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Daredevil: What is ‘Born Again’ and its ties to The Defenders?

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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The ending to season 1 of The Defenders was all about Daredevil and sets up season 3’s storyline if the comic books are any indication.

It’s been two weeks since The Defenders, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist’s adventure in New York City, was released on Netflix. The highly-anticipated series brought these four superheroes together for eight episodes and set up plenty of fallout.

Spoilers are ahead after this.

To close The Defenders, Daredevil was perhaps impacted the most of all four heroes. He fought ex-girlfriend and Black Sky for The Hand, Elektra Natchios while Midland Circle imploded. Moments before it looked like Elektra and Matthew Murdock were about to be crushed, they reconciled, mid-fight, and kissed. Luke, Jessica, Danny Rand, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing all made it out of the building before it went to pieces.

The other three Defenders assumed Matthew was dead, and rightfully so. It didn’t look like he made it out of Midland Circle, but somehow, someway, he did.

The Defenders’ final scene had a battered and bruised Matt wake up in a bed. There’s a cross on the wall and a nun sitting on his mattress. “Get Maggie, he’s waking up” is heard. The cameras moved above Matt, with rosary beads on a dresser, and ended the season.

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Those who’ve read the Daredevil comic books recognized the setting and implications of The Defenders’ final scene; it set up Daredevil’s famous “Born Again” storyline, which could be the premise of season 3.

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“Born Again” begins with Karen Page as a heroin addict and porn star, as her legal-turned-acting career failed. In a desperate attempt to acquire more drugs, she tells someone that Matt is the Daredevil, which starts his public downfall.

It begins with Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk. He learns of Matt’s secret. Fisk looks to make Matt’s life a living nightmare, doing anything possible to make it tumultuous. It all leads to Matt no longer being allowed to practice law.

Eventually, Kingpin’s wrath leads to him bombing Matt’s house. It leaves him at a breaking point, alienating everyone in his life. He couldn’t find help to expose what was done to him, either.

Revenge on Kingpin

Murdock goes to fight the Kingpin, but in an already beaten up state, he gets manhandled by this villainous figure. Kingpin strapped Matt in a taxi and pushed it into the East River, allowing no way out.

However, Matt busts out of the taxi, by shattering its windshield and going to the shore. He barely made it into the city, and is found by his mother, a nun. She brings him in and takes care of him

While this goes on, Kingpin is out to kill Karen, as she knows Matt is the Daredevil. He also wants to kill Ben Urich, the Daily Bugle reporter that was scared to help expose Kingpin but decides to go through with it anyway. Matt stops Kingpin’s attempted murders of Karen and Foggy Nelson (he sends a mental patient after them and dresses up as Daredevil).

Nuke

Kingpin looks toward the military for its super soldier, Nuke, to kill Matt. He attacks New York City, killing dozens. Matt fights back and tries to end Nuke, until the Avengers swoop in and capture the latter.

Nuke turns out to be someone that the military tried to make the next Captain America, which Steve Rogers himself investigates and finds evidence to back this up. He tries to find Nuke, but before that happens, Kingpin has Nuke killed.

Captain America learns from a hitman that Kingpin ordered him to kill Nuke. This leads the Kingpin to court, but gets off on all charges. However, the court case leaves Kingpin’s life in shambles and nothing close to the intimidating businessman he once was. Matt becomes involved with Karen and works at a diner to finish this story.

If the Daredevil producers were to use every bit of this comic storyline on television, it would take the surprise out of the 13 episodes that will likely air in 2018. If anything, the storyline is already changed.

Before the Kingpin even (potentially) reenters the picture, Matt is seemingly found by a nun while he’s badly wounded from the Midland Circle incident. So, while not beaten up by the Kingpin, this resembles the near-death accident that we’ll maybe see flashbacks of Matt escaping Midland Circle.

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For Karen’s drug addiction, if Daredevil decides to go through with it, she could turn to this as a way to cope with Matt’s death. It could be awhile, maybe halfway through the season or more, before Matt returns and sees Karen again. So, might there be multiple months (or years) passed before Karen and Matt see each other?

As for the Kingpin himself, one would think he returns to the small screen for Daredevil season 3, given how important he is to the storyline. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Nuke not involved, as Captain American and super soldiers have been saved for Marvel’s movies. Nuke’s background could be changed, but what if another assassin is hired by Kingpin?

A famous Daredevil villain, Bullseye, has yet to be used on Daredevil. He can work his way in as Fisk’s assassin, kill Karen like he does in the comics, and become season 4’s big bad.

Oh, and the “Maggie” heard in the final scene of The Defenders is the name of Matt’s mother. It looks like that part will stay consistent. Everything else should be in question, as the comic and television versions of “Born Again” will differ. That only adds speculation and intrigue to the potential direction this storyline will go in season 3, if it’s a full-blown situation.

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Daredevil season 3 should have its similarities to “Born Again,” but differences can’t be avoided and already started. It should be one of the most anticipated comic-television storylines of 2018 or early 2019.

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