Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
Junior Staff Writer Olivia Choi '27
Junior Staff Writer Olivia Choi '27
[Spoiler Warning]
Daredevil: Born Again has stepped up their game with their newest season, and here’s everything you need to know before watching the season finale on May 5th, 2026.
Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer by day and a vigilante by night. He is in private law firm Murdock & McDuffie with Kirsten McDuffie, an intelligent and confident New York Assistant District Attorney. She works to have justice served on cases with Matt Murdock.
Following a chemical accident as a nine-year-old, Matthew was blinded by a radioactive substance, subsequently enhancing all of his other senses. He goes under the name Daredevil as he fights crime in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, and is currently in a relationship with Karen Page. She is one of the few people that know Matt’s identity as Daredevil, as his identity is not revealed to the public.
Shortly after the events in season 1, Matt was considered missing after an accident regarding a shooting with the mayor, being praised for his efforts as a human being but being put down for his work as Daredevil because of the illegal vigilante work he was doing for the good of New York City.
Karen Page was an office manager for former law firm Nelson & Murdock, becoming close friends with Matt and becoming one of the first people to know his identity as Daredevil. Many years after her time as an office manager was over, Karen became a fugitive for actively working with Daredevil to oppose Fisk’s fascist anti-vigilante government.
A “Safer Streets” Initiative was enacted by New York City’s mayor Wilson Fisk, a powerful antagonist that uses his persona as a legitimate and successful business to cover the fact that he wants to take control of New York City. That initiative prohibited all vigilante activity and formed the Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF), an NYPD unit that works to illegalize and hunt vigilantes. As they are personally overseen by Fisk, it allows leniency for them to find vigilantes as they are permitted to use harsh violence and are not required to have body cameras, warrants, and due process.
Heather Glenn is a therapist in New York City that had a former relationship with Matt Murdock. In the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, she barely survived an attack by a serial killer and former patient Muse. The trauma caused her ideals towards vigilantes to differ drastically, resulting in her working with Wilson Fisk.
Bullseye is a vigilante and key antagonist in this show that is currently undergoing a redemption arc in the second season. He chooses not to hurt any civilians and only goes after offices in the AVTF for terrorizing the streets of New York City. Bullseye primarily targeted Wilson Fisk and his wife Vanessa Fisk for ruining his life through manipulation to become an assassin.
In episode four, Wilson Fisk participated in a boxing match while his wife watched from the sidelines. Bullseye infiltrated the arena and conducted an attack against the Fisks, resulting in Vanessa’s death and getting rid of the only tether that grounded Wilson Fisk from completely going rogue with his underground criminal activity with the AVTF.
Episode six starts off with reintroducing an iconic character named Jessica Jones, a superhero that was part of the 2015-2019 Netflix Marvel Saga that possesses superhuman strength, mental resistance, enhanced durability, and accelerated healing. Jessica and Matt work together to find strategies to put an end to Wilson Fisk’s tyranny, allowing audiences to be united with such an iconic duo!
Because Jessica Jones was cancelled in 2019, audiences had no idea what happened to her between the time of her show and Daredevil: Born Again until we saw her in episode six; Jessica Jones experienced intermittent power loss in her strength and durability shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Danielle Cage.
This episode ended with Karen Page leading a protest against the brutal violence against innocent civilians and vigilantes from the sidelines, wearing a wig to mask her face in public. But unfortunately, an anonymous person flashed by quickly, taking her wig off and revealing her identity to the public. Karen is finally caught by the police after a season of constantly running away from the AVTF and Wilson Fisk.
In the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again, episode seven, Karen is facing her trial for the crimes she committed in New York City with Kirsten McDuffie as her lawyer, with a surprise of Matt Murdock coming back from the shadows as co-council since the audience hasn’t seen him since Fisk dubbed Daredevil as a criminal.
Junior Staff Writer Olivia Choi '27
[Spoiler Warning]
Something I wanted to get out of the way before this review begins: Elizabeth Olsen is my favorite actress, and I genuinely love everything she’s in. So, it was a no-brainer to me that I should watch this movie because something about Elizabeth is that she is very smart about the movies and shows she chooses to act in. Knowing how well a majority of her projects have done is what prompted me to watch Eternity in the first place.
Okay, diving right into it, this was one of my most anticipated watches of this year, and I absolutely adored this movie. A24 is one of my favorite entertainment companies, and they really hit gold with this one. I watched Materialists earlier this year, and I was disappointed to see that it was more of a drama than a rom com as it tackled heavier themes than I thought it would have from watching the trailer.
However, in this case, they hit every mark. Eternity is a romantic-comedy drama where our main character Joan has to choose who to spend eternity with in the afterlife after she passes away. As Joan married two people in her lifetime, her first love, Luke, who died very young in the Korean War, and her second, Larry, the husband she built a 65-year life and family with, she has seven days to pick who she wants to spend eternity with, and once she chooses her decision, she has to stay with it for the rest of time.
I really loved how they showed the reasoning behind why Joan chose Luke in the first place. She wasn’t able to get the closure she deserved, and therefore, struggled with choosing a husband despite 65 years of marriage with the other. It was clear to me from the moment we saw Joan and Larry together that she was going to pick him to live with in eternity. He knew absolutely everything about her. He devoted his life to making her happy. Who wouldn’t choose him to live with for eternity?
That monologue Joan said when she realized she chose the wrong person actually melted my heart — “Love isn’t just one happy moment.” She was only in her honeymoon phase with Luke, which was the only reason as to why she was the happiest with him. She realized that the reason why Larry was a better fit with her was because he loved her even through all of the troubles with the mortgage, the kids, and the money. Even when they were at their lowest, he stuck around. He went out of his way to choose Luke for Joan and risk losing the love of his life, just so she wouldn’t feel heartbroken that she was the one who chose. He never went to an eternity because he couldn’t live in a world without his wife!
Can we also talk about the fact that Joan risked living in the Void for eternity for the chance of being with Larry forever? I love love. I felt a bit sad for Luke because he has to live eternity alone, but he does have a temper, and I'm not for that either. It was so obvious that Joan hated meeting new people and that she would probably go insane if she had to deal with that for eternity. Luke spent so much time socializing with other people when he should’ve been spending the 67 years he spent waiting with her instead. I couldn’t understand why he never saw that she was uncomfortable. I understand why Joan initially accepted her eternity with Luke, but it still bothers me that Larry was the second choice. It felt like those 65 years of marriage went down the drain. But seeing her self-reflection and seeing her brain start to realize the small things that Larry did that Luke could never do really resonated with me. I love the realization portion of movies, and Elizabeth's performance to capture all of the complex emotions during this movie was off the charts.
Callum Turner and Miles Teller, Luke and Larry, respectively, did a fantastic job as well, but I thought Miles and Elizabeth did a phenomenal job playing an old married couple. I could seriously think they were 90-year-old people in like a 30-something year old’s body — Miles especially. I loved the way this movie handled the emotional to comedy aspect ratio because I feel like movies these days struggle with handling it. Honestly, this movie is everything to me and I rate it a 10/10, 5 stars 🌟
Thank you to Elizabeth, Miles, and Callum for giving us such an amazing movie and I really, really hope that their careers continue to flourish because their performances were so good here. I love Eternity!
Junior Staff Writer Anthea Sun '26
“Howl’s Moving Castle” opens with the rushing wind as a giant amalgamation of parts creaks through a thick layer of mountain mist. With its gargoyle face, loud bellows, and mechanical chicken-like feet, a first-time watcher can’t help but be unsettled.
However, once it emerges from the mist, its true nature is revealed. Lumbering behind an idyllic field of sheep, we see what it actually is: a gentle giant. And, as the title card fades in with the ever-iconic “Merry-Go-Round of Life” playing in the background, the viewer can finally be at ease with Howl’s Castle.
Howl’s Moving Castle, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and loosely based on Diana Wynne Jones’s book of the same name, was Studio Ghibli’s 13th film. It is Japan’s 8th highest-grossing film and is critically acclaimed, winning four Toyoko Anime Awards and a Nebula Award for Best Script.
In a world of steampunk mixed with magic, the story starts with Sophie Hatter. She is a hat maker who is cursed to look like an old woman by the spiteful Witch of the Waste after meeting the elusive wizard Howl. On her search for a cure, she’s reunited with Howl and meets the ragtag crew that will follow her for the rest of the film: Calcifer, a fire demon; his apprentice, Markl; and another cursed individual who lives as a scarecrow. Sophie’s journey not only changes her physical appearance, but also her view on love, courage, and self-worth.
One of the most captivating parts of the film is the sheer creativity in its design. Miyazaki’s world is brought to life through the stunning animation Studio Ghibli is known for, from the mechanical castle itself to sprawling landscapes filled with lush greenery. The stark contrast in the detail in each scene is what allows the magical and idyllic setting and the looming threat of war to be so intense. The music of Howl’s Moving Castle, produced by Joe Hisaishi, is also a key element in making the picture come to life. Despite all the events in the movie, the “Merry-Go-Round of Life” leitmotif always comes back. His music heightens the emotional depth of key scenes, from the soaring flight sequences to the quiet, intimate moments between characters.
One critique of the movie is its sharp departure from its source. The movie adaptation of Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle presents a strong anti-war message, reflecting Miyazaki’s own beliefs. However, to do this, it waters down many characters as they are presented in the book. The Witch of the Waste has nearly all her character stripped from her apart from being Howl’s vain ex-lover, Sophie’s ambition and courage is all but ignored, and Lettie–Sophie’s sister–has nearly no place in the film.
Howl's Moving Castle is a celebration of imagination and the beauty of humanity, filled with breathtaking visuals and layered with themes of love, courage, and the value of inner strength. The character interactions, visuals, and soundtrack meld beautifully into two hours filled with whimsy to create a movie with all the hallmarks of a classic Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki film.