The pre-creative overhaul version of Daredevil: Born Again wasn't going to feature Karen Page or Foggy Nelson, with the latter set to be killed off-screen (we can only imagine what the backlash to that decision would have looked like).
When The Punisher showrunner Dario Scardapane took charge of the Daredevil revival, Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson were both tapped to reprise their respective Marvel roles.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly about her return, Woll admitted that initially being dropped from Daredevil: Born Again - which had been envisioned as a full reboot - was a tough pill to swallow.
"Yeah, I've been through a roller coaster of feelings about it," Woll admitted. "The thing to always remember is that even if something might feel personal, it's just not. This business is too enormous for anything to be personal. There's just decisions being made."
"I don't know, I've always found it to be much more of a pleasant experience to champion the people that I care about and love. It's so rare for something to come back in a significant way after so many years," she added. "So being asked back after the fact was just icing on the cake."
Talk then turned to Daredevil: Born Again's premiere and the fact Foggy dies in Karen's arms after being gunned down by Bullseye. It was a tragic way to open the series that brought a sad end to Nelson, Murdock & Page.
"There has to be loss in stories," Woll pointed out. "That's a deep part of how you tell things. For actors, we lose on two levels: We lose the character that we love watching and we don't get to work with that actor again necessarily. You're also a little excited for it because you want to play it."
"This isn't going to be a moment that is easily cast off for the sake of a plot point," Woll continued. "This is something that these characters are going to grapple with heavily for a long time, especially for me. He dies in my arms. That is something you will never forget for the rest of your life."
It's already been confirmed that both Woll and Henson will return for Daredevil: Born Again season 2. "There are threads that are not easily severed," she teased "And even with something beyond death, I think there are pieces of that to hold onto. These people will always matter to one another, and how they feel about each other is going to deeply affect the choices that they make."
"Karen has seen a lot of death in her life - this is one of the worst ones - and Matt has a tendency to feel responsible. They probably can't escape each other on some level. They're too alike," Woll concluded.
It remains to be seen whether Karen returns later in the show's first season, though she seemed eager to sever ties with Matt Murdock when Bullseye was being sentenced. We find it hard to believe they'll be able to keep away from each other for long, but how will Foggy return? Flashbacks or something else, perhaps?
In Marvel Television's Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
The series also stars Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal. Dario Scardapane is showrunner.
"A masterpiece of epic proportions, Daredevil: Born Again delivers a powerful, unmissable take on the Man Without Fear," we said in our review. "Putting street-level heroics on the map in a way that promises to change the MCU forever, the show is sublime superhero storytelling on a whole new level."
Daredevil: Born Again's first two episodes are now streaming on Disney+.