The following contains major spoilers for the Disney+ showDaredevil: Born Again.
WithDaredevil: Born Again’s premiere season in the rearview and a second season in the middle of filming, it’s fair to say that Disney’s newest Marvel streaming service show is a healthy return to form for ‘television’ content.Daredevil: Born Again’s title isn’t merely a nod to the comic book run of the same name; it’s as literal as it is figurative, referencing the fact thatNetflix’s three-seasonDaredevilserieshas been reborn on Disney+ withBorn Againbehaving as a continuation of that show. Given all that occurs in Season 1 and how characters are treated, though,Daredevil: Born Againis realistically a clean slate.
Season 1 ofDaredevil: Born Againis spent almost wholly depicting the gradual inevitability of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk’s public-facing masks slipping. In its season finale, the story culminates in Bullseye being on the loose, Kingpin’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force being unleashed on New York City and capturing Punisher (who oddly waded straight into their den), and Daredevil beginning to assemble a team of anyone willing to stand up to the mayor. This all lays brickwork for a second season, and yet an Anti-Vigilante Task Force, specifically, would also make for an equally exciting element in a hypothetical Daredevil game, if one ever was to come to pass.
Kingpin’s AVTF Would Be a Great Enemy Faction in a Daredevil Game
Enemy factions in superhero gamesare always balancing on the edge of a knife. On the one hand, enemy factions are vital because they provide players with endless mobs to defeat, and as a superhero there’s no greater power fantasy than going out and stopping a carjacking or drug deal, much less pursuing a super-villain.
This is the case for street-level hero and vigilante characters, anyway; Spider-Man’s powers far exceed those of a humble Friendly Neighborhood jurisdiction, for instance, but it’s endearing that he prefers to thwart petty crime and the occasional animal-themed villain. On the other hand,Daredevil is perfect for street-level crimebecause he’s merely a blind man with extraordinarily heightened senses and expert gymnastic skills.
It’s quite baffling that Daredevil hasn’t received a modern AAA game, open-world or otherwise, because his powers would be fairly well adapted in Hell’s Kitchen’s grimy alleyways.
Likewise,a Daredevil gamecould have intriguing enemy factions based on the character’s rogues’ gallery, such as the Hand, and Kingpin’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force could make a viable one, too, whether it’s a group of corrupt police officers like inDaredevil: Born Againor recruited Thunderbolts villains like in the comic book source material—Devil’s Reign(2021). Either option would be thrilling since battling crooked cops could have a fun role in the story, while battling a team of Thunderbolts could allow for several antagonists whom players encounter in side quests.
If a Daredevil Game was Announced, Bullseye Seems Like a Shoo-in
Bullseye is only around inDaredevil: Born AgainSeason 1 when he’s about to make a huge splash and upend lives forever. Killing Foggy in the first episode’s prologue certainly did that, and shooting at Kingpin later on with Matt Murdock diving in the way of the bullet caused the trajectory of the plot to deviate.
Episode 1 alone demonstrates how sinister and brutal Bullseye can be, and a Daredevil game probably wouldn’t be able to afford leaving him out of the equation. Plus, while a Fisk boss would also make sense, he is quite ubiquitous already andKingpin was the intro/tutorial boss inMarvel’s Spider-Man. Bullseye hasn’t had such love, and, despite not being the most immediately interesting super-villain, Netflix and Disney’sDaredeviliteration of the character has been popular and compelling.
