When the gritty Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again hits the 2025 TV schedule after years of fan anticipation, it’ll bring back two characters audiences haven’t spent time with in nearly seven years. Not Matt Murdock or Wilson Fisk, of course, since both Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio’s characters previously returned in various series. No, we’re talking about Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, who will be reprising their respective roles of legal partners Karen Page and “Foggy” Nelson.
Understandably, fans were upset to learn that the first iteration of Daredevil: Born Again’s narrative wouldn’t be welcoming back familiar characters for official MCU introductions, though that questionable decision was thankfully reversed after behind-the-scenes changes were implemented surrounding the 2023 Hollywood strikes. And as showrunner Dario Scardapane put it when talking to Empire, getting Woll and Henson back in the fold was a top priority. As he put it:
That was actually one of the first things I said to the bosses. You can’t do this show without Karen and Foggy. They’re Matt’s family. They’re the heart of his world. You can’t take them out without explaining why, and if that explanation doesn’t ring true, don’t take them out.
Considering Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson shared the screen with Charlie Cox as much as anyone else across Daredevil's three pre-MCU seasons, it still remains baffling that the original creative team opted not to bring either of them back. I mean, that version of the Man Without Fear's revival also didn't plan to bring Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle back, but as a former writer/producer on The Punisher, Dario Scardapane didn't take long before confirming the fan-favorite character would be returning as well.
After Karen and Foggy's returns were confirmed to be happening, Charlie Cox expressed he was heartbroken over their absence while filming episodes before everything was revamped and refilmed. But for Scardapane, their involvement was legitimately the line in the sand dictating whether or not he'd agree to sign on. As he put it:
I was willing to lose a job over this one. Because Season 3 of the Netflix show ended with a dream, with the names on that napkin. If you don’t pay that off, you’re not giving your characters context. You can’t ignore that dream.
Scardapane is referring to the final episode of Daredevil's initial run, in which Matt, Foggy and Karen agreed to rekindle their connections and expand the two-name firm into becoming Nelson, Murdock and Page. To continue Matt's adventures in Hell's Kitchen without addressing that prior conclusion would have been blasphemous for fans. Especially after Deborah Ann Woll spoke previously about not finding acting work in the immediate aftermath of Daredevil’s cancellation at Netflix.
While we can look forward to seeing the returns of both Woll and Henson, the role of Vanessa Fisk was originally recast, with Sandrine Holt brought in to replace Ayelet Zurer, who held the role in Netflix's series. But after the reworked storylines were set, Holt was replaced by Zurer. As well, Wilson Bethel is back as Benjamin Poindexter, who will potentially take on the comic villain moniker of Bullseye. But no clue on whether or not we'll see a new Elektra down the line.
We thankfully aren't far from Daredevil: Born Again debuting for fans with Disney+ subsctiptions, and it'll hit the streaming platform on Tuesday, March 4.
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