No one expected fans of the original Daredevil series to go easy on Marvel's Daredevil: Born Again reboot. We all saw the insufferable comparisons between the two shows coming from a mile away.
Now that the revival's nine-episode run has ended, we can safely say that Disney-Marvel significantly fell short of delivering on the OG fans' high expectations. From Born Again's filming and CGI revamps to the changes in its characters and storylines, Daredevil purists are ripping into every little detail about the new show. And they aren't merely nitpicking.
This article looks at Daredevil: Born Again's biggest criticisms, pitfalls, and mistakes following the release of the finale, "Straight to Hell."
1. Where the hell is Daredevil?
In the first five episodes of the MCU reboot, we only get approximately 6.5 minutes of action scenes featuring Matt Murdock as Daredevil. The Man Without Fear shows up in episode 1 before going MIA for 50% of the season despite being the show's titular character.
One might argue that Disney/Marvel tried giving Matt Murdock's story a new direction with this switch-up. But the move was a terrible way to follow up on the original show's legacy.
For context, in the first five episodes of Daredevil season 1, we get approximately three minutes of fight scenes with Daredevil per episode. So they delivered over 15 minutes of Daredevil fighting before the season's halfway point.
The new show spends the entirety of the fifth episode — "With Interest" — inside a bank. While it wasn't completely terrible, it did little to impact Daredevil's general storyline. I'm sure Marvel could've found better ways to introduce Ms. Marvel rather than have Matt spend a whole episode with her dad.
2. Characters and storylines feel inconsistent compared to the original
Some fans claim Matt's personality in Born Again differs from the former Netflix series. A peculiar complaint in multiple Reddit threads is that he's oddly cheery and upbeat despite his BFF Foggy Nelson's grim fate.
As a long-time lover of the superhero genre, I fully support our beloved characters going through personal growth. However, I understand why Matt's new-ish persona is so hard to digest for the OG fans.
For starters, the original series would've ruminated more heavily on the aftermath of Foggy's death. But Born Again used a time jump to skip over that part entirely.
Another frustrating move was to skip over showing us how Wilson Fisk won people's support to become the Mayor. Marvel's Echo continues his story after the events of Daredevil season 3, though how he won people's trust again is still a mystery. This fundamentally goes against the original show's storytelling principles.
3. They are doing the new characters DIRTY
It's well known that Kingpin is Daredevil's biggest opponent. But I cannot get over Born Again reducing Muse to a Law & Order-level villain. Whatever happened to his imperceptibility? Muse's body in the comics is akin to a blackhole, sucking in all the sensory information from his environment. If the sequel used this intriguing superpower, the Daredevil vs Muse fight scene could've been the season's highlight.
There are rumors that the deranged artist might return in season 2, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.
On the same note, I would've loved to see more of Hector Ayala before his brutal death in Episode 3. Perhaps Marvel could've found a better way to introduce the Punisher later in the season.
While we are on it, Matt's new investigator friend Cherry deserves a mention. The show is forcing us to accept that he's now part of Matt's inner circle, despite zero appearances in the original show or comics. He ends up feeling out of place.
4. What in the CGI hell and MCU-ified visuals is going on?
The CGI-enhanced fight between Daredevil and Bullseye in the premiere episode was an early indicator that the reboot's fight scenes would be subpar. Even Disney/Marvel's ample resources didn't help the revival one-up the original series' action. What's truly frustrating is that the entire sequence didn't need CGI work. Like the original show, they could've done it using solely practical methods.
Besides the overuse of CGI, Born Again's MCU-ified bright look has been jarring. I sorely missed Matt's barren-looking yet stylish apartment from the original show. The reboot also lacks close-ups and lingering camera shots that help you to truly soak in an actor's performance.
5. Marvel's hit-or-miss reputation
Marvel Studios had a mega successful, decade-long run with its movies from 2008's Iron Man to 2019's Avengers: Endgame. But their reputation has tanked in the last five years, thanks to a series of commercial and critical flops like The Marvels, Eternals, and more. Even 2025's Captain America: Brave New World didn't help rebuild the Marvel name.
In addition to their theatrical misses, Marvel's poorly received shows like She-Hulk and Secret Invasion don't help its cause.
We've been flooded with superhero content in the past one-and-a-half decades. This is precisely why the bar to impress fans is extremely high right now. One can only hope that Daredevil: Born Again season 2 reaches the high bar set by the original show. And the possibility of the Defenders reuniting, along with more MCU character mashups, is what keeps bringing me back to Marvel, despite its many misses.
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