Daredevil: Born Again premiered on Disney+ on March 4th, marking the return of Matt Murdock ten years after the Netflix version of the series debuted. Bringing Daredevil back and bringing him into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, thus making the events of the new series canon, was a task that the directing team — Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd — took seriously. An earlier version of Daredevil: Born Again was filmed prior to the WGA strikes in 2023, but underwent a creative overhaul during the strike.
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In finding ways to retool the series, the directing team revisited the explosive opening scene of the series, revealing that it was originally way more unsatisfying than what they ultimately crafted.
The Original Draft Had Less of an Emotional Impact for Both Fans and Daredevil Himself
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the directing team discussed Foggy Nelson’s shocking death and the way it evolved into what appears in the final version of the series. Originally, Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll, who portray Matt Murdock’s best friends — Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, respectively — were not attached to the series. However, Foggy’s tragic ending was still a part of the story, with his death having occurred off-screen. Upon undergoing the creative overhaul, the creative team realized that Foggy and Karen were an integral part of Matt Murdock’s life, so much so that Henson and Woll were brought back to reprise their roles. But with the exciting return of fan-favorite characters rounding out the Nelson, Murdock, and Page trio, came a heartbreaking adaptation of Foggy’s death.
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In the opening scene of the series, Matt, Karen, and Foggy are in their local dive bar, Josie’s, when Foggy receives a call from a client he is representing. As Foggy steps outside on the sidewalk to handle his business, Matt’s enhanced hearing hones in on the click of a sniper’s gun, but cannot get outside in time to save Foggy from harm. As Foggy lies bleeding on the street with Karen by his side, Matt takes to the rooftops as Daredevil to chase down the shooter, Benjamin Poindexter (Bullseye).
During the ensuing fierce battle, Matt constantly monitors Foggy’s heartbeat, only to hear it get fainter and fainter until it’s gone. Knowing his best friend has just died, Matt tosses Bullseye off the roof in his grief, with the intent to kill Foggy’s murderer. This series of events is what ultimately causes Matt Murdock to give us his secret life as Daredevil.
Speaking about Foggy’s death to The Hollywood Reporter, Aaron Moorhead discussed the depth that went into crafting the scene.
“I remember we were having a conversation about exactly how he would die and what happens in his final moments. There’s a lot to think about; it’s not just lying down on the ground and slowly stopping breathing. What’s his relationship with the afterlife, especially with his best friend being Catholic?” the filmmaker shared. “We then had to make his death protracted over the course of [Daredevil and Bullseye’s] fight. And truly, when we were talking about it, there was a moment where we went a little quiet and made long eye contact, as it sunk in that we were responsible for photographing the killing of one of our favorite characters from one of our favorite shows. We then felt like interlopers in a way.”
He continued, “We were looking at Elden, who was only on set for those couple of days, and we started to think, ‘What right do we have?’ But he gave us his blessing as long as we took it very seriously, and it wasn’t just meant to be something shocking. If it resonated out through the whole series and was the reason that Matt did the things that he did for the rest of the show, then we’d have permission to do it.”
As tragic as it was, the impact Foggy’s death had on Matt and consequently, Daredevil, would not have been as striking if it had been simply depicted off-screen like originally intended. Matt’s whole life is shattered in that moment, setting the tone for the rest of the series and leaving him with serious trauma to overcome in order to be Daredevil once more.
Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is now streaming on Disney+.
