When Foggy Nelson was shot in the opening minutes of Daredevil: Born Again, we didn’t just watch a character die. He was Matt Murdock’s best friend and moral compass. The person who had always pulled him back from the edge. Now he’s gone.
What has happened since then can be easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. Because on the surface, Matt has thrown himself into his war against Wilson Fisk. He’s sticking to his belief in grace, that even the worst of humanity can be redeemed. Part of this ideology is inspired by Foggy’s kind nature. But is Matt sticking with his no-kill policy because he still believes in it, or is it because it’s what he thinks Foggy would have wanted?
Does Matt Murdock Really Feel Mercy Towards His Enemies?
As Daredevil, Matt lives in a morally gray area. He refrains from killing because he doesn’t believe anyone should be above the law. And yet, he still goes outside the legal system to investigate and take down criminals. Foggy was the light on the other side of the tunnel. He believed in letting the law sort things out. He would offer his support or a helping hand to anyone who needs it, regardless of whether they deserve it or not.
When Foggy was alive, Matt had someone who would push back whenever he went too far. Someone who could say, “This isn’t who you are.” But that voice is gone. To cope with his grief, Matt tries to keep Foggy’s memory alive by showing mercy.
The clearest example of this is when Matt chooses to save Bullseye’s (Benjamin Poindexter) life in the season 2 episode “The Grand Design.” Bullseye murdered Foggy, and Father Lantom, a man who was like a spiritual father to Matt. Dex has pushed Matt past his breaking point. He actually threw Bullseye off a rooftop immediately after Foggy died. Matt wanted to kill him, and deep down he still does.
When Matt later decides to let Bullseye live, what changed? Has he genuinely forgiven Dex for what he did? Considering that Bullseye only went after Foggy because Vanessa Fisk ordered the hit, maybe Matt realizes the situation is more complicated than it seems.
During “The Grand Design,” we get flashbacks of Foggy giving the man who bullied him as a child a second chance to turn his life around.
This mercy isn’t coming from Matt entirely, it’s borrowed. He’s saving Bullseye because he believes it’s what Foggy would have wanted him to.
Bottling Up Grief
Grief is exhausting. It demands that you stop and sit with the emptiness. It wants you to acknowledge you don’t know who you are without the person you lost. Understandably, most people will do almost anything to avoid that feeling.
That’s what Matt is doing. He’s thrown himself into fighting Wilson Fisk’s regime, even though he doesn’t have a clear plan to remove him from his position of Mayor of New York City. It’s actually a sophisticated form of avoidance. He’s grieving through action rather than living through it.
Matt has always defined himself through what he does, not what he feels. He is Daredevil. He acts. Sitting with the loss of his best friend is perhaps the one thing this man (who has beaten some of Marvel’s most dangerous criminals) can’t face.
A Moral Compass That Can’t Last
When you use someone else’s values as a replacement for your own, it only works temporarily. Foggy’s memory can guide Matt through situations that feel similar to ones Foggy already experienced But what happens when Matt faces something completely new? Something Foggy never had an opinion about?
People who grieve through action will sometimes unconsciously engage in self-destructive behavior. Not because they want to ruin their lives, but because suffering feels like a form of penance. Matt’s Catholic faith already gives him a complicated relationship with punishment and sacrifice. Adding unprocessed grief on top of that is never a good thing.
This also affects his identity as a hero. Daredevil is at its best when Matt owns his choices, including the uncomfortable ones. When he decides not to kill someone, we should feel the weight his individual belief adds to that decision. When he chooses mercy, it should cost him something. But right now, when Matt chooses mercy, it feels like he is following instructions from a ghost. That is not moral strength.
The title of this show is intentional. To be born again, something has to die first. This includes older versions of yourself. Matt’s arc must bring him to a moment where Foggy’s memory isn’t enough. He has to reach inside himself and make a choice that is entirely his own. Only then will Matt Murdock find he’s been reborn into something new.
