Marvel fans are counting down the days to Matt Murdock's return. Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is set to arrive on Disney Plus this month and it's already generating a lot of buzz. Part of the reason for that is the multiple teasers that Marvel Studios has unveiled over the past few weeks, reminding fans of the show's imminent return and offering glimpses of what to expect.
The good news is that it's all looking fantastic. The newest trailer doubles down on this, featuring comebacks - both expected and surprising - hard-hitting action, and a tone that is sure to make fans of Netflix's earlier Daredevil series very, very happy indeed. And this right here confirms that the show is finally ready to move on from its shaky beginnings.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 trailer confirms series is letting go of its original vision
The newest teaser trailer for Daredevil: Born Again is great. It's just truly one of the best pieces of promotion the show could have ever received - because even though it's short, it's really, really sweet. Between the scenes featuring Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones and the epic first glimpses of what is shaping up to be another iconic hallway fight, the clip looks and feels like a trailer for the original Daredevil series. Watch it below and see for yourself:
The trailer opens with Matt and Jessica having a chat about how things have gotten out of hand. But just how out of hand are we talking here? Well, fear not: The teaser wastes little time in showing us. From there, we get a montage of Daredevil suiting up, Karen Page brandishing a gun, Kingpin storming up and down a corridor angrily, and Jessica Jones taking the fight to the villain's corrupt army of crooked cops. Matt then tells Jessica that she can't stop the Kingpin alone, as we get snippets of his allies helping him (along with a potential hint that he will have a new ally in the fight).
Perhaps most excitingly of all, the teaser closes out with a clip of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen battling some bad guys in an eerie red hallway (which is just giving so many callbacks to the biker hallway fight in the original Daredevil series' second season). And that is everything fans could want considering season 1 was a bit more divisive than expected.
Going back to basics is what Daredevil: Born Again needs
The truth is that Daredevil: Born Again could have looked very different. Most of us know the story by now, but it was originally set to be an entirely new incarnation of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen story, rebooting it for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio were always going to star as Daredevil and the Kingpin, they would have been different versions from the ones we met in the Netflix Marvel franchise. This also suggested that the versions of the characters who made their respective MCU debuts in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye were originally intended to be new versions too. Thankfully, the creative overhaul retconned that lore, making all of the duo's appearances canon to the Netflix saga.
Even so, much of the original vision had to remain intact as it had already been filmed. Those episodes ended up being among the weakest of the season, which highlights that Marvel made the right decision to pump the brakes. After all, we know that it would have been nothing like the Netflix show, adopting a more legal procedural approach without even having Matt suit up as Daredevil until much later in the run. As a result of this, there are still a number of episodes early on that we don't see the suit - as Matt remains retired from vigilantism from episodes 2 through 6. It made the first half of the season rather slow moving and even the new / reworked footage that was subsequently placed into it still couldn't reclaim that beloved feel of the original series.
But it became clear that, off the back of the incredible final three episodes of the season, it was moving in the right direction. The moment that the finale ended, I knew that season 2 would be much more in line with what fans were hoping to see from the revival series all along. Matt's haunting monologue about Wilson Fisk's grip on New York City, his rallying call for people to step up and take the city back from him; it all felt very reiminscent of the first season of the original show. And thus, my expectations - and hopes - were extremely high for season 2.
This new teaser has given me plenty of reasons to remain hopeful. After all, there are so many elements in there that suggest it could essentially be a fourth season of the Netflix series. And even though that's technically what Born Again's first season was, it never felt like it. This clip, on the hand, feels so unbelievably like it belongs in that franchise.
The Netflix shows thrived on their grounded nature, while the first season of the Daredevil revival felt almost too large. Even though season 2 is still a continuation of that story - and Wilson Fisk is still the Mayor of New York City it has a more grounded element to it. The heroes are in hiding, Daredevil is wearing his stealth suit for the first time, Jessica Jones is back, there are red and purple hues in the lighting, and there seems to be a more direct commitment to action scenes as well.
It looks, sounds, and feels like the original series. And that means that the teases from multiple cast members are true: Daredevil: Born Again is finally ready to let go its shaky start and restore the true version of the show that fans have been longing to see. The trailer showcases that it might have just pulled that off. It the finished product does the same, it might just be the greatest season of the Daredevil franchise entirely.