Daredevil: Born Again Originally Planned to Kill Off [SPOILER]

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Episode 1.

The first episode of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 packs a gut-punch and delivers a tragic death. It’s an event that changes Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and makes him question if he ever wants to be Daredevil again.

Daredevil: Born Again‘s opening scene reunites viewers with Matt, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) as the friends and business partners hit the town one evening. It doesn’t take too long for the night to turn even darker as Foggy steps outside and is sniped by Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).

Matt suits up as Daredevil and beats Bullseye senseless, while Karen tends to Foggy’s bloody wound and prays he’ll survive. Unfortunately, Foggy doesn’t make it, as he succumbs to his injury. Karen wails on the street, as Daredevil crosses a line and pushes Bullseye off the side of the building. Miraculously, Bullseye survives the fall.

It’s easily one of the most shocking opening sequences in an MCU show or movie, but Foggy’s death appears to have been the plan from the get-go, even though the series changed creative direction in late 2023. The story goes that Marvel Studios wasn’t happy with how Daredevil: Born Again was panning out, so in October 2023, it hired a new showrunner and directors, while retooling what had already been shot.

According to Knight Edge Media, the original plan for Daredevil: Born Again would have seen both Foggy and Karen killed off screen before the events of the show. And this would have been the catalyst for Matt hanging up the horned cowl. After the creative overhaul of the series, the decision was made to bring back both Foggy and Karen as living characters. However, it appears as if Foggy’s fate had already been set in stone and there was no turning back for him.

It’s a storytelling choice that’s sure to divide the fanbase. While it advances Matt’s arc and plays a pivotal role in how he views himself as a hero, Foggy is also a popular character that played a major part in the original show. Now, this continuation doesn’t feel the same without him. Plus, Foggy’s death has another unintended consequence, since it helps to write Karen out of the show as she’s too broken up to stay in New York City after the event.

Essentially, the plan for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 to shift the focus away from Karen and Foggy as supporting characters stayed the same, even if the show took another road to get there. It’s a peculiar choice, especially considering how Marvel Studios made such a public song and dance about changing the creative direction of the series – only to stick with the questionable decisions anyway.