Disney+ has just shattered records with the launch of Daredevil: Born Again, proving that the brutal and gritty world of Marvel’s blind vigilante is as popular as ever.
The series racked up a massive 7.5 million views in just its first five days, making it the biggest debut on the platform this year so far.
While Disney+ doesn’t usually share detailed streaming figures, this puts Daredevil: Born Again ahead of some other major releases.
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Reported by Variety, this is quite a feat when you compare Born Again's debut compared to other high-performing premiere windows.
For example, Paradise, the Sterling K. Brown-led drama, pulled in 7 million views in nine days, while Marvel’s Agatha All Along hit 9.3 million in its first week last September.
Bringing back fan-favorite Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, and Vincent D’Onofrio as the terrifying Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, the series also welcomes back familiar faces like Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, and Jon Bernthal. New cast members include Margarita Levieva, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer, and Genneya Walton.
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The series sees Murdock return to the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, balancing life as a blind lawyer by day and a ruthless crimefighter by night.
Packed with bone-crunching action and intense drama, it aims to capture what made Netflix's Daredevil series so beloved among fans and critics alike.
So far, Daredevil: Born Again has enjoyed positive reception overall with an 83% Rotten Tomatoes critic score at the time of writing, alongside an 82% score from audiences. Keep in mind that critical reviews stem from press members having access to the season’s full amount of nine episodes, which audiences have not.
While there has been a strong amount of pleasant surprise in how good Born Again is, there are numerous assessments saying that it still doesn’t live up to the highs of the original Netflix show. For example, in Mike Hale’s review for the New York Times, he said: “The lack of narrative shaping takes away any force the themes of vigilantism might have had, reducing them to limp excuses for the sometimes stomach-turning violence”.
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The series is led by showrunner Dario Scardapane, with Marvel Studios’ head honcho Kevin Feige on board as an executive producer. Other producers include Louis D’Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, and Sana Amanat, while directing duties are split between Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and David Boyd.
With a massive debut and a fanbase eager to see where Murdock’s journey goes next, Daredevil: Born Again has cemented itself as one of Disney+’s most successful launches to date.
While we're only less than three months into the year, other shows will have their work cut out for them to top the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.