Daredevil: Born Again is confirmed to be coming to the MCU in Phase 5, with many questioning whether other characters from Netflix's Daredevil will appear, including Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was massive for Marvel Studios, with Kevin Feige announcing projects running all the way to 2025 and completing Phases 4 through 6. One of these projects was Daredevil's solo outing in the MCU after cameo appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo.
Confirmation of this show, releasing in 2024 on Disney+, came with the announcement that Charlie Cox will of course be returning to the role of Matt Murdock/Daredevil in an 18-episode series. This is a departure from the norm when concerning Marvel Studios Disney+ shows. So far, only WandaVision has had more than six episodes. However, beginning with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in August 2022, Marvel shows will begin expanding beyond this, as confirmed by the extra episodes in Daredevil: Born Again.
The confirmed return of Daredevil to the MCU in his own, standalone project only furthered the discourse on whether the events of Netflix's Daredevil are canon within Marvel Studios' universe. The announcement of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in the show, played by Netflix's Vincent D'Onofrio seemed to this. However, with no other cast announced as of yet, many were left wondering if any other actors from the Netflix show would return, namely Foggy and Karen, Matt/Daredevil's best friends. However, while it is still yet to be confirmed whether the two actors who play Foggy and Karen, Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll, will be returning for Daredevil: Born Again, it is evident that Marvel Studios need the duo to return to benefit the series. This is both due to their existing relationship with Matt Murdock and the potential impact they can have on the wider Daredevil: Born Again story.
Why The MCU's Daredevil Needs Foggy & Karen To Return
The first reason for Foggy and Karen's return, regardless of whether the Netflix events are canon or not, is that they are instrumental to Matt Murdock's journey. Both characters have huge impacts on his life, with Foggy being his best friend and business partner, and Karen being an erstwhile love interest of Matt's. Also, as Matt is regularly putting his life in danger as Daredevil, Foggy and Karen provide great foils for this. As with the greatest struggle heroes like Spider-Man go through, Matt struggles to keep his loved ones safe, with Foggy and Karen both being big parts of this and often critiquing or disapproving of his hero work.
With Daredevil villain Kingpin returning to the MCU also, he can provide Karen and Foggy with sufficient threat to make Matt's hero journey all the more emotionally impactful. Finally, one of the main reasons why Karen and Foggy should return is due to the 18-episode length of Daredevil: Born Again. As the show is considerably longer than previous Disney+ shows, the creators will need more story content to keep the show engaging. While Matt Murdock and Kingpin, and their engaging rivalry, certainly will fill a lot of the show's runtime, including Karen and Foggy and giving them compelling stories as with the Netflix show would be perfect.
While not a lot of information has been given about Daredevil: Born Again as of yet, more news will surely be divulged in the coming months. With D23 2019 revealing a lot of Marvel information, and D23 2022 coming in September 2022, it is certainly possible that Kevin Feige gives fans more insight into Marvel Studios' Phase 5 and Phase 6. If this is the case, this would almost certainly include Daredevil: Born Again and confirm or deny the return of both Karen Page and Foggy Nelson to the MCU.
