Matt Murdock has spent his whole life walking a fine line. During the day, he’s a blind lawyer who believes in justice. At night, he’s the masked crimefighter Daredevil, who takes the law into his own hands. For years, he was able to get away with this because no one could prove both men were the same person. Then his secret got out, and everything went straight to hell.
The Devil in Cell-Block D, a six-issue comic arc from 2006 written by Ed Brubaker and penciled by Michael Lark, follows Matt after he’s arrested and thrown into the same jail he put his enemies in. It’s also, according to showrunner Dario Scardapane, a key influence on the third season of Daredevil: Born Again.
What Happens in the Comic
In the comics, Matt’s identity as Daredevil is exposed to the public, and he is arrested for his years of vigilantism. He is sent to Ryker’s Island, home to almost every villain he’s ever fought.
Ryker’s is a pressure cooker. Guards try to bait Matt into showing his abilities. Inmates are constantly pushing his buttons. He has no billy clubs or legal standing to fall back on. He’s just a blind man in a prison full of people who either want to use him or destroy him.
Then Foggy Nelson comes to visit, and everything gets worse.
Foggy is stabbed by an inmate while Matt sits in isolation, powerful enough to hear his best friend dying but completely powerless to stop it. It’s one of the most painful moments in Matt’s life. A man who has dedicated his life to protecting others can’t even save the person who matters most to him.
Foggy is later revealed to be alive, having been placed in a witness protection program by the FBI, but Matt doesn’t know that for a long time.
Matt confronts Hammerhead and the Owl, trying to find out who ordered Foggy’s death. Bullseye arrives and is locked up under extreme security. He’s chained up, heavily guarded, and barely gets fed. Then the Punisher (Frank Castle) deliberately gets himself arrested to help Matt survive. And the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) is there too, navigating prison politics with his usual ruthlessness.
The arc climaxes in a full prison riot. In a moment that captures how absurd Daredevil’s world is, Matt ends up fighting off the rioters side by side with Kingpin and Bullseye: two of his most dangerous enemies.
When it’s all over, he knocks Bullseye out rather than escape with him, arranges for Kingpin’s wound to be treated so he doesn’t bleed out, and breaks out of prison with the Punisher. Outside, he discovers that someone has been wearing his costume and patrolling Hell’s Kitchen in his absence. That person turns out to be Iron Fist (Danny Rand), protecting Matt’s secret identity while he was locked up.
The story ends with Matt leaving for Monaco to find the person who ordered Foggy’s death, only for readers to learn that Foggy is alive and hiding under the witness protection.
What the Show Is Doing Differently
The Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again takes certain aspects of The Devil in Cell-Block D, but is ultimately adding their own unique spin to the show
In season 1 of Born Again, Foggy is shot and killed by Bullseye in the very first episode, on orders from Vanessa Fisk. It’s a gut punch meant to shatter Matt’s world. He throws Bullseye off a building and while the villain survives, Matt is rattled that he broke his no-kill rule. Matt retires as Daredevil while he spends most of the season struggling with intense guilt and a crisis of faith. He eventually reclaims his mantle near the end of season 1.
In season 2, Foggy only returns in flashbacks. His death is treated as real in the show’s timeline. There’s no witness protection reveal waiting around the corner…at least not yet.
Another change from the comics is that in the season 2 finale, Matt willingly outs himself as Daredevil in a last-ditch effort to expose Wilson Fisk’s crimes to the public.
His plan works as Fisk is forced into exile after the Attorney General makes him renounce his U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of Matt’s law license being revoked and the NYPD arrests him for assault and attempted murder, setting up the Devil in Cell-Block D arc for the third season.
What We Know Is Coming for Season 3
Season 3 is currently being filmed with little details leaking to the public.
We know that Bullseye is returning, and he’ll be getting a new costume. Kingpin is back in New York City, though he seems to be keeping a low profile since he’s supposed to be in exile. It’s looking like the show will explore parallel storylines instead of keeping every villain behind bars.
And the Defenders are reuniting! Set photos have confirmed that Finn Jones (Iron Fist), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) are all filming scenes and will be part of the main cast.
Remember that in the comics, Iron Fist works alone to cover for Matt’s absence. The show is expanding that by having the full Defenders pick up where Daredevil left off.
The tone of Daredevil: Born Again is also changing. Executive producer Sana Amanat has described season 3 as “more stripped-down, back-to-basics.” After two seasons of being more of a political thriller, the show is returning to a more gritty, grounded street-level feel of the original Netflix series Marvel’s Daredevil.
Showrunner Dario Scardapane has said he was excited to show Matt” going into the justice system on the other end of it to pay for his crimes as a vigilante.”
Matt is both a lawyer who believes in due process and a vigilante who has broken the law for years. He can no longer hold those things at arm’s length any more. As Matt sits inside his cell, he is not Daredevil. He is just a defendant subjected to the same system he claims to believe in, receiving the same kind of justice it delivers to everyone else.
Season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again is set to premiere on Disney+ in March 2027. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now.
