The downfall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been well-documented, as the film franchise went from making widely loved smash hits to critically maligned flops within just a few years. A clear point of comparison: 2019's Avengers: Endgame has 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and was briefly the top-grossing film of all time, while 2023's The Marvels has a very generous 62 percent and is possibly the biggest box-office flop ever.
The causes are easy to identify — quantity over quality, entire series devoted to lesser-known characters, and an over-reliance on synergy and crossovers rather than satisfying stand-alone stories. For a few years now, they've seemed more focused on driving Disney+ subscriptions than telling good stories about interesting characters. You know it's getting bad when even the Disney bosses acknowledge they've lost their way.
Which leads us to Daredevil: Born Again — the long-awaited new season of what is, for my money, Marvel's best-ever property. Over the course of three seasons from 2015 to 2018, plus spinoff shows The Punisher and The Defenders — which were created for Netflix because Disney+ didn't exist yet — Daredevil was full of gritty violence, moody noir atmosphere, and a thrilling anti-capitalist struggle against one of the best villains in superhero history.
Today, Marvel rolled out the trailer for Daredevil: Born Again, a reboot that brings back Charlie Cox as crime-fighting lawyer Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil) and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. Kingpin). Deborah Ann Woll returns as Karen Page, as does Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle (a.k.a. the Punisher). It looks dark and dramatic — essentially like if you made a supercut of Daredevil's original run and set it to climactic music.
Daredevil and Kingpin have each had cameos in recent MCU properties, and their return has been confirmed for some time now, so nothing that happens in the Born Again trailer is that much of a surprise. Fisk is now the mayor of New York (and appears to be married, judging by the ring on his finger), while Murdock has abandoned his vigilante ways to be an above-board lawyer. The two have a surprisingly pleasant coffee at a diner, and I'm willing to bet that the peace won't last.
What remains a mystery is if Disney has the guts to make a show as bloody and haunting as Daredevil's Netflix incarnation, or if long-suffering fans will be subjected to another parade of gimmicky cameos and tedious lore.
See the trailer below. Daredevil: Born Again premieres on Disney+ on March 4.