When Daredevil: Born Again first hit Disney+, it finally bridged the gap between Marvel's Netflix era and the larger MCU. Fans of the street-level heroes—Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist—had been waiting years to see them share the screen again. But now that the show is ending, it's clear Marvel waited too long to bring the Defenders back together, and the result is a team-up that feels more like an afterthought than a satisfying payoff.
From the start, Born Again was always going to be Matt Murdock's story. Charlie Cox's return as the Man Without Fear was a long time coming, and the show rightly focused on his battle against Wilson Fisk's rise to political power. But as Fisk climbed his way to the mayor's office—especially after the events of Hawkeye and Echo—it became increasingly odd that the other Defenders were nowhere to be found. These are heroes who protect New York City, and Kingpin's takeover should have been a five-alarm fire for all of them.
The Defenders were never a formal team like the Avengers, but their individual shows always reminded us they operated in the same world, often crossing paths when trouble arose. If Fisk is turning the city into a war zone, it stands to reason that Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand would step up. Instead, they were conspicuously absent, leaving Matt to fight alone for most of the series. Even Spider-Man got a passing mention, but the Defenders were just... gone.
Season 1 brought back Frank Castle for a brief stint, and Season 2 finally reintroduced Jessica Jones, but it wasn't until the end of that season that Luke Cage showed up for a cameo. Now we know all three remaining Defenders will appear in Season 3, but with the show's sudden cancellation, this reunion feels rushed and unearned. It's a classic case of too little, too late.
Think about it: Fisk's anti-vigilante crackdown in Season 1 led to the death of White Tiger. That should have been a rallying cry for every hero in the city. Luke Cage is literally bulletproof—he could have walked through Fisk's plans without breaking a sweat. Instead, we got a slow burn that never quite ignited, and now the payoff is being crammed into a final season that has to wrap everything up.
Netflix's The Defenders was widely considered a disappointment, but Born Again had a chance to redeem that legacy. With Matt now exposed as Daredevil and locked up, the remaining Defenders could unite to fill the power vacuum left by Fisk's exile. It's a promising setup, but it's also a familiar one—Disney+ seems to be repeating the same mistake Netflix made years ago by saving the team-up for the very end.
It's unlikely we'll get full solo revivals for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, or Iron Fist anytime soon, though maybe a Heroes for Hire spin-off isn't out of the question. But even if that happens, the damage is done. Fans have waited nearly a decade for this reunion, and now it's arriving just as the curtain falls. It's a bittersweet moment, and one that leaves us wondering what could have been if Marvel had trusted these characters sooner.
As we watch the final episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, we can only hope this vigilante reunion lives up to the hype. But given the show's abrupt end, it's hard not to feel like we're getting a consolation prize instead of the epic team-up we deserved. For more on Marvel's streaming missteps, check out why Agents of SHIELD deserves a comeback. And if you're in the mood for more superhero news, Insomniac's Wolverine update might interest you.
