As of this writing, Daredevil: Born Again has streamed three absolutely killer episodes on Disney+. And given the MCU has been a little back and forth in terms of the ol’ quality meter, you might have been waiting for the critical consensus before checking the revival series out. Good news: it’s great. So then the follow-up question is, what do I need to watch before Daredevil: Born Again?
Since your time is at a premium and new episodes of Born Again are dropping weekly — and we’ve already seen the full season of the series — we’re going to make this easy by breaking it down into what’s essential, what’s helpful if you want more info, and what you need to watch only if you have the time.
With that in mind, here’s what you need to watch before Daredevil: Born Again. Don’t worry, there are no spoilers here. And if you want to know a little more about how this all fits together with the greater MCU, you can check out our Daredevil: Born Again MCU timeline.
What To Watch Before Daredevil: Born Again – The Essentials
Really the only essential watch for Daredevil: Born Again is the first three seasons of Daredevil, which originally aired on Netflix. That’ll give you the context you need for the relationship between Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). It will also help explain why they hate Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) so much, as well as Fisk’s relationship with his wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer). As a bonus, it’ll also explain what’s going on with Bullseye, aka Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) which otherwise remains relatively unexplained in the series.
In addition, Season 2 sets up the relationship between Daredevil and Frank Castle, aka The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), as well as touching on the bond between The Punisher and Karen Page. Those bits will be important as the first season of Born Again continues.
That’s really it! That’s 39 episodes of television, so plenty to watch before you get into Born Again. But as for the absolute essentials, if you’re tight on time (but somehow have 39 hours free) then Daredevil Seasons 1-3 are the only essential watches.
What To Watch Before Daredevil: Born Again – Also Good To Check Out
Have a little extra time? Then, there are three other shows you might want to check out. The first is The Punisher, which is another two full seasons of TV but will give you a better understanding of the relationship between Frank and Karen, as Woll recurs on the show.
The second is Hawkeye, which introduced Wilson Fisk to the MCU as the mentor of Echo (Alaqua Cox). It explains why Fisk has a scar over his left eye and sets up the events of our third series, Echo. While Born Again does a solid job of summarizing the events of that series, if you want to find out what happened to Wilson Fisk directly before Born Again, this is what you want to watch, down to where Fisk got the idea to become Mayor of New York. Both are also pretty manageable, with six episodes and five episodes, respectively. And as a bonus, Hawkeye establishes Jack Duquesne, aka Swordsman (Tony Dalton), who appears on Born Again.
What To Watch Before Daredevil: Born Again – Only If You Have Time
Daredevil appears in two more MCU films/shows: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Neither is important to understanding the events of Daredevil: Born Again — though She-Hulk explains why he has so many different helmets and costumes, as glimpsed in the Born Again trailer and seen later in the season. If you consider that “important” then yes, I guess, watch away.
The other show you could watch is Defenders, which provides a bridge between Daredevil Season 2 and Season 3. It’s actually important to know the events of that show to understand what’s going on with Matt at the beginning of Daredevil Season 3. But since this article is about Born Again I’m gonna shunt it over to “only if you have time” and because it’s not great “maybe not even then.”
Daredevil: Born Again Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Tuesdays on Disney+ at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 with premiere dates:
- Tuesday, March 4, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 1
- Tuesday, March 4, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 2
- Tuesday, March 11, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 3
- Tuesday, March 18, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 4
- Tuesday, March 25, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 5
- Tuesday, March 25, 2025: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 6
- TBA: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 7
- TBA: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 8
- TBA: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 1, Episode 9 *Season Finale*
Where To Watch Daredevil: Born Again
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