There’s something very familiar about Daredevil: Born Again. The new Disney+ show features the same stars as the Daredevil series that launched on Netflix a decade ago, and picks up (more or less) where its predecessor left off. But it’s also an entirely new entity, firmly rooted in the mythology of the vast Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

In the early stages of its development, Daredevil: Born Again was pitched as more of a reinvention, but the powers-that-be at comic-book giant Marvel eventually decided to lean harder into the events of the original series.

That means a return to the story of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer who uses superhuman senses to fight crime as masked vigilante Daredevil. Unfortunately for Murdock, arch-enemy the Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) has also transferred to Disney+, and this time he’s got lofty ambitions in New York.

As fans will be well aware, it can be hard to keep up with the epic Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity after more than 30 movies and nearly 20 TV shows. Luckily, this guide explains how Daredevil: Born Again connects to both the previous Netflix series, and the wider MCU.

Where have we seen Daredevil before?

Classic Marvel comic-book character Daredevil (aka Matt Murdock, aka the “Man Without Fear”) headlined three seasons of his own eponymous TV show on Netflix. It ran for three seasons from 2015 until its cancellation in 2018.

The series was loosely connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), featuring occasional references to the spectacularly successful, famously interconnected multimedia franchise launched by Iron Man in 2008. Its stories, however, were rather more down-to-earth than the adventures of Thor, Captain America and the rest, as Murdock prioritised protecting his Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood over saving the world.

Along with fellow “street level” Marvel shows Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, Daredevil led into crossover series The Defenders, and subsequently spawned another spin-off, The Punisher.

Ben Affleck also starred in a 2003 Daredevil movie, but you don’t need to worry about that – it’s entirely separate to the TV show and not particularly good.

Is Daredevil: Born Again season 4 of the Netflix series?

Yes and no.

Several of the original Daredevil cast return, including Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio as his long-standing nemesis, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. The show also acknowledges the events of the previous series, which finished with crime boss Fisk returning to prison, and Murdock agreeing to start a new law firm with best friends/associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. Daredevil: Born Again picks up their story several years later, and – as D’Onofrio told Entertainment Weekly – “There are storylines that reach back to the original series.”

But it’s also an entirely different show, with those involved saying it’s “darker” than its predecessor. (It’s worth noting that the Netflix Daredevil was already significantly grittier than the usual Marvel fare.)

Addressing the tonal shift in an interview with SFX magazine (via GamesRadar+), showrunner Dario Scardapane explained that, “I really feel that Netflix’s Daredevil was much more noir, and this show is more New York crime story. It has elements of The Sopranos and King of New York.”

It’s widely believed that, like 2024’s Echo, the show will be released under the “Marvel Spotlight” umbrella, which embraces more grounded, character-based stories within the MCU.

What’s the Daredevil: Born Again plot?

Although the show shares its name with a highly regarded comic-arc book by Frank Miller, the nine-episode Daredevil: Born Again plot will take a very different path.

By the time the new show kicks off, Murdock has come to the conclusion that he’s more helpful to his community working as an attorney than moonlighting as a crimefighting vigilante. But when old adversary Fisk launches his campaign to become mayor of New York, Murdock finds himself sucked back into the superhero life.

The trailer also teases appearances from a pair of costumed characters who’ll be familiar to hardcore fans of the Marvel comics: vigilante hero White Tiger and murderous villain Muse.

Will the Daredevil: Born Again story make sense if you haven’t seen the Netflix show?

Even if Daredevil: Born Again is your first exposure to the character and his world, Scardapane believes you’ll have no trouble catching up.

“At the end of the Netflix show, Foggy, Karen and Matt had a dream written out on the back of a napkin,” he told SFX. “It’s not a dream that needs too much explanation; three good friends go into business together. And the animosity between [Daredevil] and Kingpin has been there for so long, the actors carry it with them in every scene. You don’t have to say, ‘Oh, they’re each other’s main nemesis.’ You just craft a scene where they’re essentially threatening each other.”

Have we encountered any of the Daredevil: Born Again cast since the Netflix series ended?

Even friendly neighbourhood webslingers need legal representation from time to time, so Cox made a brief cameo as Murdock in hit MCU movie Spider-Man: No Way Home. He also appeared in a couple of episodes of Disney+ TV show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law alongside another superpowered lawyer, Jennifer Walters (aka She-Hulk).

D’Onofrio has also reprised his Kingpin role since the Netflix show ended. Fisk was revealed to be the criminal overlord pulling the strings in the Hawkeye miniseries, and – in the final showdown – demonstrated the superhuman strength that’s a hallmark of his counterpart in the comics. He was subsequently shot by his protegée, Maya “Echo” Lopez, but survived to return in her self-titled mini-series, Echo.

During that show’s end credits scene, a news broadcast on the TV of Fisk’s private jet sowed the seeds for the Daredevil: Born Again plot. With no clear frontrunner in the race to become New York City’s next mayor, commentators suggested that “a bareknuckle brawler”, an “outsider” and someone who’s “not afraid to take on the establishment” is exactly what the people want. Sounds like Fisk in a nutshell…

Will any more familiar characters show up?

There’s quite an ensemble of familiar faces returning in the Daredevil: Born Again cast.

Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson return as Matt’s BFFs Karen and Foggy, and Ayelet Zurer reprises her role as Kingpin’s wife, Vanessa Fisk. Wilson Bethel is also reportedly back as Benjamin Poindexter, the supervillain better known as Bullseye.

Jon Bernthal continues as vigilante Frank Castle (aka the Punisher), while there’s also an unexpected return for Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan, father of Kamala Khan (aka Ms Marvel) in both the Ms Marvel TV show and the The Marvels film.

And while there’s been no official confirmation, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage) or Finn Jones (Iron Fist) – or any other stars from their respective shows – turn up for cameos in Daredevil: Born Again.

Is Daredevil: Born Again part of the official Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity?

The Netflix Marvel shows existed in a strange hinterland, one foot in MCU canon, one foot outside. But Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum confirmed in the Hollywood Reporter last year that, after years of uncertainty, they’re now definitively part of Marvel continuity. In fact, they even feature in the official Disney+ MCU timeline.

“We finally said it out loud,” Winderbaum said. “Flash forward now to Disney+, where we are actually laying out the timeline with tiles on a screen, all of a sudden we’re like, ‘We should just do it. Let’s do it.’ It was also spurred by the redevelopment of Daredevil: Born Again, once we started to really lean into some of the mythology and backstory that was established in those Netflix shows.”

Not that Matt Murdock’s exploits in Hell’s Kitchen are likely to have a major impact on the big screen Avengers. “Marvel has a master plan, and what you’re doing causes ripple effects,” Scardapane told SFX. “I have plenty of leeway [in storytelling] up until I hit the larger-scale plan for the MCU.

“You can say that [the Netflix] Daredevil is canon in the MCU,” he continues, “those other events [in Spider-Man and She-Hulk] happened, but some of them we are not leaning into. His one-night stand with She-Hulk may be one of those things.”

Will there be a Daredevil: Born Again season 2?

Work has already started on a second season of Daredevil: Born Again, so it looks like there’s plenty more to come from Marvel’s Man Without Fear.

What is the Daredevil: Born Again release date?

You can watch Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+ from Tuesday 4 March. You can also catch Daredevil’s previous adventures – along with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, The Defenders, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Hawkeye, Echo, Ms Marvel and The Marvels – on the streamer.

Daredevil: Born Again streams on Disney+ from Tuesday 4 March.