Daredevil: Born Again episode 3: is Foggy actually dead?

The third episode of Daredevil: Born Again took the series back to the courtroom, and it felt a little different from the first two episodes. It centered on Matt Murdock defending Hector Ayala, the White Tiger, while Wilson Fisk and Vanessa drifted further apart and a group of crooked cops wearing the Punisher logo moved in the background. By the end, I think those cops were tied to Fisk, and the closing gunshot lined up with the promise he made as mayor.

Daredevil: Born Again (2025), starring Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio, opened with episodes 1 and 2, in which Bullseye returned and seemingly killed Foggy. Episode 3 picked up after Matt put the suit back on to survive two dirty cops.

Is Foggy Nelson really dead in Daredevil: Born Again?

There's an Easter egg outside the law firm that points to the comics, where Foggy fakes his death. So is he actually dead? I'm not entirely sure. For anyone wondering, nothing about what happened in episode 1 would have been staged. Bullseye was going after Foggy and Karen, and he did shoot Foggy through the heart. That was all real.

How he might be alive is that the EMTs or paramedics resuscitated him on site, he was taken to the ER and survived. Matt would then have told him he could no longer be in New York City and they had to act like he was dead. He might be in San Francisco with Karen. In that version, none of it was staged; they're taking advantage of a terrible situation. In the comics, Foggy fakes his death because Matt wants him to, and they both move to California.

The events of episode 1 caused Matt to stop being Daredevil. Then in episode 2, while trying to find a witness for his client Hector Ayala, he found himself between two dirty cops who tried to kill him, so the Devil came back out. That's where episode 3 picked up.

Hector Ayala's Puerto Rico scene honors the White Tiger's comic origin

Matt visits Hector in jail and first asks whether they've brought him any food. Hector says no. The cops aren't feeding him because they believe he's a cop killer, so they're treating him poorly. Hector then talks about one of his favorite places from his home of Puerto Rico, a beach.

There's an important reason for that scene. First, Hector probably doesn't believe he's going to make it out, and he fears he'll never see that beach again. Second, Hector Ayala was the first Puerto Rican superhero in comics and Marvel's first Latino superhero, first appearing in 1975, so the show is paying homage to his Puerto Rican origin. Matt assures him he won't be found guilty and will go home to see those beaches. Matt is confident because they have the witness who can prove Hector was defending him and didn't know the two men beating him were cops.

Wilson Fisk and Vanessa sit at opposite ends of the table

A deal between two crime families, the families Vanessa has essentially been running, goes wrong and leaves two people from one side dead. That ties into Wilson and Vanessa eating breakfast, a scene meant to show how separated they are. In episode 2 they went to therapy, and the marriage counselor happened to be Matt's girlfriend, Heather Glenn. In the Netflix Daredevil series, Kingpin sat at the end of the table and Vanessa sat right next to him on the corner, showing how close they were. Here they sit on opposite sides.

Vanessa mentions some art going back up for auction and is pleasantly surprised that Wilson remembers the piece. It was most likely theirs at some point and was probably auctioned when he went to jail, which is why she says it's up for auction again. Then the tone shifts. She could smuggle a lot of money through that piece, but she can't, because Fisk is mayor and she can't be caught doing anything illegal.

That's a source of tension between them. Vanessa loves what she built, and she loves the old Kingpin. When he left, she ran the business well and had power, respect and money. So when he came back out of nowhere wanting to go straight, it put an even bigger damper on their relationship. Told about the killings on the docks at Red Hook, Vanessa says that without a leader the families are turning on each other, and that when they're done they'll come for the two of them. Fisk says that world is a bunch of rats and not their concern anymore because he's the mayor. Then we get a close-up of his bruised knuckles, not the first in the series. On the side, he's doing something shady he isn't telling Vanessa about, and getting his hands dirty.

Matt Murdock and Officer Powell face off

The show cuts from Fisk's bloody knuckles to Matt's, from his fight with the two dirty officers. In a bathroom, one of them walks in: Officer Powell, the cop from the subway who arrested Hector, visibly beaten up from his fight with Matt. Matt plays his blind card, asking who's there and saying he's blind. Powell steps in his way and says Matt is interfering with a police investigation. Matt says it was a shakedown. Neither says it, but both know they would have killed Matt if he hadn't beaten them.

Powell threatens to talk and get Matt thrown off the case. Matt replies that he won't go to jail, but Powell will, if Matt tells them what happened. Matt is confident because he has the witness.

The Muse tag and the Torres safe house

As Cherry walks to the safe house, there's the Punisher logo painted with the word triggered across the skull, and in a white box at the bottom right next to the painting it says Muse. So we're being teased with Muse without seeing him. A patient seeking help from Heather could end up being Muse, but I'm not sure. Muse's real name is never revealed in the comics, so we have no idea who it could be, but many people are guessing it's this character.

At the safe house, the witness Nikki Torres has music blaring, and Cherry points out that's not exactly laying low. It's explained that Nikki is a drug addict and the music calms him down. Cherry brought him drugs so he can testify for Hector without going through withdrawal.

Is Officer Powell Darkhawk's father?

In court, the opposing lawyer questions Powell. He could be Mike Powell from the comics. We're never told his first name; even the credits just say Powell. In the comics, Mike Powell isn't a main character, but he's a crooked cop whose son, Chris Powell, eventually finds him taking a bribe from a mob boss. Chris also finds an amulet that gives him powers and turns him into the superhero Darkhawk.

I doubt they'll do anything with this, but if this is Darkhawk's father, there's an interesting correlation. He's trying to put the White Tiger in jail and might even be the person who kills him at the end of the episode. The White Tiger gets his powers from an amulet, and Powell's son might be the same type of person, a crime fighter powered by an amulet. Again, I doubt they'll use Darkhawk, but you never know.

Powell lies on the stand, which angers Hector and gets his heart racing. The show uses one of Matt's most useful abilities as a lawyer. It mainly helps him tell who is lying, but here it tells him Hector is getting frustrated and might react, so Matt tells him not to. It shows how Matt's abilities make him a good lawyer.

Matt's jabs and the cops with the Punisher tattoo

Matt cross-examines Powell with mental jabs rather than physical ones. He says he heard Powell got a black eye and hopes he's okay, knowing he gave it to him. Powell can't respond without Matt explaining he tried to kill him. Matt adds that there's a saying in boxing that the best cure for a black eye is fast hands, which is his way of saying he beat Powell and Powell knows it.

Powell claims nobody else was there. Then Matt reveals he has the witness, Nikki Torres. Powell clearly knows who he is, even though he says he doesn't. He looks at another cop, who leans over and says Torres cannot testify. That cop has the Punisher logo tattooed on his neck, the same tattoo shown on Powell's wrist in episode 2. These cops are dirty and part of an organization together, and the logo is their calling card, how they know whom they can trust. The Punisher won't like that, and at the time I thought he would most likely return in the next episode.

Matt hears the cop say Torres can't testify. So when Cherry is about to take Torres to court, another officer sees his gun and asks if he should be worried, and Cherry says yes. Matt has told Cherry they're going to try to kill Torres on the way. Everyone is worried, including Kirsten, Matt's partner. A cool detail: when the judge sits, Kirsten taps Matt to tell him he can sit. She doesn't know he's Daredevil and can sense these things. It's a subtle reminder that to everybody else, Matt is a blind lawyer.

Nikki Torres lies on the stand

Matt knew they'd go after Torres, so they set up a decoy, and it was Powell himself who was there to kill him. Thanks to the ruse, Torres gets to court. On the stand, things go well until Matt asks whether he was at the subway station on New Year's Eve, when the officer was killed. Matt hears his heart race and reminds him he's under oath. Nikki looks out, sees the crooked cops, knows they'll kill him if he testifies, and lies. That throws Matt's case completely out of whack.

Buck works for Vanessa, not Kingpin

Then we cut to Buck, Fisk's right-hand man, something like our new Wesley. In the Netflix series, Wesley wasn't only the man who got his hands dirty for Kingpin but a friend he cared about. Karen killed him and later told Fisk, which is why he always had it out for her. Matt eventually made a deal that Fisk would never go after Karen or Foggy, and Matt wouldn't go after Vanessa. Buck looks like he's filling that slot, at least for now.

When Buck meets the crime families, they greet him by saying the mayor is 30 minutes late. They weren't expecting Vanessa, even though she's been in charge for a long time and done a great job. Now that Fisk is back, everyone treats him as the top guy. I think this is going to come into play in a big way, because I believe Vanessa wants that power and doesn't like them trying to be as clean as they can. As Buck leaves, he says he doesn't work for the mayor, he works for the man. Right away I thought he meant Vanessa, and the next scene confirmed it when Vanessa tells Fisk she sent Buck to keep things from falling apart.

That tells us Buck might be more loyal to Vanessa. I believe Daniel will eventually be Fisk's true right-hand man, probably once Fisk realizes he can't trust Buck because Buck is in Vanessa's pocket and might even be keeping tabs on him for her.

Fisk's secret plan and the Punisher cops

There are moments where Fisk and Vanessa seem to remember their love. He says he respects that she's trying to keep the peace. But he has a plan he isn't sharing, and part of it is for everything to fall into chaos. He's probably keeping her in the dark because he's hurt by her affair with Adam. She asks if he's punishing her because of Adam; he says no, but he most likely is. He's been doing things that aren't mayoral behavior and isn't telling her because he doesn't trust her. He even tells her not to do anything that would lose his trust, but it's clearly already partly gone.

I wouldn't be surprised if all the cops with the Punisher logo work for him, in an organization he's put together. When he eventually makes being a vigilante illegal, they'd be his task force, the crew he sends to go get them. I think that's a big part of what he isn't telling Vanessa.

Matt reveals Hector is the White Tiger

Back in court, the team decides to put Hector on the stand and hope the jury believes him. He tells a heartwarming story that makes the ending hurt more. He'd finally saved enough for him and his wife to get their own place after living with his sister, and he was taking the subway to their new home to leave flowers so she'd find them the next day. That's when he ran into the situation underground.

Then Matt takes matters into his own hands, saying Hector risked his safety to help someone, and it wasn't the first time. That surprises everyone, including the judge and the opposing lawyer, because Matt had gotten the judge to agree the White Tiger was off limits. In chambers, both are equally angry, but since Torres lied, it's the only thing Matt has left.

The ironic, sad part comes when Matt meets Hector in jail. Hector says this wasn't Matt's secret to give away, which is true. Matt tells him he can't be the White Tiger anymore now that everybody knows. Hector says this isn't a random thing he does; it's who he is, and he wants to help people. That resonates with Matt, who says Hector might be surprised how much he doesn't miss it. From the look on his face, Matt doesn't believe it himself; he's trying to convince himself he doesn't miss being Daredevil.

Matt partly gets Hector killed. People know the White Tiger is Hector, so they wait for him to come out. Matt did tell him not to go out again, and since the cops are crooked, they might have gone to his home and killed him anyway, perhaps even his wife, sister and niece. But exposing his identity is partly why it happened, and I think that's going to come into play in a big way with Matt bringing back Daredevil.

A possible Miles Morales Easter egg

With the identity out, Matt brings in witnesses the White Tiger saved, including police reports saying he helped officers in trouble and that some cops consider him an ally. Matt mentions an Officer Morales, possibly the father of Miles Morales. Miles's father is a cop in New York City. The president of Marvel Studios once said he'd love to see Miles in the MCU once Beyond the Spider-Verse is done with him, and Tom Holland said he'd love to mentor a young Miles who eventually takes up the Spider-Man mantle. Spider-Man: Homecoming also introduced Miles's uncle Aaron Davis, the Prowler, played by Donald Glover. So things are in motion, and perhaps this is a clue Miles might be coming.

Matt's argument to the jury: Hector puts his life on the line every night to help people, including police officers, so why would he attack two officers and kill one, especially without the amulet that gives him powers? Between sessions, Matt sits alone in the courtroom holding a horn from his Daredevil cowl. He's most likely hoping the justice system pulls through. He quit being Daredevil, who could bring justice when the courts failed, and he's doing everything he can not to go back. They win, and outside Matt says they're grateful justice was served.

Matt and Heather's dinner and the Foggy question

Fisk watches the verdict, with the headline White Tiger vigilante goes free on screen, and it clearly upsets him, putting him one step closer to making vigilantism illegal. He has Daniel set up a meeting with BB Urich, the niece of Ben Urich, the man he killed, and he plans to use her.

There's an awesome scene of Matt cooking for Heather at his apartment, impressive given that he's blind. He brings out a bottle he and Foggy got together, and they share a touching moment about Foggy. When Matt pours, he puts two fingers on the rim of each glass to tell how much he's poured. He also feels the temperature of the steam from a pot and smells the food to tell if it's ready. It's great attention to detail.

When Heather talks about Foggy being with God, Matt's face looks interesting, especially with that Easter egg about Foggy faking his death in mind. Does he look that way because he knows Foggy is alive, or is it a stoic, mournful face? Marvel had confirmed Foggy would be in season 2. We're assuming that means flashbacks, but maybe he's alive.

Kingpin keeps his promise as the White Tiger is shot

To end the episode, Fisk tells BB the case was a miscarriage of justice and says, "courts fail juries get it wrong I should know." He's still acting as if whatever he was charged with in the Netflix series was a mistake, as if he was never a criminal and the jury got it wrong. That's the facade he's putting on. He calls Hector a masked vigilante and a murderer allowed to roam the streets, says vigilantes operate above the law, aren't heroes, and cover their faces because they're cowards.

We all know why heroes wear masks: to protect their identity, and because if people find out who they are, they'll attack their loved ones or simply track them down at home. Fisk is making excuses because vigilantes took him down as a crime lord. He finishes by saying he ran on a promise and plans to keep it, and that's when the White Tiger is shot in the head by somebody wearing a Punisher symbol on their chest. I don't think it was the actual Punisher. I think it was a crooked cop working for Fisk, and that lines up with him keeping his promise to get rid of vigilantes. When he says the law must prevail, he means he's about to take the law into his own hands as mayor and make being a vigilante illegal.

What makes the ending even sadder is that Kamar de los Reyes, the actor who played Hector, died in real life. As the credits roll, you hear the beach and the frog Hector mentioned chirping, peaceful, but with dark, ominous music over it telling us peace is not coming. Since he was wearing the amulet, is Hector actually dead? I'm assuming he is. Even with powers that help you regenerate, that looked like a clean shot through, and sadly I don't think there's any recovering from that.