Hopes for an adaptation of "Born Again," the seminal 1986 comic book storyline, date back to at least when Fox still held the film rights to the Man Without Fear, and Joe Carnahan was lobbying to direct. They continued well into Marvel's Netflix era, with fans searching for clues to the arc in the buildup to Daredevil Season 2 before finally finding a big one last year in the closing moments of The Defenders. Now, with the arrival of the third season on Oct. 19, the faithful learn that patience is indeed a virtue.

It's not a direct translation of the acclaimed story by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, of course, but does draw heavily upon the comic, in its plot, in its themes of loss, downfall and redemption, and in its use of Christian symbolism, which always looms large on Daredevil. But more important than fidelity to the source material is the result. In that, Season 3 excels, with the six episodes provided for review representing the best of the series, and, arguably, of Netflix's corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Under the direction of new showrunner Erik Oleson (Arrow, The Man in the High Castle), Daredevil delivers an enthralling tale that couldn't have been told (told well, at least) any sooner, not because of the talent involved, but rather because not all of the necessary pieces were in place. The seeds of this story were planted in the choices, and even the statements, made by characters in the first season, and then took root in Season 2 and in The Defenders. Whether the viewers, or even the producers, fully realized it, Daredevil has been building to this point since its 2015 premiere.

Joanne Whalley as Sister Maggie and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil Season 3

Picking up in the immediate aftermath of The Defenders, in which Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock is buried under tons of rubble at Midland Circle, Daredevil swiftly explains away his escape -- admittedly, it's about as believable as, well, magical dragon bones beneath Manhattan -- before getting to the heart of the season: Matt's secret recovery, under the care of the no-nonsense Sister Maggie (played by the great Joanne Whalley), as his friends Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) try to continue their lives without him. None of them has an easy journey; Karen clings to hope that Matt is alive, somewhere, going so far as to keep up the rent on his apartment, while Foggy grapples with guilt, both about his professional success, and about feelings that he somehow failed his best friend.

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But Matt treads the most tortuous path. Amid his laundry list of injuries is a burst eardrum, which leaves Matt truly blind, for the first time since childhood, since before he met Stick. Unable to sense his surroundings in a way that allows him to be the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, he loses confidence in himself, and with that what remains of his faith in God. Wallowing in self-pity, Matt initially seeks an enabler, but finds none in the prickly Sister Maggie, who may know him better than he knows himself, from his time in the Catholic orphanage. She's quick to push him out of the church's infirmary, and into the basement, the first step on a painful road back into the mask, and onto the streets.

Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil Season 3

Those threads unspool against the backdrop of the apparent reformation of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), who turns FBI informant in a bid to shield the love of his life, Vanessa Marianna, from prosecution. Although there are innumerable reasons to be skeptical, Fisk swiftly proves himself so valuable that the FBI moves him out of prison following an attempt on his life, and into a high-rise apartment seized by the government. However, as virtually everyone -- including Matt, Karen and Foggy -- knows, Fisk hasn't turned over a new leaf; he's manipulating the FBI and biding his time, so he can hatch his master plan.

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In "Born Again," Fisk learns Matt Murdock's secret by chance, through a series of events that begins thousands of miles away, with a down-and-out Karen Page selling the information in exchange for a heroin fix. On Daredevil, however, it's Matt's hubris, combined with his growing obsession with exposing his nemesis, that provides Fisk with the tools he needs. Well, most of them, as the final one comes in the form of Benjamin Poindexter (Wilson Bethel), aka Bullseye, a sociopathic FBI agent with a virtually unerring aim and a broken moral compass. In Fisk, he finds his true north.

Even in those broad strokes, the similarities to "Born Again" are apparent to longtime comics readers, who no doubt also spotted the homage to "Guardian Devil," the 1998-1999 arc by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada, in a recent promo. However, the third season repeatedly toys with expectations, leading viewers versed in the source material down a familiar road, only to take unexpected turns. That manifests in numerous small ways, but also in the introduction of Poindexter (an alias used in the comics by the assassin Bullseye), who's given a fascinating, if not exactly heartbreaking, backstory that makes him putty in the hands of Wilson Fisk. While his arc isn't likely to end well -- come on, how could it? -- it will be riveting to watch as it erupts in flames, engulfing swaths of Hell's Kitchen as it does.

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But as intriguing as Bethel's Poindexter is, he's eclipsed on screen by D'Onofrio, who makes a welcome return as Fisk after sitting on the sidelines for much the second season. His Kingpin exhibits an icy, calculating exterior that barely contains the inferno within; in scene after scene, D'Onofrio draws in viewers, who sit uneasy, knowing full well he could erupt at any moments. It's akin to playing with a jack-in-the-box, and feeling the anxiety build as the plinking music brings us closer to the inevitable scare.

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Cox here is at his series best as a Matt Murdock who's physically, psychologically and spiritually broken, yet driven to recklessness by both a determination to return to fighting form and an obsession with bringing down Fisk once more. As usual, however, Matt is his own worst enemy, driving away the people he needs, and who need him, convinced he's serving a greater good. He seeks justice, of course, but that may only be a byproduct of proving himself right and making Fisk suffer.

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There's enough suffering to go around, however, and perhaps no one knows that better than Karen Page, who, in Matt's absence, has thrown herself into her work as a journalist. She struggles to pay both her rent and Matt's, desperate to believe he'll return from the apparent grave, but when he finally does, her relief is undercut by the knowledge that it's only because he needs something from her. Woll, whose performance in the previous two seasons, and on The Punisher, was arresting, takes it up a notch as Karen wrestles with grief and anger, feelings she channels into trying to expose Fisk's plans. But in the process, Karen's own secrets may be laid bare.

As the "Born Again" influences suggest, this third season is about symbolic death and rebirth, of Daredevil, who may have very well left Matt Murdock buried in the rubble of Midland Circle; of Wilson Fisk, determined to claw his way out of prison and take back what's his; and of Benjamin Poindexter, who may have found his true purpose in life. But it's also about the chicken's finally coming home to roost, for Matt, for Fisk, for Karen, and for Hell's Kitchen.


Arriving Friday, Oct. 19, on Netflix, Marvel's Daredevil Season 3 stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Jay Ali as Rahul "Ray" Nadeem, Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Poindexter, Joanne Whalley as Sister Maggie and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.