In the penultimate episode of Daredevil: Born Again, Daniel Blake decided to protect BB Urich from Mayor Wilson Fisk and paid for it with his life. Buck pulled the trigger on the Deputy Mayor for Communications, marking a tragic end to his story.
Showrunner Dario Scardapane has previously revealed that Daniel's death was created in post-production. He had originally been set to appear in the Season 2 finale, but both the writer and actor Michael Gandolfini agreed that killing Daniel was a better way to conclude this arc.
In a newly surfaced set photo from "The Southern Cross," we see an alternate ending for Daniel, as he and BB seemingly emerge from his mother's house. In this version of the story, Buck spared his friend, who, while worse for wear, has clearly not been shot!
"The way that it would have gone is that he stayed in the Fisk administration," Scardapane said last week. "He goes in to resign, and the new interim mayor is like, 'I’m not taking your resignation. I’m going to keep you close because I don’t trust you.'"
The showrunner ultimately realised that keeping Daniel alive "was kind of meh and a non-story. Sometimes the arc is built in and you’re extending it a little too far. Like, wait a second. He and Buck, in their twisted friendship, both had to be true to who they were. That’s the last moment because everything afterwards seemed kind of like a weird, lame coda that didn’t pay off."
As a result, the gunshot was added in the editing room. "We're like, 'We should try this,'" Scardapane recalled. "They mocked it up really fast, and you could have heard a pin drop in the editing room after that — like it is at the end of the episode. It’s just like, holy shit."
Check out this glimpse at what might have been for Daniel Blake in Daredevil: Born Again, along with a video showing which scenes from the trailers and TV spots didn't ultimately make it into Season 2.
In related news, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2's finale is now the highest-rated episode of any MCU TV show on Disney+ with a stellar 9.6/10.
This tops the Loki Season 2 finale, "Glorious Purpose," which sits at 9.5/10. Over half of Season 2 has received a 9.0 or higher, with "Gloves Off" in second place at 9.4. Despite a lot of chatter about low viewership—which isn't based on any official data—it seems fair to say that Marvel Television has delivered a hit with the TV-MA series.
Daredevil: Born Again is now streaming on Disney+. If you still haven't watched the finale, the promo below features a brief look at Luke Cage's official MCU return.