Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2From the very beginning of Daredevil Born Again, the series set a precedent that no character would be safe from harm. Just moments after seeing Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) reunited for the first time since Netflix’s Daredevil was cancelled, the series premiere featured Foggy’s shocking death. While Henson returned in a Season 2 flashback episode that honored the Netflix series, it also ended with the death of another major character from that era: Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer). The hits keep on coming as the Season 2 penultimate episode killed off Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini).
Throughout Season 2, Daniel has been heading down a dark path as he gets more involved with Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) criminal dealings. But the season also tracks Daniel’s resistance to this influence, especially as Fisk’s right-hand man/hit man, Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), continually hovers over him and makes him feel unsafe. By Season 2, Episode 7, just when it seems like Daniel is about to fully embrace his dark side, he lets BB Urich (Genneya Walton) run away instead of turning her in to Buck. But this decision comes at a cost, as Buck ultimately executes Daniel for his disloyalty. It’s a shocking moment to leave audiences with before the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale. It seemed that Buck might have actually warmed up to Daniel after their time together and would let him walk away. In fact, that was almost the case.
In an interview with Collider’s Tania Hussain, Gandolfini revealed that Daniel was actually going to survive his confrontation with Buck and even filmed scenes for the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale. He notes that when Daniel lets BB escape, “it still wasn’t 100% clear if I was going to die or not. That was not really 100% written in stone yet when we finished Season 2. That was decided in post.” Gandolfini also mentions how it’s even more **tragic that Daniel doesn’t get a proper goodbye **with any of the characters he’s built relationships with throughout the series.
Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.
You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.
You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.
Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.
You’ve been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What’s left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.
Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.
You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.
“The last scene with his mom, he says, “Everything’s fine. I love you. Everything’s okay. Don’t worry.” His last scene with Fisk is at the funeral. You don’t even see a goodbye. His last scene with Buck. He and Sheila, their last scene’s at the boxing match. All these people don’t have any closed loops, and so when he dies, it’s just like, wow, he’s just hanging there, and I think that it’s painful.”
By having the actors themselves not even know this would be their last scenes together, it adds to the harsh reality of what happened to Daniel. It doesn’t help that this all happened right after Daniel’s birthday, too. As tragic as it is, it was the right decision to let Daniel’s arc come to a close in this heroic way. Even Gandolfini told us that filming scenes for Daredevil Born Again Season 2, Episode 8, “felt very weird” and “didn’t feel right.” When he got the call that the creative team decided to kill his character during post-production, he said, “It actually felt like a relief because it felt very appropriate, because that’s what needed to happen, not only for the arc of the show, but also personally.”
When Gandolfini was cast in Daredevil: Born Again, fans were quick to theorize that he’d play a major comic character, like Fisk’s son, considering his talent and the fact that he’s the real-life son of **The Sopranos **star James Gandolfini. While that didn’t end up being the case, he became a fan-favorite character who could stand alongside the rest of the cast, which is a big feat for an original character in a comic book project.
Even though Fisk’s agenda mirrors our world, Gandolfini brought moments of levity to give audiences the feeling of escapism. He brought the right amount of comedy and drama as Daniel. As the youngest member of Fisk’s inner circle, he constantly worked hard to prove himself worthy. Even when he messed up and leaked one of Fisk’s plans, he showed Fisk how loyal he was and got himself promoted to Deputy Mayor for Communications.
But with this promotion, it also meant being involved in more criminal acts, whether he liked it or not. When Daniel drove Buck to an unknown location far outside the city, Gandolfini gave a masterful performance through his eyes and facial expressions to intensify the tension of that scene. It seemed like Buck was ready to kill Daniel right there and then, but it was a test to prove his loyalty. Thankfully for fans of the character, Daniel didn’t throw away his morals and friendship with BB for Fisk’s cause.
Plus, we finally learn the fate of another beloved Netflix character.
The only reason he joined Fisk’s campaign was that he really thought Fisk could change the city for the better. But as he got to see behind the curtain, he made the right decision, showing that there’s still some good left in him. As bold as it was to kill a character as well-liked as Daniel, it’s a testament to the creative team and cast that they reconsidered keeping him alive and thought about what was better suited for the character and the overall story.
With BB having lost both her uncle, Ben Urich, and a close friend to Fisk, there’s sure to be a reckoning coming. Daredevil’s revolution is only growing stronger with each episode, and the upcoming finale will surely see a climactic fight that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats and waiting with bated breath for Season 3 for even more surprises.
The *Daredevil: Born Again *Season 2 finale arrives on Disney+ on May 5.
Daredevil: Born Again ](/tag/daredevil-born-again/)
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