MAJOR SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again’s premiere lie ahead! If you have not seen it, you can stream it with a Disney+ subscription and then catch new episodes every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
There’s no way around it; Foggy Nelson is dead, and that’s a deeply heartbreaking tragedy. It’s actually such a monumental loss that Daredevil: Born Again’s star, Charlie Cox, got emotional while talking with me about it and the impact it will have on Matt Murdock as this MCU series continues its run.
When I watched the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, I felt like I was stabbed in the heart when Foggy died amid the massive opening one-take fight. So, when I interviewed Charlie Cox about his new Marvel show on the 2025 TV schedule, I asked him how Matt would be impacted by this loss. When responding, he didn’t hold back about how sad this situation is, explaining:
Yeah, first of all, I hear you. It’s on all of our minds. You know, this is a big bombshell. It’s gutting, and it’s a tough one, because, you know, as difficult as it is to imagine going forward without the heartbeat of the MCU, I think it was also, it’s a bold move, you know, and it shakes everything up. It keeps everyone on their toes.
“Keeps everyone on their toes” seems like an understatement. This feels like a rug has been pulled out from under us, and everything that was on said rug shattered into a million pieces. As early positive reactions for Born Again conveyed, these first episodes have left fans “traumatized.” That’s in part because of this life-altering event Matt Murdock went through.
That’s not something that’s lost on Cox either, as he said; it’s hard to fathom that Foggy is gone. However, he also noted that with this new era of Daredevil, change had to happen. That meant there would be “collateral damage,” and that damage was sadly Elden Henson’s beloved character:
You know, we’ve come back after six years. We, you know, we gotta rock the boat a little bit. And I guess Foggy is collateral damage. And you know, Elden has just done such a beautiful job with that role for so many years. So I don’t know, I can’t even talk about it.
I could tell Cox was emotional about this massive shift as I asked him how Foggy’s last words to Matt would impact the character.
Remember, the final thing Elden Henson’s amiable lawyer said to his best friend was that he was sorry because he “didn’t want to give [Matt] an excuse,” right before he went into Daredevil mode. Those feel like words that will impact this lawyer and vigilante forever. Cox agreed, as he said:
But, yeah, Matt is changed forever. He’ll never be the same man again. It will impact everything he does from here on out. And I think you’re right. I think those words will haunt him. I think many things that Foggy had said to Matt over the years will haunt him. And what he does with that, how he incorporates the experience of what happens will define his ability to serve his community going forward.
This life-changing tragedy is clearly one of the reasons Matt tries to change his ways, as we see him attempt (and fail) to put Daredevil behind him in the first few episodes. And I imagine Foggy’s death will loom large over the events of the show.
As Cox said, Foggy dying will “haunt” Matt, and that is bound to have major implications as Daredevil gradually returns to his crime-fighting ways on Born Again.