Ahead of the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige held a lengthy interview with a handful of reporters, revealing the MCU’s plans post-Avengers: Secret Wars, learning from past missteps, and answering some burning questions about their upcoming projects. Among the various topics covered in the interview, Variety reported that Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 would not be affected by the events of Thunderbolts*, which featured Bob’s (Lewis Pullman) darker half, The Void, taking over New York City and plunging its inhabitants into complete darkness, trapping them in their most traumatic memories. With Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and the rest of the supporting cast very much living in the same city that The Void terrorized, it is a real head-scratcher to learn that it won’t be referenced in the series at all.
Feige claims this is because the TV side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will echo the likes of Marvel Television in the 2010s, such as Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and the rest of Netflix’s The Defenders universe, as well as ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. These examples portray series that, at the time, were considered connected to the movies, but were later labeled as not connected — that is, until the Netflix side of Marvel was reclaimed by the MCU and considered canon once again. Fans have been clamoring for a similar fate for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but that is a lot to ask for fans to understand how various seasons of a series connect to the broader universe. Still, Feige’s response speaks to a larger problem looming within the vast MCU multiverse.
It’s Simple: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Should Connect to the Greater MCU
Now, this doesn’t mean that Yelena Balova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and the rest of the New Avengers are expected to join Daredevil’s fight against Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Just a simple mention of the massive event that engulfed New York City or even a nod to the newly occupied Avengers Tower would make the MCU feel like what it promised to be — a connected universe. However, in the popular 2021 Devil’s Reign comic run, created by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto, Fisk’s task force is led by his own version of the Thunderbolts in his war against Daredevil and his team of superheroes looking to reclaim their city. But, with Fisk being the Mayor of the city, which he has now placed under martial law, a threat as big as being the launching point of the New Avengers would seem like something that should be addressed — not to mention, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has a connection to Fisk via her employing Yelena to kill Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) in Hawkeye, the series where D’Onofrio’s version of the character became canon to the MCU.
Speaking of MCU canon, it’s impossible to forget Cox’s Matt Murdock made his debut into the larger cinematic universe in the blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home as Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) lawyer. Even rolling into the next webcrawling installment, Jon Bernthal‘s Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, will be making the leap from the small screen to the big screen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. So, why are the MCU’s movies acknowledging the shows, but not the other way around?
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The Void’s powers are also very in line with the thematic nuances of Daredevil as well. Embracing the darkness that haunts you is just a Tuesday for Matt Murdock. This makes the omission of having these events cross over feel like even more of a missed opportunity. It would give Disney+ viewers a new perspective on a major event, just like series such as WandaVision and Hawkeye showcased fresh looks at how The Blip affected characters not present in Avengers: Infinity War in stories that were watched at home. After all, Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again was anchored in both Murdock and Fisk embracing their inner darkness once again, and an altercation with The Void could have either helped the duo or sent them further down paths of destruction as fans await their next face-off in 2026.
Is the MCU Making the Same Mistake With Daredevil All Over Again?
Sadly, this isn’t the first time connectivity issues have been present in a Daredevil series. As mentioned up top, when the Netflix Marvel shows were launched, the intention was to have them be connected to the movies. Daredevil Season 1 takes place in the aftermath of the battle of New York in The Avengers, and it even includes a few offhand references in its first season. Unfortunately, a few months after Daredevil debuted on the streamer, Marvel Studios separated from what was known as Marvel Entertainment at the time, leaving the films to operate under their own authority with Marvel Television being completely separate. Even after the split in 2015, Season 1 of Luke Cage, which was released in 2016, name-dropped Captain America and referenced the third-act battle from The Incredible Hulk, but as much as the Netflix series referenced MCU movies, the movies never paid any attention to any of the Defenders or their exploits.
Now, it seems like the tables have reversed, with characters from Disney+ screens appearing in the movies, but projects such as Daredevil: Born Again are operating as finite standalone series that seem to exist in their own universe. Feige may be trying to alleviate any viewer confusion about the MCU, even to the point of citing the box-office letdowns of The Marvels, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts* may have been attributed to the movies featuring characters that previously appeared in Disney+ series. The truth is that severing any connection between Marvel’s movies and shows isn’t the solution. If heroes and villains are hopping between both mediums, all the shows need to do is include small references to the movies. There don’t need to be massive cameos in street-level stories; there just needs to be passing mentions that make this franchise still feel like an interconnected universe.
Daredevil: Born Again is available to stream on Disney+.
Daredevil: Born Again
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Chris Ord
- Directors
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Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, David Boyd, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Jesse Wigutow, Jill Blankenship, Thomas Wong, David Feige, Grainne Godfree
