Daredevil: Born Again's Huge Death Explained: What Happens & Why
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born AgainThe worst-kept secret in MCU history has revealed itself, as Daredevil: Born Again's first episode killed off one of the returning Daredevil cast members. After months of speculation and a very ominous feeling from the marketing, Elden Henson's Foggy Nelson was killed in the first episode of the revival.
Henson's fan-favorite character was not actually part of the original plans for Daredevil: Born Again, but Marvel Television's course-correction brought him back, at the insistence of the showrunner. Dario Scardapane’s pitch to Marvel came with the condition that both Foggy and Karen had to play a part, as he told Empire:
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.
Scardapane also revealed his intention to use Karen and Foggy as a more conscious nod to Born Again as a continuation of the Netflix Daredevil story, instead of a reboot:
It was much less the world we knew, and more trying to blaze a new trail, but in doing so, they’d forgotten some things that really were necessary to the engine of the story.
Apparently, being the engine means killing one of them and sending the other one to the other side of the country. But bold story swings like this are usually very intentional, and there's a lot to unpick in Foggy's death.
How Foggy Nelson Dies, Who Kills Him & Why
Foggy Nelson was killed by Bullseye (otherwise known as Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter, played by Wilson Bethel) apparently on a mission of revenge. Before Daredevil's intervention, Bullseye appears to be set on killing Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), further underlining the theory that he's hell-bent on emotionally destroying Matt Murdock.
That theory is a little complex, however, because Poindexter was never aware that Matt was secretly Daredevil, right up to the point that Kingpin shattered his spine. He did, however, know of Daredevil's link to Karen. In Dex's attack on the Bulletin in Daredevil season 3, he very pointedly says "hello Karen, nice to see you again" as if he's been prompted by Fisk to sell the fact that he's the real Daredevil thanks to their connection.
In contrast, when Dex meets Foggy, he tries to kill him. He's clearly not aware that Foggy has any link to Daredevil in the same way he knew Karen does, or he'd have greeted him the same way to sell his lie. Killing Foggy in the Bulletin would have given up the fact that he was an impostor.
So, there's still the interesting possibility that someone else put the hit out on Foggy (and potentially Karen), because Dex wouldn't be working for Kingpin. And the man himself ruled himself out: Kingpin had promised Matt he'd go after Foggy and Karen in Daredevil season 3, but the pair forged an uneasy truce when Matt threatened to pin the blame for the murder of FBI agent Nadeem on Vanessa.
How Much "MCU Homework" Do You Have To Do Before Daredevil: Born Again?
Marvel's Daredevil: Born Again continues Matt Murdock's story, pulling from Netflix's Daredevil and more MCU projects necessary to understand it.
Foggy's death was, however, still set in the stars during Daredevil's season 3 ending on Netflix when Kingpin and Daredevil also combined to unwittingly create Bullseye. Kingpin broke Dex's back during a three-way battle, leading to experimental surgery that doesn't seem to be particularly important in Born Again. And then the next crucial question arises: why would Bullseye work for Fisk when the pair have history? It makes no sense that Fisk is the man behind the hit, particularly after he tried to kill Fisk himself at his wedding. But then, who is?
So did Bullseye found out Matt's secret in the time between Daredevil season 3 and Born Again, or was Poindexter merely lashing out at people he knew were linked to the real Daredevil? If so, why isn't Karen taken out, when the opportunity is so obviously there? Did Dex really try his best to kill her? I'm not so sure. He has clean shots at multiple points. Plus, Foggy's death is so precise, and there are so many collateral deaths that Karen surviving stands out massively. Foggy feels like the real target, and for Bullseye, the link between him and Daredevil was never as explicit or as logical.
Why Foggy's Death Is So Important To Born Again
Sometimes, You Need A Little Tragedy To Bring Things Into Focus
Foggy's death might feel like a bit of a puppy stomp right now, but it is an important story point for Matt Murdock's journey in Born Again. Unfortunately, that doesn't always sit well with audiences (I'm very much reminded of Secret Invasion's fridging of Maria Hill to advance that story too), but in this case, it's hard to argue that it wasn't an interesting thing to do.
Foggy has always been part of Matt's emotional and moral framework, and a balance to his darker side. Interestingly, when he was killed, Matt could easily have lost himself to his "darker half" as Kingpin calls Daredevil in episode 1, and there is a flash of that when he throws Bullseye off the roof. But Matt's longer-term response is more intriguing: he retires entirely from vigilantism, and concentrates on saving the world as a lawyer.
It's already been well-established that Daredevil: Born Again is a story of two men wrestling with their true nature. Matt has the long shadow of Daredevil influencing him, while Kingpin has to put his past, and his own violent nature behind him to go legit. And make no mistake, he is going legit. It's almost as if the show could be called Daredevil: A History Of Violence, all things considered.
Foggy's presence will be felt throughout the season, and in everything Matt does: both in his pursuit of justice, and his inevitable turn back to crime fighting as Daredevil. And while it would have been nice to keep him around for a while, he felt like dead meat long ago.
In fact, the most important way to think about it is to consider what director Aaron Moorhead said before the show revealed his tragic secret about why Karen and Foggy were brought back:
It was important for us to start out the show with feeling how these characters have evolved since we last saw then, and it feeling like a big warm hug because when the big thing happens, it’s in contrast to that hug. You feel the tragedy even more and you feel that event as something that that would shake the faith of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in such a way that he would question everything about his place in the universe, and that grief would ripple out season long, and that by doing that, we would amp that up. And on top of that, there’s the obvious thing of like, we love those characters and we love those actors and just can’t imagine the show without them.
Foggy Died In The Comics... But He Got Better
So, You're Saying There's A Chance?
In the comics, Foggy was at one point the target of an assassination attempt by Elektra, on the orders of Kingpin, but navigated that only to be supposedly killed on a prison visit in 2006's Daredevil (Vol. 2)#82. After Daredevil's secret identity was outed publicly and Matt Murdock was thrown into prison, Foggy was attacked while visiting him and fatally stabbed, with Daredevil hearing his heartbeat fading, just as he did in Born Again.
But, this being Marvel Comics, Foggy had actually survived the attack, despite a funeral being held for him, and was actually in FBI witness protection thanks to Vanessa Fisk. He's also faked his death elsewhere, been actually sent to Hell (from where he was rescued), and survived a near-miss in Devil's Reign. But crucially, he's always got better or not been dead in the first place.
Is there a chance that Foggy's death was faked and he's in witness protection in the MCU? Probably not, given Karen witnessed the light go out of his eyes, but stranger things have happened, and Marvel Television could score a win with fans in Daredevil: Born Again's future by perhaps taking a leaf out of the comic books.
Daredevil: Born Again
- Release Date
- March 4, 2025
- Network
- Disney+
Cast
Matt Murdock / Daredevil
Wilson Fisk
- Showrunner
- Chris Ord
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