Summary
Don’t look now, but something a bit odd is happening with Disney and Marvel’s latest blockbuster series,Daredevil: Born Again. you may usually leave it to the controversy-averse House of Mouse to take middle-of-the-road stances on pretty much anything and everything. After all, little money is to be made by expressly ticking people off. Someone forgot to warn Matt Murdock and crew about this reality, though.
The Walt Disney Companyis not just an entertainment conglomerate, it istheentertainment conglomerate. Disney is the all-encompassing multimedia powerhouse to which all others aspire: movies, television, theme parks, comic books, streaming media, cruise lines, publishing, merchandising… the list goes on and on. Its roots may be as a little cartoon studio that could, but as of 2023, The Walt Disney Company employed around 225,000 people around the globe. Public-facing companies rarely, if ever, get as big as Disney is and they didn’t become a giant of multiple industries by ruffling feathers. If the company’slatest tactics surrounding theSnow Whitepremiereare anything, they are the telltale signs of a business doing its best to stay out of the headlines. This is what makesDaredevil: Born Againoh so very interesting.
Daredevil: Born Again Isn’t Afraid To Show Law Enforcement As The Villain
I Fought The Law And The Law Won
Daredevil: Born Again’s third episode, “The Hollow of His Hand,“ended with a literal bang. After being exonerated for a crime he clearly didn’t commit thanks to Matt Murdock’s excellent lawyering skills, Hector Ayala returned to the streets as the White Tiger and was immediately gunned down in a hit job. In classic Daredevil fashion, even when Murdock wins, he loses. More importantly, Ayala’s family lost a son, husband, and uncle in Hector. The cold-blooded murder of White Tiger is something of a starter pistol for the series in that it’s a clear indicator of where the series is headed.
Born Again’s fourth episode, “Sic Semper Systema,” gives Hector’s niece Angela Del Toro a scene to release all of her family’s grief and rage. Camila Rodriguez—best known for Disney projectsWizards Beyond Waverly PlaceandThe Naughty Nine—imbues Angela with a sense of righteous disgust. Given that Angela is destined to take up the mantle of White Tiger (whether this’ll actually happen in the MCU is up for debate), this moment of fury could prove to be her call to action.
“Come on, you’re a lawyer. You ain’t dumb. He got in the middle of something. Busted up a fight with his mask off. A**hole cops were dirty. You got him out of jail. They put a bullet through his head. You don’t gotta be good at math to put one and one together, you know?”
If that was all Angela said, it would be plenty… but she continues: “I hate this city. No one’s doing anything about it and no one’s ever gonna do anything about it, ‘cause he was just Hector from the Heights, and they’re the f**king cops.” Matt tries to console her, but his words fall pretty flat considering the system has already failed the Ayala family, and he is (at that particular moment in time) not doling out vigilante justice as Daredevil.
Daredevil: Born Again Also Highlights Flaws In The Justice System
This Is A Disney Show?
IfDaredevil: Born Againsimply made dirty cops a villain in the series, it wouldn’t be very notable.The originalDaredevilserieshad more than its fair share of dirty police officers. To be fair, those cops usually were being paid off by Fisk and the villainous ones inBorn Againhave a much more reality-based motivation in that they see themselves as Punishers of a sort. There is a difference between being monetarily persuaded by a comic book villain to look the other way and actively murdering people because you see yourself as the arbiter of the law, Judge Dredd style. Alas,Born Againtakes time to show Matt Murdock actually being a lawyer and Leroy Mancini’s case is far more mundane than what you’d usually see on a superhero show.
Early on in “Sic Semper Systema,” viewers see Leroy being arrested for stealing a few boxes of caramel corn. The police apprehending him are joking about it and eating the stolen food while putting Leroy in cuffs, which certainly isn’t going to endear them to anyone. Matt, being the good Samaritan that he often is, does his utmost to get Leroy’s sentence reduced to ten days and expects his new client to be grateful. Leroy, distressed by his life in general, is not:
“…you gotta start eating throw away crap from supermarket dumpsters. Begging for change, for food. And yeah, just once, I want a dessert. Something that don’t taste like crap. Something that tastes real good. So, why’d I get the caramel corn? I like that sh*t and it tastes good. And for that, they’re willing to spendfive times moreto lock me up than they are willing to spend to feed me. And you come in here and tell me that that’s a gift? That I should thank you?
The fourth episode ofDaredevil: Born Againis all about showing the two leads—Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk—that the system isn’t working. Where Mayor Fisk is subjected to two separate, comical renditions of Starship’s “We Built This City” while struggling to get around political red tape, Matt’s problems are of a much more dire nature. The American political system is designed to be slow and arduous; if you want to get something done, you’re really going to have to work for it. The American justice system, on the other hand, is supposed to hand out just that: justice. At least,that’s what Matt Murdock believes. Thus far,Daredevil: Born Againhasn’t pulled any punches getting political to show Murdock that the system he works in isn’t working at all.
Daredevil: Born Again Takes Cues From Another Recent MCU Show
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Also Takes A Liberal Approach
Another Marvel Cinematic Universe show that debuted in 2025—and also features Charlie Cox’s Daredevil—isn’t afraid to get political with its comic book-based storylines.Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Hudson Thames caused a stir earlier this year when he claimed that he was worried the show was “gonna be annoying and woke,” which is pretty comical to look back on becauseYFNSMisn’t afraid to shake up the status quo. The Osborns of that show are black, Dr. Connors is a woman, and Spider-Man is shown letting a villain go after stealing money from a pizza place when she apologizes. The world Peter Parker inhabits inYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manis much more colorful than the comic books he debuted in, where pretty much every single character - good or bad - was white.
It is refreshing to see Marvel Studios beunafraid to accurately depict the world at large. Early phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were, ahem, extremely safe (i.e. white and straight). Telling interesting stories while trying not to offend anyone is extremely difficult, if not outright impossible. It’ll be interesting to see whereBorn Againgoes with the “cops as Punishers” storyline, but that they’ve even decided to go there at all is a win. If the House of Ideas’ main goal is to, as Stan Lee liked to say, “reflect the world outside your window,” thenDaredevil: Born Againis doing a bang-up job.
