I’m Not Convinced Disney Can Make Daredevil Darker Than Netflix Unless It Delivers the 1 Death That Will Break Fans’ Hearts

It has been a rocky road to get here, but Daredevil: Born Again is finally in our grasp. We have been waiting for Disney+ to make the right decision for the better part of a decade. In its time, Netflix’s Daredevil was the most beloved Marvel television property. The series of Netflix Marvel series, including Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, were gritty and socially-driven takes adjacent to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney changed everything when it bought Marvel and broke all our hearts. Just like that, Netflix canceled their Marvel Universe. No more Punisher. No more Iron Fist. Daredevil was arguably the best one of the bunch, casting Charlie Cox as the quasi-blind lawyer, Matt Murdock, whose Catholic guilt and rage drives him to beat the criminals of Hell’s Kitchen with his bare fists. It brought classic characters like Elektra and Frank Castle and was tragically ripped away after Season 3.

Now, eight years after the final season, Matt Murdock is back, joined by partners Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. We can all remember a time when this seemed impossible. A few years ago, news broke of the series reaching a new platform, but with devastating results. Reportedly, Foggy and Karen were to be killed off-screen, and Matt would be operating on his own. With the success of other character-driven stories, this idea was thankfully axed, delaying the project for some time. Hopefully, this means that Daredevil: Born Again will stay true to its Netflix roots when the series premieres in March. But I still have my reservations. While some Marvel series, such as Echo, have leaned into the more violent aspects of her origin, Daredevil will still be premiering on Disney+. How can we trust that this will be the same Daredevil we fell in love with? The answer is simple, but fans aren’t likely to admit it. If Disney+ wants to assure fans that Daredevil won’t be holding back, the only way is to kill off Karen Page. Hear me out on this one. While this may be a divisive and aggressive move, it isn’t entirely unprecedented.

Daredevil: Born Again Gets Its Name From an Iconic Comic

Daredevil has been in the Marvel lexicon for a long time, and one of the most famous arcs came out in 1986. Playing off the religious themes present in Matt Murdock, the comic was called Born Again – the title the new series takes its name from. I can agree that this is a tenuous connection at best. Marvel often takes names from famous arcs and does little to adapt them. Avengers: Age of Ultron was not only the weakest Avengers movie of the past two decades but did not resemble the comic at all. Even so, the Born Again comic is so iconic that Marvel would be misguided if they didn’t pay homage to it.

Written by Frank Miller, the comic contains all the darkness that the scribe is known for, especially when it comes to Karen’s arc. The story begins Karen’s downward spiral, which ultimately leads to her death in the comics. Having left her job at Nelson & Murdock sometime before, she has since developed a dependency on heroin, which drives her to film pornography. In a move of desperation, Karen sells Matt’s secret identity for drugs. This decision has catastrophic results for Matt, as one can imagine.

Kingpin gets ahold of this information and does everything he can to ruin Matt’s life. Eventually, Karen returns, and Matt forgives her, leading to them rekindling a romantic relationship. But this doesn’t last forever, and Karen eventually dies in Daredevil Vol. 2 #5, “The Man Without Fear” (by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada). In a scuffle with Bullseye, Karen takes a billy club to the chest meant for Daredevil. She dies having redeemed herself after her crimes in the arms of the man she loves. Karen is an addition to the long list of superhero romantic partners who die to forward their lover’s progression. I don’t particularly enjoy these storylines that have been made famous by Kyle Rayner’s arc in Green Lantern, which writer Gail Simone had subbed as Women In Refrigerators. It is an overused trope, to say the least. Even so, Karen’s death would be a natural progression that has already been planted in the original series.

Daredevil Season 3 Has Already Shadowed Elements of the Comic

Disney’s series may take the name from Born Again, but elements of the story are already present in Daredevil Season 3. One of my favorite aspects of the season was the introduction of Matt’s absent mother. Having abandoned Matt as a child, Sister Maggie becomes a nun and appears in the comic to help nurse him back to health. The Netflix series adapts this in a way by introducing the character after the events of The Defenders. Vulnerable after the explosion in Midland Circle, Matt returns to the church where he was raised as an orphan. Maggie takes control of the situation, healing Matt’s body as well as his soul. Matt has plunged into self-pity, and Maggie has no tolerance for that. Like any good mother would, she delivers him tough love before he even learns that she was the woman who abandoned him.

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The season also pays homage to Karen’s famous death in the comics, though I found this less amusing. Once again, Karen becomes a target for assassination as she typically is. This time, Fisk has been released from prison and puts out a hit on her. She takes refuge at Clinton Church under the stewardship of Sister Maggie. She and Matt’s spiritual mentor, Father Lantom, try to protect her despite Karen’s visible lack of appreciation. Inevitably, Marvel villain Bullseye finds Karen, and a fight breaks out in the church. The series pays homage to Karen’s ultimate demise in the comics as Bullseye throws a billy club at her. The strike doesn’t hit its mark as intended. Instead of Karen dying for Daredevil, Father Lantom puts himself in the way of the club and dies for Karen. This moment was likely a way to honor the comic without committing to Karen’s death, but Disney will have to do better than that if it wants to keep up with its predecessor. In fact, Season 3 has already laid the groundwork for Karen Page’s tragic end.

Karen’s Death Would Be a Tragedy, Cementing Daredevil’s Darkness

Most of us can agree that Frank Miller’s style of storytelling won’t be consistent with this era of Marvel. I don’t think anyone would readily accept Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen suddenly leaving the firm to become an actress and fall into a career in adult entertainment. Even so, Karen’s death already feels like it is in the works. In 2018, Daredevil Season 3 made a decided decision to cement Karen in darkness. The season largely focuses on Karen’s trauma regarding her dead brother. At the end of the season, viewers get a flashback episode detailing how Karen is responsible for Kevin’s death because of her drug dependency. After getting into a fight following a cocaine bender, Karen drives Kevin and gets into a car accident. Her father never forgives her, and she moves to New York, starting a new path of trauma when she works for Wilson Fisk and is framed for murder.

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This series of events foreshadows the darkness in Karen, character traits that likely make her sympathetic to Frank. I believe that killing off Karen would only be a culmination of the tragic character in the comics. This theory is further supported by Bullseye’s return in Daredevil: Born Again. There is nothing more iconic in the comics than the villain’s brutal murder of Karen Page, as devastating as it may be. While Karen’s exact story has not yet been put into live action, the bones of her character arc are still there. Karen’s love for Matt – and to a lesser extent Foggy – has always been there. She has grappled with addiction and has been a target for Kingpin. Killing Karen off would be a marked way to show viewers that being on Disney+ isn’t going to hold it back from its gritty tone. In the past, series that have gone the dark route on the streaming platform have not been entirely successful. To be clear, I don’t think Echo’s failure to connect with audiences was because of its violence. I was more unsatisfied because this was not the character that was promised in the comics. Instead of her impressive mimicking power, Echo had gifts that were not connected to her character in the comics. Disney tends to rip away characters’ comic-accurate powers to make a less captivating story. If Disney is going to rebound from that, staying true to this comic’s story is a good way to go. But even if this comes to fruition, this monumental event still has miles to go.

Even though Karen’s death would be a huge and confident move for the series, I don’t think it should happen immediately in Daredevil: Born Again. Imagine bringing back a beloved character after almost a decade just to kill one of them off. Fans would riot. There is a reason that the Daredevil plan was retooled before it aired. Matt without Foggy and Karen is less likely to hit home with audiences. Deborah Ann Woll has made Karen her own, no matter how frustrating the character can be. To make this work, fans can’t feel betrayed. Karen should make good on the tragic trajectory of her character. She needs to get darker before Bullseye takes his shot. But when it happens, it will be the shot heard around Disney+ and cement this dark show in the comic book adaptation lexicon.

Daredevil and Kingpin will face-off again, now inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Punisher will also get a piece of the action.

Release Date

March 4, 2025

Cast

Charlie Cox
, Vincent D’Onofrio
, Deborah Ann Woll
, Elden Henson
, Jon Bernthal
, Margarita Levieva
, Nikki M. James
, Genneya Walton
, Arty Froushan
, Michael Gandolfini
, Ayelet Zurer
, Zabryna Guevara
, Clark Johnson

Seasons

1

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