New 'Daredevil: Born Again' Set Photos Reveal Beloved Main Characters' Likely Replacement

The Man Without Fear now has a new companion.

Related: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Explained: What We Might See In Marvel’s Revival

It appears that The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios are ready and willing to cut out old favorites in exchange for fresher faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Drew Goddard’s Daredevil (2015) was one of the most beloved iterations of the Marvel Comics character, set in the canon of the (then-current) Marvel Cinematic Universe and produced in Netflix Marvel collaboration. Originally, Murdock was built to team up with Luke Cage‘s (2016) with Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Iron Fist‘s (2017) Finn Jones (Danny Rand/Iron Fist), and Jessica Jones‘ (2015) Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) within The Defenders (2017) continuity. Now that The Walt Disney Company is venturing into the world of streaming and embarking on a whole new Phase Five and Phase Six based on comics’ “Secret Wars” storyline is truly beginning with the associated rise of Jonathan Majors’ terrifyingly charismatic Kang the Conqueror. With that, comes an entire reshuffling of the Avengers team — with the old guard established in Joss Whedon-directed The Avengers (2012) more or less retiring. Willingly, for the most part.

Previously, Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige announced a brand-new, 18-episode Daredevil series at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2022, bringing a new iteration of Daredevil to Disney+, titled Daredevil: Born Agaiw n. Why is this being announced now? Well, Feige has massive plans for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2026), that likely involve the Fantastic Four and perhaps X-Men — but his biggest plan is already being set into action right now. He’s segregating the current roster of Avengers and superheroes into several categories to deal with threats on that “level” — from “cosmic-level”, to “supernatural” to interestingly, “street-level” — which is supposedly helmed by Tom Holland’s Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. As a result, Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is being built up once again as one of the cornerstone players of the MCU, Matt Murdock’s theatrical debut in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022), helping the webslinger out with legal troubles. Most recently, blind lawyer-slash-vigilante Daredevil has enjoyed a more substantial appearance in an episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022).

Related: “Season One, Not Season Four”, Kevin Feige Confirms Charlie Cox’s ‘Daredevil’ Is “Whole New Thing”

Matt Murdock’s most formidable villain Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) also being introduced as a key threat in Hawkeye (2021), set to reprise his role in Born Again. Also returning is Jon Bernthal’s Punisher/Frank Castle, back from his absence post-solo series, Netflix Marvel’s The Punisher (2017). Fans already all but freaked out upon the revelation that Sandrine Holt’s Vanessa Fisk is being replaced. But now, another shakeup is in the works — and audiences and Marvel fans are likely to have some strong opinions.

Daredevil took a new and mature approach to superheroes from the get-go. Based in a New York City reeling from the aftermath of Loki Laufeyson/Loki Odinson’s (Tom Hiddleston) alien Chitauri invasion, it was the beginning of the “street-level” team of heroes. Matt Murdock, a young, blind lawyer based in Hell’s Kitchen grapples with his other heightened senses, deciding to use them to help the little guy by night, as the superhero Daredevil. The show was a fascinating balancing act from the perspective of the writing and plot with a back-and-forth between the world of court drama in the “day”, and vigilante justice by night. Also meticulously balanced were the characters — particularly Matt Murdock and themes of his Catholic guilt and issues of justice vs. the law, while best friends paralegal Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) embarked on her own balancing act of her day job with dangerous investigative journalism, and fellow lawyer Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) juggled his loyalty to Murdock and his own material dreams and family’s past.

Now, fans hot off the latest Daredevil appearance in She-Hulk, are beginning to question Daredevil’s future in the MCU — and the future of his best friends in the original TV show, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page — whom last we heard, had set up a brand-new law firm of their own in Hell’s Kitchen, New York with Matt Murdock, called Nelson, Murdock and Page. The Daredevil: Born Again casting has been the subject of much debate recently, as the announcement that beloved characters Karen Page and Foggy Nelson would not likely be returning to Born Again has caused ripples in fan spaces.

Now that series key players Karen Page and Foggy Nelson have had their roles tossed up in the air, a new set photo from Daredevil: Born Again has shed some light on the MCU’s newest direction — and it doesn’t appear particularly friendly to to Karen and Foggy’s return.

Recently, Charlie Cox dressed in his Matt Murdock lawyerly best was spotted alongside one Nikki M. James via People and circulated online. This immediately got fans in a tizzy as to who the new character was.

Charlie Cox and Nikki M. James on set of Daredevil born again pic.twitter.com/PFxywA2B3c

— Best of Daredevil cast (@ddcastarchive) March 19, 2023

After some intense fan-sleuthing and speculating, Jason Kane AKA GreatPhase posited the likely theory that James was portraying Kirsten McDuffie:

I feel more confident she’s [Kirsten] now.

I feel more confident she's Kristen now. https://t.co/BGb4vrg88O

— Jason Kane (Greatphase) (@GGeneralHolt8) March 19, 2023

Kirsten McDuffie in the Marvel Comics is the assistant district attorney who had more or less figured out that lawyer Matt Murdock was also the superhero Daredevil, often playfully attempting to get him to admit the truth of his identity. Interestingly, she has also had a relationship with Murdock in the comics, particularly after the blind lawyer relocated to San Francisco, eventually establishing their own law firm together.

As we don’t know why the MCU’s Matt Murdock has become “Born Again”, it’s definitely possible that this is a hint that the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is indeed departing Hell’s Kitchen himself, and becoming “Born Again” away from the original law firm established with his best friends Foggy and Karen. All of this is speculative, however — as Marvel is known for keeping mum about in-show surprises for the shock factor, and keeping beloved central characters like Foggy and Karen from the public now could bring a massive wave of old Daredevil fans into the Disney+ show and platform.

What do you think about the character possibly replacing Karen and Foggy in Daredevil: Born Again?