Comic books have this nasty habit of resurrecting the dead. Aunt May finally kicked the bucket in the ‘90s, but wait! That was a paid actor hired by Norman Osborn. Okay, what about Ms Marvel? She died just two years ago. Ehh, that was a marketing ploy to bring her back as a mutant for some MCU synergy. Hell, they’re even talking about digging up Gwen Stacy.
At least it’s not cloning this time?
You can probably count who stayed dead for good throughout comic book history on one hand, but you’ll need a 5ft scroll to jot down everyone who came back to life. It’s a cheap trope that, with every single resurrection, undermines the already dwindling stakes. ‘Oh no! My archnemesis killed my best friend’, says the caped crusader. ‘Fear not! They’ll be revived in a contrived, disappointing manner!’ booms a mysterious, editor-shaped figure in the sky.
Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again.
That brings us to the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again, which opened with one helluva gut punch: Bullseye is back, Foggy Nelson is dead. The former FBI agent turned assassin gunned Foggy down in the street after luring Daredevil away, but made a point to let him bleed out so Matt Murdock would have to listen to his heartbeat fade with each thump until… silence.
It sets the stage for the entire show. Murdock is so enraged that he shamelessly shoves Bullseye off the ledge, willing at that moment to cross the line. His one bad day away from being the Punisher just killed his best friend. So, he hangs up the horns and finally steps away.
Nelson’s death is the catalyst for a more brutal Daredevil, one who — even outside of the suit — is willing to break bones and snap necks. It’s a low point that he has to somehow crawl through Fisk’s mayorship to escape. Bringing back Foggy would undermine all of that, and hit the reset button like a flimsy comic passing the mantle to another writer who wants all the toys back in their very little box.
Fans Want Foggy’s Death To Be A Fakeout
But that’s exactly what fans are clamoring for. And unfortunately, there’s some evidence to their theories that Foggy isn’t dead after all. The very first shot of the very first episode shows an office numbered ‘468’. Daredevil #468 is the comic which reveals that Foggy Nelson didn’t die, and instead joined the FBI’s witness protection program. All the while, Matt Murdock thinks his best friend was killed and goes on a rampage. Sure sounds similar.
The whole plot was orchestrated by Vanessa Fisk, and we even see Foggy rescued by Elektra at one point.
The door number could easily be a throwaway easter egg rather than proof to a wider conspiracy, but Marvel head of streaming, TV, and animation Brad Winderbaum teased that Karen and Foggy are returning in season two. There are a few possibilities here, a) he lied, Andrew Garfield style, b) it’ll be in flashbacks, c) Foggy did fake his death. I’m hoping it’s not the last option, because Foggy’s final moments were beautiful, and ripping that away would undermine an incredible first episode.
Daredevil Doesn’t Need To Uphold The Status Quo
Comics undo deaths for several reasons. They go on for decades, and burning through characters is unsustainable; new writers want to play with their favourites, but they’re no longer available; editorial is resetting the status quo because that’s when the character was most popular. But TV shows and movies aren’t beholden to these problems.
There is no good reason for Foggy’s death to be a fakeout in a TV show. The series won’t last 50 years like its comic counterpart, and the writers chose to kill Foggy after the status quo was already reset. But more than that, it would thoughtlessly bulldoze the truly haunting moment in which Karen realises he’s dead, only to hear another body thump behind her, refusing to turn around out of sheer terror that it might be Matt. In retrospect, it would feel like little more than shock value, similar to rereading that tearjerker of an Aunt May comic where, in her final moments, she bonds with Peter over the childhood stories that paved the way for his becoming Spider-Man. Only now we see her as a vassal for Osborn.
Comic resurrections and fakeouts always lessen the impact of older stories, and make reading through the legacies of some of Marvel’s greatest far less affecting. Just imagine Uncle Ben’s death being part of some SHIELD cover-up to protect them from enemies that Peter’s super spy parents have made, or Captain Marvel’s tragic bout with cancer — a poignant story that resonated with countless readers, showing that even their favourite superheroes are vulnerable — being handwaved by a cosmic god.
I pray fans are wrong here and that Born Again bucks this trend, because it was cheap the first dozen times Marvel did it, and it’ll be cheap the next dozen.
