Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Shocking Death Was Not Originally Planned

The seventh episode of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, titled The Hateful Darkness, featured the death of Daniel Blake, a character whose trajectory shifted significantly during the production process. While the aired version concludes the character’s arc with a violent end, the sequence was not originally written or filmed to result in a fatality.

Daniel Blake, portrayed by Michael Gandolfini, was introduced in the first season as a low-level employee within the Fisk Administration. Throughout the second season, the character’s involvement in the criminal operations of Wilson Fisk, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, deepened, leading to the climactic events of the latest episode.

The Sequence in The Hateful Darkness

In the episode, Daniel Blake attempts to assist journalist BB Urich, played by Genneya Walton, in escaping the control of Wilson Fisk and his fixer, Buck Cashman, played by Arty Froushan. This decision leads to a confrontation where Cashman violently interrogates Blake regarding the location of Urich.

The scene concludes with Cashman shooting Blake in the head and leaving him in a dark room. According to reporting from IGN, this death follows other significant character losses in the season, including Foggy Nelson and Vanessa Fisk, as the series continues to increase the stakes for its supporting cast.

An Alternate Narrative Path

Despite the final cut, the original conception of the scene allowed Daniel Blake to survive. Showrunner Dario Scardapane confirmed to various outlets, including Variety, that the version initially filmed differed from the final broadcast. In that original version, while Cashman still violently interrogated Blake, he ultimately chose not to pull the trigger, allowing the character to flee.

The change was so late in the process that Michael Gandolfini had already filmed scenes for the eighth episode of the season. These scenes included a sequence featuring the character Sheila, played by Zabryna Guevara. Gandolfini spoke with TV Insider about the experience, noting that he was shocked to learn his character would not proceed into the season finale or a potential third season.

Creative Rationale for the Change

The decision to kill the character was made during post-production. Scardapane indicated that the creative team felt the survival path was so wrong and gave the impression that the story had not been earned.

The production team determined that Daniel Blake had completed a great arc on the show and concluded there was nowhere left for the character to go narratively. This realization led the writers to inform Gandolfini that the character would be killed off in the seventh episode.

The crazy part is Daniel originally lives, and we shot [some scenes for] Episode 8, and as we were going through, I was just shocked

Michael Gandolfini via TV Insider

Actor Response and Character Arc

Despite the surprise of the late-stage script change, Gandolfini expressed that the death felt appropriate for the character’s journey. He stated to TV Insider that the conclusion just felt so right because it provided Daniel Blake with a hero’s moment as he helped BB Urich escape.

The character’s evolution from a low-level Fisk employee to someone willing to risk his life for another served as the emotional core of his arc. This transition was highlighted by the contrast between his criminal associations and the lighthearted moments shared with Buck Cashman, such as their mutual passion for sandwiches, which were juxtaposed against the grim nature of their work.