There's a lot of intrigue surrounding Matthew Lillard's "Mr. Charles" in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, particularly as that sounds a lot like a codename.
It's already been confirmed that the Scream icon will share most of his scenes with Vincent D'Onofrio's Mayor Wilson Fisk, and that he has something to do with the villain's quest to keep New York under his control. Now, we have an update from insider @MyTimeToShineH, which connects Mr. Charles to a key figure in the Multiverse Saga.
According to the prolific leaker, the newly created character reports directly to CIA Director and New Avengers founder Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. As we were putting the finishing touches on this article, the rumour was confirmed by Daredevil: Born Again showrunner in a new interview with MovieWeb.
We first met "Val" in Black Widow's post-credits scene when she tasked Yelena Belova with taking out Hawkeye. She had been hired by Eleanor Bishop and told Yelena that the Avenger was responsible for killing her sister, Natasha Romanoff.
The character later returned in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, transforming disgraced Captain America, John Walker, into her U.S. Agent. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever eventually revealed that Val was Everett Ross' ex-wife and the current director of the CIA.
When she took centre stage in Thunderbolts*, her past with O.X.E. came back to haunt her when The Void was unleashed on the world. Her attempts to create a new superhero in The Sentry had backfired, but Val managed to escape being exposed by introducing the ragtag team of "Thunderbolts" as her New Avengers.
What does Mr. Charles' connection with Val mean for Daredevil: Born Again? It's too soon to say, but if he reports to her, then it's safe to assume that she has a vested interest in keeping Fisk in power (this might also explain why he's stayed quiet about the New Avengers causing chaos in the Big Apple).
Last November, Lillard spoke to us about joining the MCU and shared his take that Season 2 is bigger and better than Season 1.
"The crew is fantastic. It's probably one of the best I've worked with in my life. D'Onofrio and I get to work together. We did a movie 100 years ago when we were both babies. Getting the chance to work with him again was just fantastic. He has such weight. Not literal weight, he's skinny right now, but when you look him in the eyes, he carries so much power with them."
"It leads to good work. Good writing leads to good work. I thought that last season was really electric, and I think next season is gonna top it. I'm thrilled for the fans, and I'm excited for people to see the work."
"It was a chance to be part of this big community, which is great, but the work is great. The words are great, the character is super fun, and it's nice to...I've always wanted to be in the superhero world, Marvel, DC, obviously, with James Gunn now, so it's nice to finally get my feet wet."
In Daredevil: Born Again, survival, resistance and redemption collide as the battle for the soul of New York begins. In Season 2, Mayor Wilson Fisk crushes New York City underfoot as he hunts down public enemy number one, the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante known as Daredevil.
But beneath the horned mask, Matt Murdock will try to fight back from the shadows to tear down the Kingpin’s corrupt empire and redeem his home. Resist. Rebel. Rebuild.
Created by Dario Scardapane, Chris Ord and Matt Corman, Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 stars Charlie Cox as the titular masked vigilante (aka Matt Murdock) and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.
Daredevil: Born Again returns to Disney+ on March 24.