up in Season 1, the blind justice-seeker’s struggles rise to a new existential plane here as he tries to save New York City, and by extension America, from criminal authoritarianism. The show’s barely allegorical depictions of repression, resistance and political chicanery are so prescient that you wonder if “Born Again” and “The Boys’” writers rooms share a water fountain…[Showrunner Dario] Scardapane digs deeper into personal and societal dysfunction than ever. He also brings last year’s dangling story threads to satisfying conclusions. Better still, it’s all informed by the great concerns — law, religion, violence — that have always driven “Daredevil” and these United States.
Felipe Rangel Screen Rant
As the first live-action MCU series on Disney+ to get renewed for season 3, Daredevil: Born Again understands the need to not keep retreading old ground while honoring its roots. By the end of season 2, the path forward will be made clear, and it could not be more exciting. The future of Cox’s Daredevil and D’Onofrio’s Kingpin promises brand-new stories for both…By the end of the season, every Marvel fan will want to immediately see what happens next, and that shows why Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is a success. With relentless action, hard-hitting drama, complex characters, several shocking surprises, and more, Daredevil: Born Again’s new season cements the show as one of the best projects the MCU has released thus far.
Amon Warmann | Empire
The construction of Daredevil: Born Again’s first season was infamously Frankensteinian. A creative overhaul mid-production — complete with new writers and stronger ties to Daredevil’s Netflix incarnation — was the right call, but it left a patchy, incomplete residue in its wake. With its sophomore effort, returning showrunner Dario Scardapane has the benefit of presenting one unified vision from beginning to end. The result is a season that’s not only better than its immediate predecessor, but in some ways as good as Daredevil has ever been on screen.
Jarrod Jones | The AV Club
It’s exciting to watch a series that had such a shaky start steady itself under a single guiding voice. Dario Scardapane may have been the last person standing after Daredevil: Born Again co-creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord left the series in 2023, but the creative hangover was evident throughout last season, with the Marvel Television series feverishly seeking an identity, say nothing of narrative purchase… If this season premiere is anything to go by, Born Again is finally less concerned with reconciling legacy status with its new place at the MCU’s vanguard. That conviction, to be the best Daredevil show it can be within the Marvel schematic, is admirable.
Eric Goldman | IGN
Born Again Season 2 has some undeniably exciting and satisfying moments as it concludes, albeit intermixed with a couple of beats that feel like they cut some corners dramatically. But its very best material is around the middle of its eight-episode season, including an especially strong and involving episode full of flashbacks set near the start of the original Netflix Daredevil series. As we intercut between the past and present, there are clever changes to the visual style to match how that previous series looked, including altering the aspect ratio. Beyond that, Born Again Season 2 leans further into embracing story elements and characters from the old days, gifting longtime fans with some appreciated callbacks.
Therese Lacson | Collider
Although Daredevil: Born Again has corrected some of its biggest mistakes, more issues have sprung up in their place that largely all stem from the season feeling a little too jam-packed as it tries to tackle several concurrent storylines that are all meant to eventually lead back to the same conclusion. What shines the most in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is the fact that action not only takes a front seat, but also sees nearly every fight sequence filmed in a way that highlights the performers and the stunt work, with no more foggy rooms or darkly lit warehouses to obscure what’s happening. It doubles as a reminder of just how superhuman Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock can be when he dons the Daredevil costume — not just because he has superhuman hearing, but because his movements are so lightning-fast and dynamic that any fight scenes demand your full attention.
Brian VanHooker | Polygon
The show gets a huge shot in the arm in episode five thanks to a major character turning point for Fisk that Daredevil plays a part in. From then on, those secondary characters are relegated to their proper supporting status while Daredevil occupies far more screentime. We even get some new fight scenes and conversation scenes between Daredevil and Fisk, which continue to be the best moments of the series thanks to the chemistry between Cox and D’Onofrio. Episodes 5 through 8 are so satisfying and impactful they make up for the slow first half. Especially rewarding in the second half is the return of Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, which is limited, but sets up an interesting new status quo for the character.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”