The MCU brought back Matt Murdock with the Disney+ show Daredevil: Born Again. The series opened earlier this week with a nostalgic trip down memory lane with our favorite characters and then sucker punched with a tragic death. Foggy Nelson, our resident law badass is dead and took the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen with him.
The reunion with Nelson, Murdock, and Page barely lasted five minutes before the show decided to kill off the heart of it. And, it’s not just me who believes Foggy was the heart (along with Karen). Charlie Cox himself called his partners-in-justice that term when they were initially not returning to the revival.
I’m not sure if the MCU honors Netflix’s show after Foggy Nelson died in Daredevil: Born Again
When Netflix’s Daredevil dropped back in 2015, I was stoked because it was unlike any other Marvel offering at the time. Gritty and grounded was reserved for the friends down the street at DC and not at Kevin Feige’s studio lot. However, the distance it had from the MCU (though not too far away) worked in its favor and gave us one of the best superhero shows.
Good things don’t last forever (or even more than two seasons if you are a Mindhunter fan like me), and Daredevil along with other Netflix shows were canceled. Then, three years ago, they revived the series with Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil: Born Again, but the original iteration did not have Foggy Nelson and Karen Page.
Seeing the show now, I would have actually preferred that, but after a creative overhaul during the WGA strikes, Daredevil: Born Again brought back the Golden Trio only to kill off Foggy Nelson in the opening minutes and showing no signs of Karen Page after the first episode. Granted there have only been two but I doubt she will return anytime soon.
Foggy, Matt, and Murdock were the Harry, Ron, and Hermione of the show, despite it being named Daredevil. Each member of the trio was equally important as Matt Murdock tried to provide justice in the streets at night, Nelson, Murdock, and Page fought for it in the day. Killing off Foggy and with Page nowhere in sight, I’m not sure Kevin Feige knows their importance.
Charlie Cox said he missed Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll in the first iteration of Daredevil: Born Again
I get why the makers of Daredevil: Born Again decided to kill Foggy Nelson. It’s the oldest trick in the book to further the main character’s journey to becoming a hero. Spider-Man had Uncle Ben, Tony Stark, and now Aunt May, and Daredevil seems to have Foggy now. As the Punisher said, he is one bad day away from becoming him.
But, I feel it happened too soon. Foggy, Matt, and Page returning should have atleast been a few episodes (or atleast one) before pulling rug out from under us. They were not even there in the first iteration and they called them back just to mess with us.
Charlie Cox even lamented their absences in the first iteration and called them the hearts of the show. He said (via The Pop Verse),
It was pretty heartbreaking when [Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson] weren’t around initially. When we came back to filming, and they had made some changes, which you guys have probably read about and stuff, it was clear that Foggy and Karen are kind of the heartbeat of our show, and always were.
He also told EW that the duo’s humanity and vulnerability allowed Matt to delve into the darkness. I really hope they bring back Karen for more in the upcoming episodes (and maybe not kill her too). But looking at the way they’ve used Foggy, I feel it’s Marvel doing the nostalgia bait and switch again.
Daredevil: Born Again is available to stream on Disney+.
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