Marvel fans have been left shocked following a major death in the opening moments of Daredevil: Born Again, which even the directors have admitted to feeling “bad” about.
The new Disney+ series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted on Tuesday (4 March) with its first two episodes. The series sees Charlie Cox reprise the role of the blind lawyer turned vigilante, Matt Murdock, with Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal returning as Kingpin and The Punisher, respectively.
The show is a direct continuation of the Daredevil Netflix show that ran from 2015 until 2018, with Elden Henson also returning as Murdock’s best friend and law partner, Foggy Nelson.
Spoiler Warning: The rest of this article does contain major details about Daredevil: Born Again episode one
However, Henson’s return to the role looks like it will be tragically short-lived. In the first 15 minutes of episode one, Foggy is brutally shot dead by Daredevil villain, Bullseye (Wilson Bethel).
Speaking to GamesRadar+, the show’s directors, Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, said that shooting the scene was not easy and that it ultimately felt “unfair”.
“We cannot tell you the amount of thought that was put into basically the first 15 minutes, everything went under a microscope,” said Benson.
“But particularly those first 15 minutes, because we're fans of the show, we know how it feels. It felt bad to direct it,” he added.
“We wanted it to feel wrong. It was like, wait, this is the death he gets? You know, just shot on the street out of nowhere. And it feels that way. It feels unfair. And that kicks off a one-shot fight scene that we're very proud of."
The death scene itself is one of the most gruesome in the history of the MCU, with Foggy’s blood splattering over the face of Deborah Ann Woll after he is shot in the back of the head.
"It kind of kicks off this idea of the camera becoming this force that's representing this crisis of faith that Matt's gonna have to go through for the rest of the season," Benson added.
"[We were] just kind of holding wide in a shot you’d never expect someone to be killed in. It’s unexpected for all of us. The unfairness of it really mattered: it felt unfair to lose him."
Showrunner Dario Scardapane has previously said that the new series has been influenced by hard-hitting crime dramas like The Sopranos and Abel Ferrara’s film King of New York.
