As of this month, it’s been 10 years since Daredevil debuted on Netflix, and with Daredevil: Born Again now out on Disney+, many fans are revisiting this corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Naturally, we can all forgive this series for changing its tone now and then, or for missing crossover opportunities with the movies early on. All in all, the saga of Matt Murdock holds up pretty well to scrutiny — especially as the longest-running streaming show from Marvel Studios — but it has its fair share of errors, too. Read on for ten of the biggest errors and production gaffes from Daredevil‘s decade on TV.
Now that Born Again Season 1 is finished, we can see that the studio has opted not to overhaul Daredevil too drastically as it brings him into the fold. The Disney+ series are tied into the overarching story of the MCU more closely than the Netflix shows ever were, and that may be the biggest source of whiplash between these two titles. Where Daredevil could only make vague allusions to the Avengers, Born Again makes it feel like another hero could come crashing onto the screen at any time.
Beyond that, things get a little more nitpicky. None of the errors below will really ruin your viewing experience, but they remind you that human error is always possible and they give you something fun to point out to friends on your next re-watch.
WARNING: There are spoilers ahead!
Battle of New York Casualties
Going all the way back to Daredevil Season 1, Episode 3, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm,” we saw a newspaper clipping that said “hundreds” were killed in the “Battle of New York,” which was the Avengers’ climactic battle against the Chitauri. However, a few years later in Captain America: Civil War, we were told that 74 people lost their lives that day. Unless the Daredevil figure was accounting for Chitauri lives, we have to call this a continuity error.
It’s interesting to note that the large-scale destruction and death toll of superhero movies was a major talking point at the time — both in reviews and news items, and among fans themselves. It was one of the main criticisms of the DC Extended Universe’s first few titles, and fans speculated that Avengers: Age of Ultron was trying to account for that with its big climax, where rescue was the main objective. It’s possible that Marvel simply chose to change the death toll from the Battle of New York after the fact.
Matt & Foggy’s Meet-Cute
The MCU’s timeline is messy and imprecise, but the timeline of Matt’s backstory seems particularly hazy and inconsistent. In Season 1, Episode 10, we see a flashback of Matt and Foggy meeting for the first time. In the scene, Foggy’s computer screen prominently tells us that the year is 2010. However, in Season 2, Episode 5, we see another flashback where Matt and Foggy sneak into the debutante’s ball. We’re told that this happened “10 years ago,” and many timelines online even place this event in 2005, long before Matt and Foggy were supposed to have met.
It’s obviously a continuity error one way or the other, but if you’re choosing which one to believe, it seems more practical to assume that Matt and Foggy met in the early 2000s. It leaves a lot more room for them to complete their studies and for Matt to have adventures with Elektra before they start their law firm and go into business.
Columbia Law School
Matt’s assured demeanor about his background becomes an issue again when he tells Elektra, “Hey, I’ve never been north of 116th Street.” In fact, Matt’s alma mater, Columbia Law School, is on 116th Street, and its campus extends north to 120th. Of course, this could simply be a figure of speech, but it’s a minor error nonetheless.
Avengers Tower
The early promotional material for Daredevil showed Avengers Tower in the New York City skyline — a constant reminder that this story took place in the same world as the Avengers movies. However, within the show itself, the distinctive tower is nowhere to be seen, even when we do get a sweeping view of the Big Apple. It doesn’t have a huge narrative impact, but it’s one more way these two shows could have been bound together more closely.
Matt’s Map-Reading
In general, Daredevil was praised for its realistic and compassionate portrayal of blindness, which made it all the more surprising and frustrating for fans when the show occasionally broke that realism. In Season 1, Episode 9, we see Matt “reading” a printed map by running his fingers over it, tracing the lines by feel. It’s hard to believe he could really pull this off, and hard to believe it could be helpful or effective in any way. At the same time, the comics have shown Matt doing much more outlandish things, so perhaps we can call it an homage.
Visually impaired fans and critics have written extensively about this show’s handling of Matt’s disability, and it’s definitely an interesting topic to dive into. It’s an odd case, as Matt represents a real-world population with a real disability, but at the same time, the fantastical premise of the show is that Matt’s blindness has given him superhuman abilities. It’s a subject worth researching for those who want to parse the show on a deeper level.
Walkie-Talkie Interruptions
In Season 1, Episode 6, Matt and Wilson Fisk have an extended conversation over walkie-talkies, which is woefully unrealistic. These are radio transmitters, so as long as one person is holding the button and talking, the other person cannot interrupt them or speak over them. However, in this scene, they do that several times, which is great for the pacing of the dialogue but not so great for realism.
Elektra Reading Japanese
“You read Japanese?” Matt asks Elektra in Season 2, Episode 6, and while she responds in the affirmative, she is clearly doing it wrong. In the scene, Elektra turns the pages from left to right, when Japanese writing is actually reversed. This is an oversight that earned the show a lot of mockery back in 2016.
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How Far Does The Hand Reach?
A general criticism of both Daredevil and The Defenders is the inconsistent depiction of The Hand — an esoteric criminal organization that Matt has ties to through both Elektra and Stick. The Hand is definitely implied as a global operation with a lot of power and influence, but at the same time, Matt and his comrades act as though they can solve all their problems by defeating the group’s local operatives. Even today, the status of The Hand is unclear, which could cause a problem for the MCU. If the group displays more power than we’ve seen before, we’ll have to wonder why it didn’t get involved in other climactic moments for this world before.
Reflections
Daredevil shows its main character wearing glasses quite often, so it’s surprising that the show is so bad at managing the reflections of cameras and lighting equipment. Fans have cataloged many shots where you can see lenses or reflectors in the lenses of someone’s glasses on screen, and it just keeps happening.
Bullseye’s Survival
Finally, if there’s one thing from Born Again that has fans confused, it’s the survival of Benjamin Poindexter, aka Bullseye. The expert marksman had already made a remarkable recovery from a spinal fracture back in the original series, but his injuries sustained in the opening of Born Again were more than enough to kill him. Daredevil pushed Bullseye off the roof of a four-story building, and he landed face-first on the concrete.
We’re told later that Bullseye simply survived the fall, with no further explanation. Many fans were expecting some kind of supernatural revelation later in the series, as Bullseye should not have been able to live through the impact. Although his spine is now reinforced with Cogmium, he still should have been killed by the impact of concrete on his face after a fall from that height. It was enough force to shatter his skull and impact his brain.
Perhaps there’s more to learn about Bullseye in the next season — especially if more elements like mutants are integrated into the MCU. For all we know, there could be explanations for all these errors in the episodes to come.
For now, you can search for your own minute errors by streaming Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+.
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