From SRP author Cameron Cooper:
It took me a while to catch up with Daredevil: Born Again — the new Marvel update on the original series, now the IP has folded back into the broader Marvel Comics Universe. I keep coming back to a question that might sound academic, but isn’t:
Is Daredevil secretly fantasy? Or metaphysical fiction in a red suit? And does it even matter anymore?
Per my post last week, both this show and Sanderson’s new foray into science fiction have made me think hard about the border between fantasy and science fiction…or if there is one at all.
Because here’s the thing: this show is full of the usual genre markers: masked vigilantes, brutal takedowns, gang wars, and underworld politics. But just beneath the bruises and shadows is something weirder, older, and harder to classify.
Not just street-level action. Not just moral ambiguity. But fantasy by way of faith, metaphysics by way of noir.
What They Left Out (And Why That Matters)
One of the first surprises in this new season is the conspicuous absence of familiar characters. I was surprised at how ruthlessly they were removed. Just…gone.
But once you’ve sat through the whole season you see the shape of it and how right the opening of the season is.
This season isn’t just about Daredevil returning. It’s about Fisk’s return too. Not to the stage, but to his old ways…perhaps.
The reversion of both characters is subtle. It rewards paying attention. Not everything’s a slap-you-in-the-face twist (though there are a few of those, too). A lot of the tension is built on implication. Like the camera lingering on a pair of bloodied knuckles, then swinging away before you’ve fully registered what they mean.
It’s a clue. A setup. The pay-off, later, seems inevitable, like all good pay-offs should.
Metaphysics Wearing a Mask
There’s an actual scene this season where Matt Murdock is praying. No ambiguity. No wry commentary. Just a man reaching for something larger than himself. That’s not just character work. That’s theme.
The show gives us establishing shots of the church like it’s sacred ground, not just for Matt, but for the story itself. That recurring visual language isn’t accidental. It’s telling us what kind of tale this is.
Yes, there are fists and flips and punishing hallway fights (mercifully shorter than the season opener suggests, which does feel like it might never end). But the real battles? They’re internal. Moral. Soul-deep.
This isn’t just about vigilante justice. It’s about what you believe justifies justice.
The Grey Between the Good and the Bad
The show does something I admire: it lets the good guys be wrong. And the villains…well, they’re not always wrong. Sometimes they’re heartbreakingly human. Sometimes you catch yourself wondering: wait, has Fisk changed?
There’s a scene where Frank Castle — the Punisher — returns and absolutely eviscerates Matt in conversation. First scene back, and he’s already tearing into our so-called hero with scalpel precision. And he’s not wrong.
The Punisher has always been a hard character to get right, but this version, especially in this actor’s hands, is grounded, compelling, and deadly effective. He doesn’t just challenge Matt physically. He challenges the show’s entire moral axis.
So… Is This Fantasy? Or Something Else?
Daredevil doesn’t feature spellbooks or dragons. But it does wrestle with unseen forces: guilt, faith, moral law, metaphysical order. There’s mysticism, but even the hyper-heightened senses Matt uses feel more symbolic than scientific.
You could argue it’s magical realism in a modern city. Or urban fantasy that just happens to wear Kevlar. Or metaphysical fiction masquerading as action drama.
But maybe, and this is what I keep circling back to, genre isn’t the point.
Maybe we’ve hit the narrative singularity where a show like Daredevil doesn’t need to pick a lane. It can be fantasy and noir, superhero story and existential crisis. It can be about a man in a mask…and the soul underneath it.
What do you think?
Does Daredevil belong in the fantasy camp? Or does its gritty realism pull it into something else? Is it even helpful to draw lines like that anymore?
Either way, I’m in. This new season is leaner, meaner, and more interested in what justice means than whether or not the guy wins the fight.
(Though let’s be honest, I do love a well-timed hallway beatdown.)
Cameron Cooper
SRP Author
Check Cam’s books here on Stories Rule Press.
