Resist. Rebel. Rebuild…
As the second season of Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Again picks back up in just a few days’ time, Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) crushes New York City underfoot as he hunts down public enemy number one: the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante known as Daredevil (Charlie Cox). But beneath the horned mask, Matt Murdock will try to fight back from the shadows to tear down Kingpin’s corrupt empire and redeem his home.
Ahead of the season’s March 24 premiere on Disney+, Cox and D’Onofrio—as well as costars Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) and Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page)—sat down to give viewers some behind-the-scenes scoop…
What do you think sets this season apart, and where do we find Fisk as season 2 begins?
Vincent D’Onofrio: First of all, we’re very lucky to have (showrunner) Dario Scardapane and an incredibly talented creative team behind this show. Dario’s not only a good action writer, but he knows how to go deep. With Season 2, we have a story of two opposing forces trying to win out and the city ignites. It’s a pretty intense journey that these two characters—Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock—have taken from the original show to this new season, but it’s always been rooted in some kind of truth. These are intense characters who are carrying a very intense story on their shoulders, and this season takes their journey to some incredible places.
As far as Fisk, it’s basically the worst-case scenario. He’s going to try and change the city: He’s Kingpin, so he needs a kingdom. That’s what he’s trying to turn New York City into, and people are going to have to watch to see if he gets what he wants.
Charlie, can you talk about Daredevil’s new look this season?
Charlie Cox: There are a couple of really cool things about the suit this year! The first one is that we’ve got a new suit that’s present in the comic books. Some people refer to it as the Shadowland suit—an all-black suit with red outlines. And how we got here plays into the storyline for Season 2. Matt Murdock has taken the red suit from Season 1 and, in order to go even more unnoticed and remain as stealth as possible, he’s spray-painted it black. What’s really cool is that as the season progresses—the more he fights and the more conflict he gets into—the black spray paint starts to strip away.
Every suit Daredevil has worn thus far has existed at some point in the comic books, but when we get to the final image of this suit this season, that image, as far as I know, doesn’t exist anywhere in the comics, which is exciting. The other thing that’s massive in the world of Daredevil is that he finally has the “DD” on the chest—something people have been asking me about since I started working on this character back in 2014 [laughs]. It’s momentous. We finally get to see Daredevil with the Daredevil logo on his chest. He’s earned his stripes and he’s advertising who he is to the world: “I’m proud of who I am, I’m doing this for the good of the city, and I am identifying myself.” It’s pretty cool.
Jessica Jones is back after a seven-year-long hiatus. What inspired you to reprise this character?
Krysten Ritter: Jessica Jones is such an iconic character, and in my humble opinion, one of the coolest female characters in the MCU, but also just ever. There’s a real fan fervor to see her again, and I know because I got asked about it, every day. Not just in press settings, but on the street, at the convenience store, the grocery store, CVS, the Uber driver. I absolutely felt there was more story to tell after we last saw her, and could potentially be another exciting entry point for her on a larger scale. I hear all the time from women who say they don’t read comic books and they don’t watch superhero movies, but they love Jessica Jones. That’s a testament to how great the writing was and how people really relate to this character. They love her, as do I.
I think the fans are really going to enjoy seeing Jessica having evolved, but also maintaining the things that we loved about her in the first place. Balancing those two things is important to me, and I think that people will be excited to see her, especially in these bigger action sequences. That was something I know everyone wanted to see more of, and we’re going to deliver.
What’s it been like to see how Karen has changed over the years, and what do you hope viewers take away from Season 2?
Deborah Ann Woll: One of the wonderful things about the tradition of comic books is that they are constantly restarting and rebooting. Every writer and illustrator brings their own version and rewrites the origin story, so there’s a lot of license to tell it again your way, and so with Karen, different decades have been more or less kind to her [laughs]. I really appreciate that audiences have been able to go on this ride with us and see where her story takes us.
I think that we are all powerful. All of our voices matter. That even the little guy can take a stand and be a hero. I’ve always liked that. For Karen Page, she doesn’t have any superpowers. She isn’t a trained martial artist or has any kind of special skills in that way. She’s the everyman, she is every one of us. She’s a smart, capable person whose superpower is that she’s brave and she believes in truth and justice. That is something that we can all aspire to. All of us can make a difference, and that’s what I hope people take away from the second season: you and I can make a difference. We just have to work together and be brave.
Don’t miss Daredevil: Born Again season 2, beginning March 24 on Disney+!