Disney Marvel’s “Daredevil: Born Again” (2025–Present) season two has officially concluded with its finale episode premiering on Disney Plus on May 5. The finale, titled “The Southern Cross,” is the best episode of the second season and of this entire revival series.
At Karen Page’s (Deborah Ann Woll) trial, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) calls Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) as a witness. There, he presents the video testimony of Christofi Savva (Yorgos Karamihos), the former first mate of the Northern Star, which was used to smuggle weapons into New York City by Fisk’s command.
In a shocking twist, Matt reveals himself to be Daredevil to the courtroom and testifies to the judges that he counts as a witness to what was on the Northern Star. He convinces the judges to dismiss the case.
In a building across from the courthouse, Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) stops Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF) officers from assassinating Matt. Dex hits Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), which prompts Fisk to lock down the courthouse.
Encouraged by BB Urich (Genneya Walton), many New York civilians dressed in Daredevil attire surround and eventually enter the building. Governor Marge McCaffrey (Lili Taylor) and her attorney general offer Fisk a deal to avoid charges if he steps down as mayor and goes into exile.
Enraged, Fisk initially denies this deal, and he decides to kill a handful of protesters. Matt, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) and Angela del Toro as White Tiger (Camila Rodriguez) fight AVTF officers until they reach Fisk. Matt, without his mask, convinces Fisk to take the deal so that the city can finally have peace, and Fisk accepts.
In an epilogue, Fisk leaves New York, the AVTF is disbanded, Jessica reunites with Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Dex replaces Cage for Mr. Charles’ (Matthew Lillard) service and BB is hired by Mitchell Ellison (Geoffrey Cantor) at the New York Bulletin.
Karen and Matt try to enjoy their lives together, not being in hiding anymore, but Matt is arrested and imprisoned for his actions as Daredevil.
What a finale. One thing needs to be stated before getting into specifics: by no means is the season perfect or even of the same quality as the Netflix show.
But it does succeed in improving upon what the first season established. Season one of “Daredevil: Born Again” was like Frankenstein’s monster. It tried to do too much with material created by two different creative teams.
Now that the show is under the direction of one team, it only has to do what it has planned out for its characters. Season two excels in honing in on a story that feels focused and doesn’t have random sideplots that go nowhere.
Certain characters from season one have arcs that feel earned in season two. A good example of this is Daniel Blade’s (Michael Gandolfini) refusal to give up BB’s location to Buck. If he had given her over to him, then what’s stopping Daniel from becoming another Fisk?
As stated previously, this season isn’t without its issues. One of the most glaring ones is the romantic relationship between Matt and Karen. Season one’s finale saw these two reunited after not having seen each other in a year.
There is no explanation or flashback given for why these two are now romantically involved with each other. The lack of explanation comes with Matt’s suit, now painted black instead of the conventional red; that’s never addressed either.
However, the problems of this second season do not bring it down like its predecessor. Season two genuinely has some memorable Daredevil moments. Cox and D’Onofrio’s dedication to making this show great for the fans is remarkable.
Without them, there is no revival series, and no original “Daredevil” (2015–2018) to begin with.
Rating: 3.5/5
