The Relevance of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 in the Era of ICE

Let’s make no mistake about this. This first month of 2026 has proven to be a disgusting era in US history, with the president’s ICE patrols continuing to kidnap and murder people on the streets of Minneapolis and all around the country. The irony of all of the horrors here is that it makes a Marvel Studios show, like Daredevil: Born Again — set in a fantastical universe — feel so tragically close to home. However, in many ways, that’s why we need Matt Murdock now way more than ever before.

Today, the first trailer and keyart for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 debuted, along with the official premiere date for the series: March 24. If you want to check out the trailer you can watch it here:

Naturally there’s a lot of really wonderful things featured in the trailer: the awesome looking new suit, the incredible return of Krysten Ritter’s phenomenal Jessica Jones, Matthew Lillard, more Karen, and a bit of Foggy too (likely a flashback). However, let’s not forget where we left off at the end of Season 1.

Kingpin created his own private army (the Anti-Vigilante Task Force or AVTF). He declared martial law in New York City. His AVTF started rounding up and imprisoning vigilantes in his secret bunker in New York harbor (including the Punisher who, naturally, broke out). And Matt was forced to go into hiding with Karen to secretly unite the rest of the city to fight back against the corruption behind Fisk’s rule.

With the tragedy of registered nurse Alex Pretti’s live execution in Minneapolis just this past weekend, the timing of this trailer’s release could not have come at a more cathartic time. It’s not hard to notice shocking and horrific parallels between the show’s AVTF and ICE, with a scene in last season’s finale even depicting the murder of an unarmed POC kid by an AVTF officer, only for the officer to pull the kid’s beanie over his face and claim that he was a “dangerous masked vigilante” to justify and cover up his murder.

It’s tragic and heartbreaking, with the show obviously commenting on parallels between existing issues we see with law enforcement today, only for real life to escalate to the point that we’re seeing these types of murders and their subsequent cover ups on a weekly basis now. How many press conferences have we seen this month declaring victims of DHS’s murders being justified as government officials try to brand people like Renee Good and Pretti as “dangerous domestic terrorists.” How often do we hear invalidated claims today from these same officials about how “dangerous immigrants are r*ping Americans and bringing drugs across the border” just to justify racial profiling, kidnapping, and murders of non-White people in America.

The fact that Daredevil: Born Again will only be continuing to parallel what’s going on in the country today in its coming season might feel depressing in some respects, given how it reflects current times. Everything we’re seeing in this trailer, from the fabricated propaganda pieces showing AVTF agents smiling at kids and acting jolly to scenes of angry protestors holding up signs because they can’t take what’s going on in their city, feels hilariously real. However ultimately it’s also incredibly cathartic, and in some ways empowering.

We want to hope justice will prevail at times when things seem the darkest. We want to see ourselves in heroes like Matt Murdock, who struggle with trying to carry on and do the right thing when the rest of the world feels unfixable. We need Matt Murdock to remind us to keep getting up, and getting back into the fight, even when the rest of the country and the people in power knock us down. We need this fictionalized version of New York to remind us about community, and the power of what we can do to achieve justice if we ban together against the corruption that tries to rot our nation. And we need to know we’re not alone in feeling that something is wrong with our country today, by seeing hardworking storytellers speaking out against injustices by reflecting our society in their work. It’s 100% necessary for us to be getting this show right now, because we are at our lowest point as a country, and need it the most right now.

I grew up loving superheroes. When I was a kid, I thought about the possibility that they may be real, and someone with a cape could come down and save us all when times were scariest. When you grow up, however, you obviously realize that super powers and caped crusaders are fictional. However, you also learn that acts of extraordinary heroism can still exist today, but only if we take the steps to do them on our own accord, even when we may be afraid to do the right thing. And that’s why we need Daredevil – to inspire us about the potential within all of us to step up and perform those feats, even without extrasensory abilities. We can make the calls to try and defund departments if they commit wrongdoings. We can join peaceful protests with our communities to be heard. And we can support art, media, and voices that speak out against the problems we’re seeing today, and call out injustice. When people try to scare us, more then ever, that becomes the time to start living without fear!

Shows like Daredevil: Born Again can inspire us to rise up together, and keep fighting against the similar injustices and evils depicted on the show, which reflect the issues we’re seeing today. Now more than we ever have, we need Matt Murdock to show us how to be our own Matt Murdocks. Because justice isn’t blind, and we can’t be either. Keep fighting on, keep resisting and calling out corruption, and eventually, true justice can be served.