Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1's Big Marvel Character Death Changes Everything

Contains spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" Episode 1

Anyone who thought "Daredevil: Born Again" would take things slow getting fans back into the groove of the action of Netflix's "Daredevil" series was quickly proven wrong. The first episode starts in a happy place with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and his two best friends — Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) — laughing and going out for a drink at Josie's. The future looks bright until Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) crashes the party, shooting Foggy, who collapses onto the ground. What follows is an absolutely stunning fight sequence where Matt as Daredevil fights Bullseye throughout Josie's up to the rooftop, all while Daredevil can hear Foggy's heartbeat grow slower and slower until it can't be heard at all. 

Foggy's death, especially within the first 15 minutes of "Daredevil: Born Again," will likely shock viewers, and that's no doubt the point. It proves that this show won't be afraid to take risks, and we immediately get another shocking moment as Daredevil throws Bullseye off the rooftop, clearly wanting to kill him (although we see him later get sentenced to life imprisonment). Foggy's murder made Matt actively want to break his no-killing rule, bringing him as close to total darkness as we've seen him in live-action. 

Seeing Matt suit up as Daredevil is fun, but he foregoes the vigilante lifestyle afterward, focusing on his attorney job throughout the remainder of the first two episodes of the new Marvel series. But as seen in the show's opening title sequence of everything breaking apart, only to be rebuilt in Daredevil's image, we know it's only a matter of time until Matt realizes he needs to become Daredevil once more.

It's probably best for Foggy's death on "Daredevil: Born Again" to happen right away, because this is a plot point we've suspected for a while. According to various reports in 2023, both Foggy and Karen weren't in the original draft of "Born Again," with both of them dying off-screen. That proved to be disastrous, so Marvel Studios ordered a redo. (Reports also indicated that Matt Murdock didn't put on his Daredevil costume until the fourth episode, but we get it right away in the show.) Another big change involved bringing back the two Marvel stars (Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll) to have a physical presence on the series, and we get to see the beloved trio enjoying one last happy memory before tragedy strikes.

Even with news reports of reshoots, many still suspected that Foggy would bite the dust, and that was eventually confirmed in an interview Charlie Cox had with Extra. "At the beginning of this season, there's a very traumatic event, which is going to change Matt Murdock's life," he stated. "He'll probably never be the same again." The only traumatic event that would really make sense is the death of one of his closest friends, which means either Foggy or Karen had to die. 

Many fans probably weren't happy to see the fan-favorite character perish, and Cox even admitted they were worried signing onto the show with this plot point, saying, "I'm still not convinced it's the right thing to do. But we have to come back big and bold." Fans will have to watch the rest of "Daredevil: Born Again" week to week to decide for themselves if Foggy's death is worth it in the long run. 

Charlie Cox's statement wasn't the only thing that got Marvel fans worried before the first two episodes of "Daredevil: Born Again" aired on Disney+. The first reactions to "Daredevil: Born Again" were overwhelmingly positive, but also mentioned how dark and brutal the show is. 

In the days leading up to the first two episodes' release, many fans were already bemoaning Foggy's inevitable death, like X, formerly known as Twitter, user @primary_prince, writing, "daredevil born again isn't even out yet and im crying over foggy." Others like @LMc2607 skipped straight to the anger portion of the five stages of grief with, "Don't kill Foggy! It's a bulls***! @MarvelStudios don't Begin #DaredevilBornAgain with a Bad decision!"

But don't fret quite yet. There's still a chance we haven't seen the last of Foggy Nelson on "Daredevil: Born Again." Reports suggest Elden Henson is part of the cast of "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2. Comic book characters come back to life all the time through supernatural means, but a more logical explanation might be that we get a flashback from when Foggy was still alive. Maybe Matt has a dream or vision involving Foggy, giving Henson more to do as the character. At least fans can take solace in the fact we still have Karen Page, and nothing bad can ever happen to her ... right?

The first two episodes of "Daredevil: Born Again" are now on Disney+.