Matt Murdock made his long-awaited return to screens when Daredevil: Born Again premiered on Disney Plus on March 4. It was a momentous occasion as Marvel Studios had officially acknowledged the world that the original Daredevil series had built while also officially allowing the Marvel Cinematic Universe to dive into the more streetwise world of The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.
It's been great catching up with Matt, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, and even the Kingpin himself, but it's been equally great seeing the little nods and references to the wider MCU (we saw that Spider-Man reference, Wilson Fisk!). We always knew both the franchise and the Netflix show could have been linked, but Born Again brings both of them together and it's wonderful.
However, it's also now made history as the Disney Plus series officially acknowledged one character we've been longing to see in the franchise for sometime.
*** This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Daredevil: Born Again episode 3. Don't read on if you don't want the series spoiled for you. ***
Daredevil: Born Again episode 3 references Miles Morales' father
In the third episode of Daredevil: Born Again, titled "The Hollow of His Hand", Matt Murdock goes out of his way to prove the innocence of his client, Hector Ayala, a.k.a. the White Tiger. In doing so, he reveals to the court Hector's true identity as one of Hell's Kitchen's heroes. This allows him to highlight the character of the man he is defending, using testimonies from NYPD police officers to reinforce his point. One of the officers that he mentions is none other than Officer Morales.
If you're unfamiliar with that name (first of all: Why?), Officer Morales is a New York City police officer from Brooklyn. He also happens to be the father of one of the most famous Spider-Man characters of all time: Miles Morales. And if you're a Marvel Comics fan, you know that this namedrop is a pretty big deal.
Miles Morales made history in the comics as the third major Spider-Man. Introduced in 2011, he has gone on to become one of the most pivotal characters in the comics, headlining his own animated movie series and his own video games in the years since. The next chapter in that legacy is, of course, an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - which is something that has been rumored for some time now.
It was Sony Pictures' Into the Spider-Verse film series that introduced Miles to mainstream audiences, turning him into a household name and even seeing him achieve similar levels of notoriety to that of original Spidey, Peter Parker. The film franchise (consisting of 2018's Into the Spider-Verse and 2022's Across the Spider-Verse) also put Jefferson Davis, a.k.a. Officer Jefferson Morales, on the map.
Now, Matt Murdock's reference to Jefferson in the MCU could simply be an Easter Egg, as the creative team honor one of Marvel's most famous NYPD officers, but it could also be the beginning of a long-running storyline to introduce Miles to MCU audiences. After all, we've seen waiting to see Daredevil team up with Spider-Man in live-action; who's to say that it couldn't be the Miles Morales version we see it happen with?
Irrespective of whether it was an Easter Egg or not, Marvel Television has officially left that thread there for the franchise to pull in the future. It's a big deal, and if - or when - the time comes, Spidey fans all over the world will be ready to see Miles swinging into the MCU. And we can't wait for it to come to fruition.
Daredevil: Born Again is streaming on Disney Plus.