Yesterday, Charlie Cox talked about some sort of “traumatic event” Matt Murdock goes through closer to the beginning of the show. I thought about putting a spoiler warning in the title and in the article itself, but, considering Matt Murdock is a blind man with superpowers that dresses up like a devil in armor and runs around beating the snot out of people and getting the snot beaten out of him, his entire life is a traumatic event. Of course, Cox is almost certainly talking about something much more specific, and I've been wondering what that could be.
Possible spoilers, but this is all speculation. If you just want to wait until the show comes out, stop here and don't come on this journey of fun hypothesizing with me.
We know that, at some point in Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock has retired from being The Man Without Fear. I assumed this was something that happened off screen, but after Charlie Cox's comments, it seems like whatever the traumatic event is early in the show will cause him to retire.
My first theory is that Matt Murdock, as Daredevil, murdered someone. If this is the case, I imagine it wouldn't be entirely intentional. Daredevil could be in any number of violent scenarios in which he's fighting goons, ninjas, or common criminals, and let's his rage get the better of him. Maybe he is too angry to be careful with where he's hitting someone and accidentally lands a fatal blow to the throat, cracks someone's skull just a bit too open, or sends a rib inwards to pierce a lung. Perhaps we'll see a situation similar to the end of The Batman, in which Daredevil, driven by rage and adrenaline, mercilessly beats one person until they die.
Matt's Christian faith was heavily featured in the Netflix series and is a big part of his character in the comics as well. Killing would go against Matt’s faith even though beating people nearly to death is seemingly fine, but the line does have to be drawn somewhere. If Matt were to kill someone, it could definitely affect him to the point where he retires from being Daredevil entirely, but, obviously is drawn back in somehow, otherwise there wouldn’t be a show.
While Daredevil almost never kills in the comics, it has happened and not just in alternate universes, realities, or timelines. Daredevil has killed in his mainline comics. This was particularly prevalent in the late 80s and early 90s when Frank Miller, known for his dark comics, took over Daredevil. Daredevil kills several people throughout that run indirectly but very directly kills others. He stabs one person to death and, if memory serves me correctly, threw him in a river, and, in a separate story, shot down a helicopter while the pilot was still inside. Clearly, Daredevil does not want to kill, but his history says he’s willing to do it.
My second theory has been backed up by a recent interview with Aaron Moorhead on GamesRadar+. His comments aren’t technically spoilers for the series, but they heavily imply certain events in the show, so read at your own risk.
When asked about the decision to bring back Foggy and Karen, Moorhead said, “It was important for us to start out the show with feeling how these characters have evolved since we last saw then, and it feeling like a big warm hug because when the big thing happens, it’s in contrast to that hug.” He continued by saying, “You feel the tragedy even more and you feel that event as something that that would shake the faith of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in such a way that he would question everything about his place in the universe, and that grief would ripple out season long, and that by doing that, we would amp that up. And on top of that, there’s the obvious thing of like, we love those characters and we love those actors and just can’t imagine the show without them.”
Well, that is almost certainly indicating Foggy and Karen will either be gravely injured or killed. However, Deborah Ann Woll has confirmed she will return for season two of the show. This could be in the capacity of a flashback if her character dies in season one, or she could be trying to throw people off, but it seems to me that her character will survive whatever big event happens.
If either of the two are going to die, it seems like it would be Foggy Nelson played by Elden Henson. Both Karen and Foggy are barely shown in any trailers or clips for the show. Each character is only given a few seconds of time. Of course, it’s not about them, but this could be another hint that they die or are gravely injured.
If Karen, Foggy, or both are killed or seriously injured, this could be what causes Matt Murdock to temporarily retire especially if it’s something that’s his fault. He could easily blame himself for just about anything that happens to them even if it isn’t a direct result of his activities as Daredevil, but hopefully the show isn’t that shallow.
What do you think this “traumatic event” will be? Are Karen and Foggy in trouble? Will Matt become a murderer? Let me know!