Daredevil: Born Again can easily explain the absence of certain main characters from the original Netflix show that won’t be making the jump to Disney+. For the very first time, Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil, will feature in a self-titled series that is officially a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Born Again will act as a soft reboot of the original Netflix series and will feature some of the same returning cast, but several supporting characters, including Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), have yet to be confirmed. Nevertheless, the MCU already provides a perfect explanation for their absence from Born Again.
Daredevil: Born Again unites the Defenders Saga with the MCU, bringing together characters and franchises that have never united onscreen before. This new trend in Marvel began with 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which Charlie Cox made a surprise cameo as Peter Parker’s attorney, Matt Murdock. Vincent D’Onofrio made a similar return as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, in the finale of the Disney+ series Hawkeye. In the time since, Marvel has doubled down on its inclusion of Netflix characters, confirming that both Daredevil and Kingpin would appear in the upcoming Echo series in addition to Born Again, and that Jon Bernthal’s Punisher would also appear in the latter series.
The Blip Can Explain The Absence Of Daredevil’s Supporting Cast
The MCU’s five-year Blip could be Daredevil: Born Again‘s explanation for not bringing back certain supporting characters from the original Netflix series. Residents of the MCU have come to know the time between Thanos’s Decimation and the Battle of Earth as “The Blip,” a dark time in which half of all life in the universe was stamped out of existence. As intriguing as this time period is, the MCU has rarely explored any of its characters’ experiences therein, including Daredevil. Marvel has the perfect opportunity to explore Daredevil’s activities during this five-year period by setting Born Again in the Blip, with many or all of Matt Murdock’s friends disappearing.
The Blip justifies Born Again bringing back characters like the Punisher and the Kingpin but leaving out others, like Karen Page, Claire Temple, and Foggy Nelson. Whoever doesn’t return for the Disney+ series can simply be revealed as yet another victim of Thanos’s snap. Furthermore, this would fit perfectly fit within the timeline of Netflix’s Daredevil series, which ended in 2018, shortly after Avengers: Infinity War came out. Therefore, Born Again could be set shortly after the events of Daredevil‘s third season, picking up where the show left off while also explaining Matt Murdock’s whereabouts in between when audiences last saw him and his cameo in No Way Home.
How Setting Born Again During The Blip Actually Helps The MCU
Born Again‘s potential setting could help the MCU timeline immensely. Several important MCU events occurred during the Blip, including Smart Hulk’s transformation and Tony Stark’s marriage to Pepper Potts, yet all was left off-screen. Born Again can change this trend by actually showing what the world was like shortly after the Decimation. Marvel can use Daredevil’s new show to explain one of its most intriguing, yet so often unexplored, time periods. Moreover, setting the series during the Blip capitalizes on the intense and raw emotion that has become so essential to Daredevil’s character, especially if it is revealed that he lost his friends in the Decimation.
Setting Daredevil: Born Again in the past also alleviates a major timeline flaw that is otherwise inevitable for the show. The timeline of Phase 5 and Phase 6 of the MCU is heating up as the franchise builds to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. By the time Born Again premieres, the MCU will only be a few years away from the culmination of the Multiverse Saga, and the effects of the multiverse’s breakdown will be evident in many projects therein. Daredevil would feel out of place at this particular moment in the MCU unless set in an earlier time, before the chaos caused by Kang the Conqueror.
Will Daredevil’s Supporting Cast Ever Return In The MCU?
Even if Daredevil‘s supporting cast doesn’t return in Born Again, it isn’t impossible for certain characters to appear in later projects. While Born Again may focus on MCU cameos, enjoying Daredevil’s new connection to the larger franchise, the novelty of this new arrangement will eventually wear off, leaving room for other past characters to return. If there are future seasons of Daredevil planned beyond Born Again‘s first eighteen episodes, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if certain beloved characters such as Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, and Claire Temple, made their long-awaited returns, finally completing the Defenders Saga’s immersion into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While the return of Matt Murdock’s friends is certainly an exciting prospect, the chances seem even higher that specific enemies might also make a surprise appearance in the MCU. The iconic comics supervillain Bullseye was teased in Daredevil Season 3 but never came to fruition after the show’s cancelation. Now that Daredevil is returning to the MCU, Bullseye’s canceled storyline can finally come true, whether in the upcoming Disney+ series or later on in the character’s future. In fact, it is entirely possible for Bullseye or any other of Matt Murdock’s dangerous enemies to appear at some point during the upcoming season of Daredevil: Born Again.