Over six years after Daredevil season 3 wrapped with something of a happy ending, the rebooted show, Daredevil: Born Again, opens with one of the most shocking sequences in Marvel history. Just 15 minutes into the premiere, Matt Murdock's law partner and best friend Foggy Nelson is brutally killed off, sending shockwaves across the fandom and setting the dark, unforgiving tone for the episodes to come.
It was a brave move from the Daredevil team to kill off one of the show's longest-running stars right at the beginning. Sparking immense controversy is certainly one way for Dario Scardapane to make a first impression as the new showrunner.
The opening scene takes place with our three main characters — Matt Murdock (Charloe Cox), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) — enjoying some down time at their favorite bar, Josie's. However, everything turns chatoic when Bullseye himself, Benjamin Poindexter (Wilson Bethel), enters the fray, putting a bullet into Foggy's chest. There's very little build up to his death; it all happens too fast. And following on from this scene, the show takes a lengthy time jump, bringing us into the present.
Speaking on the controversal death, Born Again executive producer Sana Amanat explained that Foggy's death is the catalyst event for Murdock's future actions and motivations. "Ultimately, that was the intention: Foggy being so integral to Matt, Matt realizing he needs to put away the mask, Matt starting a new life. The only reason he would ever do that is if his best friend dies," she told Entertainment Weekly. "Otherwise, this man will always come back to [violence], because [Foggy's] been his moral compass for so long. That is the only thing that made sense for us narratively to be able to tell that story."
Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum explained that the death wasn't a decision taken lightly. "The death of Foggy was something that we really agonized over," he said. "It sends Matt into a real state of freeze. You find a Matt Murdock who is trying to uphold the virtues of Foggy in Foggy's absence, but the pressure's going to come to bear and he's going to explode, which you see at the end of the second episode."
While Foggy may well be dead, Winderbaum has confirmed that Henson will return to the show in season 2. Will it be a flashback sequence? Will he actually end up being alive? This is Marvel, after all; stranger things have happened in the MCU. "He and Deborah are coming back for season 2 in different ways," he revealed. "We're excited to work with him again.... I don't see a Daredevil season without him in some regard."
Daredevil: Born Again continues Tuesday nights on Disney+. It may have gotten off to a controversial start, but the series itself is really, really good.
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