Matthew Lillard Has Been Cast In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, And There's One Character I Hope He Plays

We’re just days away from Daredevil: Born Again premiering to Disney+ subscription holders the 2025 TV schedule, but fans can already take comfort knowing this won’t a one-and-done small screen offering like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Echo, among others. The upcoming Marvel TV show has already set for a nine-episode Season 2 and will begin filming soon. Today brings word that Matthew Millard has been cast for the next batch of Born Again episodes, and I already know who I’d like him to play.

First things first, this casting updates comes to us from Deadline, though no details about Lillard’s character were revealed. News of his involvement in Born Again comes a month after it was reported that the actor will appear in Scream 7 alongside Scott Foley. Both men play deceased characters who murdered people as Ghostface, but Lillard is already expertly dodging spoilers on how he’s returning to the horror franchise. He is also set to leave his mark on the 2025 movies schedule by starring opposite Tom Hiddleston in The Life of Chuck.

While many understandably know Matthew Lillard best for playing Shaggy Rogers in the original live-action Scooby-Doo movies and various animated TV shows, he’s also quite skilled at playing villains. Along with Stu Macher, who shared the Ghostface mantle with Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis in the first Scream movie, he most recently showed off his antagonistic chops as William Afton in 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, whom he’ll reprise in the sequel. So I’m hoping that Lillard will also play a villain in Daredevil: Born Again, too. Specifically, I’d like to see him as Mr. Fear.

I should note that four individuals have gone by that moniker in Marvel comics. For the purposes of Born Again, I think Lillard’s take on Mr. Fear should be a blend of Zoltan Drago, the original, and Larry Cranston, who’s been causing trouble as Mr. Fear for the longest amount of time. As the name indicates, Mr. Fear’s M.O. is terrifying his victims and adversaries, which is accomplished through a fear pheromone released by gas pellets, syringes and aerosol sprayers.

Admittedly, the big hitch with making Mr. Fear work in Daredevil: Born Again is that he can’t come across as a ripoff of the Batman villain Scarecrow, who chiefly relies on his fear gas to wreak havoc. I can see this being sidestepped in two ways. First, don’t have Matthew Lillard suit up as Mr. Fear. Treat that as an informal name that his victims or even cohorts refer to him as, but don’t make him into a full-blown costumed supervillain. Second, ditch the fear pheromone and find another way for him to instill fear. It can still come in the form of a drug or administered substance, it just shouldn’t bare any close resemblance to Scarecrow’s fear gas.

As for how a Matthew Lillard-portrayed Mr. Fear would come into the picture in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, that’s hard to say without seeing what unfolds in Season 1, which premieres Tuesday, March 4. Maybe he’s working for Wilson Fisk, maybe he’s causing trouble on the side. Or maybe I’m way off base with Mr. Fear and Lillard is playing someone nowhere remotely close to him. Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to seeing how his character comes into Matt Murdock’s life, for better or worse.