Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 wrapped up by sending Matt Murdock to prison. Taking inspiration from the work of Brian Michael Bendis, Adi Granov, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Chip Zdarsky, and Marco Checchetto, it's a moment many fans have dreamed of seeing on screen.
It may seem like an unhappy ending for the Man Without Fear, but the hint of a smile we see as he sits in his cell suggests Daredevil is exactly where he wants to be.
Variety recently caught up with Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane, and asked what being behind bars means for the hero of Hell's Kitchen as we head into Season 3 next year.
"I’m gonna be really cagey right now. There are some iconic runs in the comic book," Scardapane teased. "When we get together and start putting together a season, we take this run and that run and mash them all up. There’s a very, very legendary run that Matt in jail nods to where we’re going."
"One of the things we really wanted to examine, and I don’t want to get too flowery here, but the fun part of this season is that both these characters, Murdock and Fisk, Daredevil and Kingpin, have really become their true selves. Kingpin is full-blown Kingpin the entire season. Matt is full-blown Daredevil. For both of them, there are consequences of truly letting the id out."
"These two have kind of an endless battle," he continued, "but in a lot of ways the battle shifts at the end of this season."
Recent Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 set photos have revealed that, in Matt's absence, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist will reassemble the Defenders to protect New York.
Scardapane danced around plans for the team in Season 3, but did say, "So that last moment you see in the finale when the door closes and it says Alias Investigations, I probably had that shot in my head two or three days into Season 1. It’s a cool place to go when you’re starting with these two people, Fisk and Matt, but you’re expanding out into the world of the street-level heroes."
One vigilante who seemingly won't be lending them a helping hand is Frank Castle. Jon Bernthal will return as the anti-hero in both The Punisher: One Last Kill and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and was absent from Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
"That came out of a lot of discussions with Jon over the years. I know that Jon had been talking to the people at Marvel and had a very specific idea in mind about what happened to Frank after the end of the 'Punisher' series," Scardapane revealed. "He came in so graciously, gratefully and wonderfully in Season 1 for a pretty eye-popping pair of scenes."
"That got him, Reinaldo and the producers talking about a Punisher special. So, yeah, not having Jon in Season 2 more reflects about the story he wanted to tell with the Punisher special," he noted, before revealing where the Special Presentation fits into the timeline of this corner of the MCU.
"I don’t know a ton about what goes on in 'Brand New Day,' and I know very well where we left him at the end of 'Punisher' Season 2," Scardapane shared. "I think this tells the story of what happened next after 'Punisher' and before and during the events of ['Born Again'] Season 2."
So, it seems we can expect One Last Kill to pick up with Frank in the present, while also tying up the loose ends from his Netflix series. It's an intriguing approach, and in some respects, Scardapane's comments raise more questions than answers.
A new promo for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2's finale has also been released. You can check it out below.