New Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 photos seemingly revealed a gruesome turning point for Michael Gandolfini's Daniel Blake in the new episodes. Gandolfini (the 26-year-old son of legendary Sopranos actor James Gandolfini) made his MCU debut in the first season of the Disney+ Daredevil revival, joining the ranks of Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in the New York mayor's office, proving he will stop at nothing to make sure his bosses vision for the city comes to fruition.
While he kept his hands mostly clean in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Season 2 of the hit R-rated series will see Michael Gandolfini's Daniel Blake undergo a significant change if a new set photo is to be believed.
The image in question sees Gandolfini's MCU character covered in blood and looking down in what seems to be a moment of joy, as a broad smile can be seen across his blood-spattered face.
This could indicate that Gandolfini's Daniel Blake will go from New York City Hall Aide to one of Mayor Wilson Fisk's personal criminal cronies in the new batch of episodes.
Season 1 largely saw Daniel working within the halls of the mayor's office, helping Vincent D'Onofrio's series villain to shape the message he wanted to get out to his constituents.
However, there were teases of bigger things for the character, as Mayor Fisk brought the youngster into his inner circle. At the time, the allusion was that Fisk saw something of himself in Galdolfini's 20-something New Yorker; however, Daniel was not seen getting his hands dirty as a part of Kingpin's criminal crusade.
Daniel Blake has been confirmed to return alongside Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock, Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk, and Deborah Ann Woll's Karen Page in Daredevil: Born Again. Production on the second season is ongoing in New York City.
The gritty superhero drama will return sometime next year on Disney+, picking up the story after Mayor Fisk declared war on the masked vigilantes of New York City with the formation of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
Is Daniel Blake Headed For Villainy In Daredevil: Born Again?
While to this point, Micheal Gandolfini's Daniel Blake has been seen as someone willing to toe the moral line, he has not yet actively engaged in the bloodier side of the Kingpin's criminal question.
However, after earning the trust of Vincent D'Onofrio's career criminal-turned-New York mayor, it seems as though the character will be brought into the inner circle and become a knowing participant in the Daredevil: Born Again villain's criminal empire.
Why else would Daniel Blake be covered in blood in a Season 2 set photo for the series?
Wilson Fisk has shown that he sees a little bit of himself in young Daniel and wants to be the one to help him get a leg up in the world. So elevating him to a role within his personal crime ring (as opposed to simply being an aide in the mayor's office) makes a lot of sense.
This major turn for Daniel would also, in the most abstract way, connect Gandolfini's take on the character to what fans have seen on the pages of Marvel Comics.
Daniel Blake exists in the comics; however, he is a significantly different version of the character than the one brought to screen in the Daredevil: Born Again. In the comics, Blake is actually an alien hiding amongst the people of Earth, hell-bent on making sure humanity does not venture too far out into the cosmos.
While Born Again would have to take some massive narrative leaps to get Gandolfini's version to that point, the comic take on the character is ultimately a ruthless villain, which is where the TV take also seems to be headed.
Maybe this image is just the first taste of Daniel's full-scale descent into criminality in Season 2, with the character essentially becoming a mini Kingpin by the series' end (which would be ironic, seeing as Gandolfini's real-life father played one of the most iconic TV criminals of all time for nearly a decade).
