Matthew Lillard has been on a roll lately (sorry, Quentin Tarantino) between his killer return in Scream 7, and now his debut as the mysterious Mr. Charles in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. And with Mr. Charles poised to play a major role in the season — at least based on his powerhouse turn in the season premiere — you’re probably wondering what you need to know about Mr. Charles from Marvel Comics.
Rather than drag this out, the answer is: not much. Mr. Charles is a one-and-done character who wasn’t even in a regularly distributed Marvel comic. Instead, he appeared in one issue of a comic series custom created by Marvel in collaboration with the Department of Defense and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which was distributed only to US military service members. In total, there were 16 issues made of the comic which focused on characters ranging from the New Avengers team to Captain America and everyone in between.
Mr. Charles appeared in issue #15, which focused on Iron Man and was written by William Harms with art by Tom Grummett. He’s a villain of sorts, in charge of illegal drilling for the Roxxon Corporation, a running threat in the Marvel Universe… And that’s the whole enchilada. If you’re looking for clues about Mr. Charles’ motivations on Daredevil: Born Again, look elsewhere. It seems like the only things Born Again took from the comic was the name of the character, a murky morality, and a vague connection to the US government (though he’s on the other side of the conflict on the TV series.
Who Is Mr. Charles In The MCU? And Is He Secretly Some Other Character?
Okay, spoilers for Born Again past this point. In the episode, we first link up with Mr. Charles in Washington, D.C., where he’s called in to deal with the US government’s Mayor Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) problem. We don’t learn a ton about him other than he seems to always have a snack or a drink handy, and has no problems butting into places he shouldn’t belong… As we see when he marches into Fisk’s office and starts throwing around orders while munching on a sandwich.
There are a few other key details you need to know about Charles on the show: he works for the CIA in some unknown capacity, and by episode’s end it’s pretty clear the government has made a deal with Fisk to transport (likely illegal) weapons into his freeport in Red Hook, so they can send them overseas for use by the US government and allies. And tying into the greater MCU, Charles either works for or with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), as established during a phone call. Valentina, if you need a refresher, is currently the government liaison to the Thunderbolts, aka The New Avengers… Though they don’t like her very much.
So given all that, I’m going to take a stab and say the “Mr. Charles is actually [INSERT MARVEL COMICS CHARACTER HERE]” guessing game has already begun online. Perhaps he’s C.I.A. Agent Mac, who Valentina had an affair with in the comics. Or perhaps he’s a member of the classic Thunderbolts team, like The Fixer. Heck, maybe he’s secretly the real Taskmaster, given the character has a skull face in the comics and Lillard knows a thing or two about wearing a ghostly mask.
Look, here’s a non-spoiler for you: he’s none of those, at least as of the end of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Mr. Charles isn’t secretly another character. He’s a CIA agent, he’s an antagonist for Fisk, and there’s more to come that I won’t spoil. But when it comes to the furious fan guessing game, sorry to say, there’s nothing there. Unless of course he’s Mr. Charles… XAVIER??? Just kidding.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premieres on Tuesday March 24 on Disney+ at 9pm ET / 6pm PT, with new episodes weekly except for the second week which has two episodes to make room for a Punisher one-shot special episode on May 12.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 with premiere dates:
- Tuesday, March 24, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 1, “The Northern Star”
- Tuesday, March 31, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 2, “Shoot The Moon”
- Tuesday, March 31, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 3, “The Scales & The Sword”
- Tuesday, April 7, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 4, “Gloves Off”
- Tuesday, April 14, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 5, “The Grand Design”
- Tuesday, April 21, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 6, “Requiem”
- Tuesday, April 28, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 7, “The Hateful Darkness”
- Tuesday, May 5, 2026: Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2, Episode 8, “The Southern Cross” *Season Finale*
- Tuesday, May 12, 2026: The Punisher: One Last Kill – Marvel Special Presentation
Where To Watch Daredevil: Born Again
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