NetflixThe Man Without Fear comes back to the MCU this week, but if you’re not up to date with his crimefighting in Hell’s Kitchen, you may be wondering: do I need to watch the Netflix series before Daredevil: Born Again?
Charlie Cox’s return as Matt Murdock has been a long time coming. He showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk, and Echo, while Vincent D’Onofrio showed up as Kingpin in Hawkeye and Echo (the two characters never faced off).
On March 4, nearly seven years after the cancellation of the Netflix series, Marvel’s revival will premiere on Disney Plus (make sure you know exactly when Daredevil: Born Again starts).
However, if you never watched the original TV show, you may be a bit worried about dropping into the new series. Well, don’t fret – I’ve got you covered.
Should I watch Netflix’s Daredevil before Born Again?
Disney+No, you strictly don’t need to watch the Netflix series before Daredevil: Born Again – but you should if you can.
Once upon a time, the answer would have been a simple now. However, while Cox earlier described the “re-imagined” revival as a “whole new thing”, it was overhauled in 2023. According to Marvel TV chief Brad Winderbaum, they “had to choose” whether or not to embrace the hero’s past on Netflix – and they did.
That means that Born Again is effectively Daredevil Season 4 – and those aren’t even my words. “It’s like a fourth season of the original show,” D’Onofrio told Deadline.
“We’re calling it Daredevil: Born Again and it’s the first season of that, but it’s the same tone, the same guys, the same misery, the same excitement, the same emotions and more.”
Cox also told Empire: “There was talk early on about reinventing the whole thing, to see if Matt was a slightly different person. But it ended up more of a continuation.”
“A lot of the history follows on. The relationships and dynamics set up in the previous seasons still exist.”
That all said, you should also be fine if you don’t have time (or you simply can’t be bothered) to watch the entire Netflix series first. “It’s a new path, we kinda blow it up… but it’s there and it’s connected, and the way that we finally ended up doing it worked really well,” D’Onofrio told IGN.
“I think it needed the connection to the Netflix show, it needed the other characters to come back… the other iteration wouldn’t have had that.”
What to watch before Daredevil: Born Again
If you want to get up to speed before Daredevil: Born Again starts, I’m going to make it easy for you. I’ll present three options: minimum, recommended, and extra. Depending on your time and level of interest, you choose what to watch before the series begins.
Minimum
With this video from Man of Recaps, you can catch up on the events of Netflix’s Daredevil, The Defenders, The Punisher, and Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk’s other appearances in the MCU in less than eight minutes. Yes, really!
Recommended
Netflix- Daredevil Season 1
- Daredevil Season 2
- Watch a recap of The Defenders
- Daredevil Season 3
If you can, this is the best choice. It may seem easy to watch a recap (I’d advise it for The Defenders, because it’s not particularly good and you mainly need it for the context of Season 3’s opening episode), but it’ll help you connect with the characters; Matt’s twisted relationship with Stick, Frank Castle’s introduction and dynamic with Daredevil, the stuff with the Hand (okay maybe not that), and definitely the bond between Matt, Foggy, and Karen.
Notably, it may be important to know the context with Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye, considering he returns in Born Again.
Extra
Netflix- Daredevil Season 1
- Daredevil Season 2
- The Defenders
- The Punisher Season 1
- Daredevil Season 3
- The Punisher Season 2
- Hawkeye
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Ms. Marvel
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
- Echo
If you really want to go the extra mile, these are the boxes you should tick – and this isn’t even including the other Defenders’ series (Jessica Jones Season 1 is incredible, by the way).
Beyond The Punisher Season 2, it’s mainly just cameos and a little bit of set-up for Daredevil: Born Again. As for Ms Marvel, we know from a leaked trailer that Mohan Kapoor makes an appearance somewhere along the way as Yusuf Khan, but it’s unclear why or how long he’s in the show.
Before Daredevil: Born Again premieres on March 4, find out if Daredevil has ever been an Avenger and check out our lists of the best MCU movies and best superhero shows of all time. You can also keep tabs on the year’s releases with our 2025 TV show calendar.
