Daredevil: Born Again featured the return of John Benjamin Hickey, an actor who already appeared in a different role in another one of Netflix's Marvel Television series. Marvel Television has embraced its flexible approach to recasting actors from the Netflix Defenders shows and incorporated them into the story of Daredevil: Born Again. Two good examples are Ruibo Qian, who plays Detective Angie Kim in Daredevil: Born Again Seasons 1 and 2, and portrayed Mei in Jessica Jones Season 1, and Andrew Polk, who played Judge Cooper in Born Again Season 1, and Morty Bennett in The Punisher, Season 1, Episode 7.
Daredevil: Born Again brought back John Benjamin Hickey, an actor who made his Marvel debut in Jessica Jones Season 3 as Peter Lyonne, the husband of Kith Lyonne. However, the catch is that Hickey is playing a different character in the Disney+ MCU series: Benjamin Hochberg.
In the Krysten Ritter-led series, Lyonne was involved in a storyline involving Jer Hogarth's personal and professional struggles with infidelity and a tragic suicide that ultimately framed her in the end.
Hickey's Peter Lyonne was a flawed character in Jessica Jones because he was eventually exposed for embezzling money and committed suicide later on. Lyonne was a far different character from the one Hickey became in Daredevil: Born Again.
Hickey brought Benjamin Hochberg to life in Daredevil: Born Again Seasons 1 and 2. Hochberg is the New York City District Attorney aligned with Mayor Wilson Fisk's sinister political regime. Hochberg played a major role in the trial of Hector Ayala (aka White Tiger) and is set to continue portraying an antagonistic role in future legal proceedings of the show's sophomore run, such as the one involving Swordsman (Jack Duquesne) in the upcoming episodes.
Hochberg is a high-profile legal figure willing to bend the system to give Mayor Fisk the upper hand in his new, twisted regime, which puts vigilantes on the brink in court.
It is also worth noting that Mahershala Ali played Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in Luke Cage Season 1. Cottonmouth served as the big bad of the show's debut season before being defeated by Luke Cage. Ali is set to play a different character in the MCU as Blade.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach also portrayed David Lieberman (aka Micro) in The Punisher series, and he later played Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 continues Matt Murdock's quest to save New York from the wrath of Mayor Fisk and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force in enforcing a lawless rule over the city. New episodes of the series premiere every Tuesday on Disney+ at 9 p.m. ET.
Daredevil: Born Again's Recasting Choices Could Be an Ongoing Trend
Marvel Television's recasting choices in Daredevil: Born Again are quite intriguing because they highlight the MCU's efforts in allowing familiar faces from the Defenders shows to reappear in a fresh storyline without forcing an obvious retcon or being handcuffed by what the Netflix shows established.
This effort appears to cement the idea that core heroes and key allies of the Defenders return to play the same roles, while supporting talent offers flexibility by being repurposed and reintroduced in more meaningful roles in Daredevil: Born Again.
The recastings of John Benjamin Hickey, Andrew Polk, and Ruibo Qian in Daredevil: Born Again could signal the fact that these will continue as a way for Marvel Television (and Marvel Studios in general) to solve storytelling challenges by utilizing the Netflix Marvel shows' talent pool of strong performers.
