I've Been Reading Daredevil Comics For 15 Years - Here's What Born Again Gets Right (and Wrong)

Marvel Studios

Spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 follow.

I first met Daredevil through a mutual friend: Spider-Man, because Daredevil (Edward Albert) guest-starred in a two-part episode of "Spider-Man: The Animated Series." In years to come, I learned more about Matt Murdock through various Marvel encyclopedias (like "Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe") and the 2003 "Daredevil" film.

The first "Daredevil" comic issue I ever bought was a preserved copy of #191, or "Roulette." It's the last issue of writer-artist Frank Miller's heralded "Daredevil" (a trial run for his reinvention of Batman), but also a perfect standalone story. It hit my teenage brain that craved darker superhero stories in just the right place. The 2015 Charlie Cox-led "Daredevil" TV series cemented me as a lifetime fan of the Man Without Fear, and so did Mark Waid's then-fresh run on the comic.

I finally went back and read Miller's entire "Daredevil" run in college, and then followed the ongoing "Daredevil" by Chip Zdarsky month-to-month. After Zdarsky's run wrapped, I looked back to fill in my reading gaps of definitive "Daredevil" runs: Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Ann Nocenti, Charles Soule, etc. I'll admit I dropped Saladin Ahmed's 2023 "Daredevil" run after a dozen-ish issues when it didn't impress me, but I've read Stephanie Phillips and Lee Garbett's new "Daredevil" #1 and I'm excited again to see where Matt's journey goes.

With all this "Daredevil" experience under my belt, I can now speak safely to how comic accurate the TV series — and its ongoing sequel "Daredevil: Born Again" — are. The short version is that, like Marvel movies, they adapt real Daredevil comics but rearrange them. The "Daredevil" shows, owing to budget, also have a much smaller scope and fewer superhero crossovers than the comics.

The devil (of Hell's Kitchen) is in the details.

Marvel Comics

The original "Daredevil" TV series takes after the Frank Miller comics. Season 1 adapts Miller and John Romita Jr.'s 1993 miniseries retelling Daredevil's origin, "Daredevil: Man Without Fear." Then, Season 2 adapts Matt's encounters with the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and the Elektra (Elodie Yung) saga. Season 3 was a very loose adaptation of Miller and David Mazzucchelli's arc "Born Again."

"Born Again" is not an adaptation of that comic, but rather a mix of different 21st century "Daredevil" runs. Season 1, which saw Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) become mayor of New York and introduced the art-themed serial killer Muse, largely looks to the Charles Soule run. The subplot of White Tiger's trial, though, is based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Trial of the Century." Season 2, where Fisk has declared martial law, takes after Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto's "Devil's Reign."

There's still a touch of Miller, though. In the opening scene of "Born Again," Bullseye kills Matt's friend Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). Daredevil drops a beaten Bullseye off a roof, wanting him to die but letting gravity do the dirty work. This is taken from Miller's "Daredevil" #181, where Matt drops Bullseye after he kills Elektra. 

Moreover, in the comics, Foggy is still alive. It was Matt's girlfriend, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), whom Bullseye killed in Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada's 1998 arc "Guardian Devil." The show has swapped Karen and Foggy's places. The MCU's Karen is also a much stronger character than the comics, where she was often written as a tormented drug addict. 

In "Born Again" Season 1, Daredevil retires after trying to kill Bullseye. It doesn't matter the villain lived; Matt sinned in his heart with murderous intent. In Chip Zdarsky's "Daredevil," Matt retired after manslaughtering a petty criminal.

Marvel Comics

The original "Daredevil" adapted Wilson Fisk's brutal side and his sincere love for his wife Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer). Yet the onscreen Wilson's social awkwardness doesn't quite resemble comic Kingpin's commanding presence. Other villains are revised throughout "Born Again."

In the comics, Bullseye is a sadistic psychopath, plain and simple. Wilson Bethel's Ben Poindexter is more sympathetic. In "Born Again" Season 2, he's trying to make up for his violent past (but with more violence). Season 1 previously gave Muse a real identity, whereas in the comics he stayed an enigma.

Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), Fisk's fixer, is the super-villain Bullet in the comics. Bullet has a young son, Lance, but the show has transferred any of Buck's paternal affection to original character Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini). "Born Again" Season 2 gives Matt's law partner Kirsten McDuffie more focus, but she still lacks the comic version's funny side. The character changed most is Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), going from a mentally ill heiress to a therapist and, come Season 2, an outright villain.

But in "Born Again," Charlie Cox continues getting Matt Murdock exactly right. Like the comics, Matt is a charming womanizer. Beneath that, he has a martyr complex fueled by Catholic guilt. He creates a lot of problems for himself and his loved ones with his inability to solve things without violence. But he's a man of conviction who fights in both the courtroom and the streets, no matter the hypocrisy of that. A stand-out scene in "Born Again" is Season 2, Episode 6, when Karen rants at Matt about how he won't kill villains who deserve it even as people he loves die.

Matt Murdock is far from a perfect hero, and the live-action "Daredevil" has always understood that.