Foggy reveal, please? The new season of Daredevil: Born Again has begun on Disney+ and we’re still lowkey hoping that they pull a just kidding on that major death in season 1.
You can’t have Matt Murdock without Foggy Nelson. He’s a quintessential superhero sidekick, the likes of which we honestly don’t see too often on screen these days. Whether it’s Marvel or DC, the powers that be seem to favor the brooding loner superhero types. It doesn’t seem likely that Robert Pattinson’s Batman is gonna get a Robin, you know? But vigilantes need to have more than just work friends! Foggy was a good balm for Matt a.k.a. Daredevil’s Catholic guilt-ridden antics. He was a good sounding board and an appropriate source of comic relief on the Netflix Daredevil.
And yet, Matt Murdock without Foggy Nelson is exactly what we’re getting with Daredevil: Born Again. At least, it is for now.
Why do people still think that Foggy is alive on Daredevil: Born Again?
Foggy, who was played by Elden Henson on Daredevil and briefly in Daredevil: Born Again, died at the beginning of the Disney+ series. Benjamin Poindexter, the vigilante killer known as “Bullseye,” took him out. We later learned that he did so on Vanessa Fisk’s orders because of information he uncovered. Matt Murdock has super-powered hearing and listened as Foggy’s heart slowed to a standstill. So it would be pretty hard to fool him. Not impossible, however. Crazier things have happened in the MCU.
Plus, there was a Marvel comics storyline in 2006 that involved Foggy faking his death and going into Witness Protection with Vanessa’s help. Because that happened in the comics, and because it sucks to let a character as lovable as Foggy go, fans keep hope alive that Foggy is alive on this show too.
There’s a really good theory on Tumblr, actually, that posits Matthew Lillard’s character “Mr. Charles” is working with Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine and her O.X.E. organization and that they are keeping Foggy alive to use as leverage against Fisk. Valentina was name-dropped in the season premiere. Lillard’s character is definitely someone we should keep an eye on this season regardless. There are other reasons someone might want to pit two super-powered vigilantes against each other, especially if they’re working for a collector like Valentina. Foggy could be a valuable tool.
Where could Foggy be if he is still alive?
It would be extremely unwise for Foggy to step foot in New York City at this time. At the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 1, the city was put under martial law courtesy of Mayor Wilson Fisk. As we see very early on in season 2, both Matt Murdock and Karen Page are wanted for aiding and abetting vigilantes. They’re holed up in Frank Castle’s janky apartment, training and investigating Fisk on the DL. Neither can leave without wearing some kind of disguise. Matt can’t practice law, either, obviously. Foggy can’t exactly come knocking on the door and re-enter their lives easily.
Is the mayor, formerly known as Kingpin, holding Foggy in his Red Hook freeport prison? At the end of season 1, he did put the Punisher there. So it’s definitely a possibility. But as of the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premiere, the answer is no. There wasn’t a big “gotcha” Foggy-is-alive moment, and neither of the characters who would know anything (Bullseye and Vanessa) really had anything to say about it.
This isn’t to say that we’ll get some big Foggy in Witness Protection reveal down the line on this series. Anything is possible. However, I wouldn’t hold my breath for it happening any time soon. There’s too much going on already this season. Too many characters have stepped up to fill the Foggy-sized gap on Daredevil: Born Again, and sadly I think adding Foggy back in would just complicate the narrative. He’d mostly just be there for moral support, which is important, but…
What have the folks behind the scenes said about Foggy returning?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, in which Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio debunked fan theories, Cox cautioned against hoping for Foggy’s return.
“I feel the anguish,” he said in response to a theory that Foggy’s heart restarted vis CPR. “I understand clutching at straws.” He and D’Onofrio then pretty plainly said that Foggy is dead. They denied that he was revived in an ambulance or in a coma.
Cox added that there actually was once a discussion about season 1 ending with the reveal that Foggy was locked up in one of Kingpin’s cages. “Sadly,” he said, “that was not the case because we didn’t believe it was realistic.” In my humble opinion, if Marvel is allowing their actor to talk about that scrapped storyline in an EW interview it is 100 percent not going to be a future storyline on Daredevil: Born Again.
We might have to give up the ghost, folks. Hansen can still come back. There’s always potential for flashbacks (and, dare I suggest it, the multiverse). But it really does seem like this Marvel death is sticking for real. In Cox’s words, “the thing about our show is we do try to keep it as realistic as possible.” Sigh.
