Daredevil: Born Again Just Made Me Ugly Cry About My Puerto Rican Culture And I Need To Talk About It

So we’re only three episodes into Daredevil: Born Again, and this damn Marvel show already has me crying like a baby. What the heck?

On a real note, as I’ve said before, I’ve been waiting for Daredevil: Born Again for some time. All these upcoming Marvel TV shows and other projects are some of the things that build the most hype, and this series certainly was up there. I certainly didn’t expect the first episode to knock me out cold with that Foggy death completely, but here we are.

I was hoping for a much calmer, peaceful third episode, and I got that, but the waterworks did not quit. Within the first couple of minutes, I was sobbing. Why? Well, because Daredevil: Born Again just beautifully mentioned my culture, and I have to talk about it.

I’ve Been Loving Daredevil: Born Again, But Hector Ayala Talking About To coquí’s Made Me Sob

If you know me personally, you’d know I’m Puerto Rican. I’m not entirely thanks to my mother’s side and her being a conglomeration of the entire continent of Europe. But my father has always been fully Puerto Rican, and from there, I get that part of him. It’s something that he and I have shared many fond memories over.

Truthfully, I’ve always connected with my Puerto Rican side more than anything else, and I have so much love and respect for my culture. From telling people the best Latino shows to watch to enjoying movies from other countries, to even my father and I sharing the same love of Miles Morales, there’s so much I love.

So, of course, when Hector started to bring up the coquí frogs, I began to cry.

Because he’s right. A lot of tourists, when they visit Puerto Rico, don’t like those frogs, but those who are used to them, who know their story and the culture behind them, reach out to listen to those sounds. It’s comforting, like a wave washing along the sandy shores of the beach. If you don’t hear it, there’s something wrong going on.

I was not expecting to hear it so eloquently in a Marvel TV show, but the added emotion of Hector’s trial and how much he wishes to return to that made me cry like a little baby.

And Then To Have The End Credits Playing The Coquí Sounds – Dirty Work, Marvel

Also, Marvel can go to jail straight-up because what they did during the credits was diabolical.

Right after Hector is acquitted for what he did, he goes back to becoming a vigilante, but is then killed by someone wearing the Punisher symbol. I audibly gasped, considering we had just spent an entire episode following Hector in his journey back to freedom, and then it was just ripped from him. Granted, that’s somewhat because of his own stupid decisions, but that’s beside the point.

However, in the end, the credits roll, and then you hear the distinctive sound of the coquí frogs in the background, symbolizing that he never got to return home to that beach to listen to their love songs again. Haha, thanks, Marvel, for the emotional trauma. I hope you never get another box office hit.

I Wished That Other MCU Projects Sort Of Took A Deeper Look At Culture Like This Because We Always Appreciate It

Jokes aside, this is the kind of stuff I love to see in Marvel. Yes, I am here for the action. I am here for the best Marvel villains, the craziest Marvel movies and everything else. But Marvel isn’t always just big fights and spaceships and aliens invading Earth.

It’s the smaller moments like this that introduce a part of a culture—my culture—to the world, something that many viewers would never know existed. This moment sat with me for hours on end and made me smile from cheek to cheek. We don’t really get culture moments like that in the MCU.

I mean, aside from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it’s rare we get culture treated with so much respect as that, and I’d love to see Marvel do way more of that. Obviously I don’t want it to override the entire MCU, but I think it would be a good thing to add.

With another episode of Daredevil: Born Again down, I can only wonder what emotional pain this show will bring me next. Here’s to the next few weeks of trauma as I think about the beautiful coquí frogs.