Warning: MASSIVE spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1 & 2 ahead!
Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane and producer Sana Amanat say the shocking death of Foggy in the very first episode not only drives the entire season, but was initially planned to happen off-screen in the scrapped episodes.
"It was really weird," Scardapane tells GamesRadar+. "It was determined before I came on. But unfortunately in the original version, it occurred off-screen and I was like, if something that intense and horrible and earth-shattering is gonna happen, we've gotta feel it and we've gotta see the ripple effect it's gonna have on Karen and Matt and the world. And then, as Sana has said a million times, there's only a few things that could have made him question whether to put down the mask, whether to kind of sublimate who he is. And that was one of them. So we didn't take the choice lightly."
In the first episode, Bullseye gets revenge on Matt and kills his best friend in what is quite possibly one of the most harrowing scenes in live-action Marvel history.
The revival show was initially conceived as an 18-episode legal procedural that saw Matt Murdock spending more time in the courtroom and less as Daredevil. It was reported that Foggy and Karen wouldn't be part of the initial show, so it makes sense that his death happened off-screen - but feels very unfair to his character. As rough as that scene is, seeing him die in Karen's arms feels a lot better than being told through exposition that he passed away.
"In a way we amped it up. We embedded it into this massive action sequence," Scardapane continues. "Your attention is grabbed, you have this heartbeat going, and then when it happens, I think you should walk away with it like, 'oh my God, everything has just changed. Everything is different now'."
It feels a bit like a betrayal to the fans who were more than adamant about having Karen and Foggy in the revival, but apparently it's not the last will see of him.
"And remember that, you know, he's not gone forever," Amanat adds.
"He's not. Listen, he's not gone forever. That's all I can say - it's not the last thing you're gonna see of him. So, I understand. We also understand the heartbreak, and we did not take this lightly. I get upset. We were upset on the day, we were upset watching it. All of these things are true," Scardapane continues. "But the thing that we were talking about earlier, and the thing that I've been thinking about - this is a type of new origin story for Matt. He's the type of character that in just like all classic Marvel stories, they're affected by some sort of tragedy."
Part of the pushback from fans around the announcement of the initial revival was that Foggy and Karen weren't involved - which makes us think about what Charlie Cox said about Marvel trying to reinvent and create a new Matt Murdock. But who is Matt Murdock without his two best friends - the only people on earth who know how to ground him? It looks like that is exactly the question this season intends to answer.
"He was affected by his father's death before. And of course, the radioactive truck that gave him his powers and blinded him, but also this was the most impactful thing that could happen for us to do a new story, a new adventure, something that also had meaning. It's Foggy because he's the heart and he's the conscious of Matt Murdock and what happens when he's no longer there? That is a really powerful story we just really felt compelled to tell."
The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are out now on Disney Plus. You can stay up to date on new episodes with our Daredevil: Born Again release schedule.
For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond, or check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows you need to know about.
