New images from the set of Daredevil: Born Again appear to invalidate a popular fan theory regarding the Blip.
The majority of MCU fans know the score by now. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos snapped his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet, and half of the universe’s life vanished. The period of time between that occurrence and the Avengers bringing everyone back has become known as the Blip.
With Daredevil himself, Matt Murdock, poised to return to television in a big way in his upcoming solo series, many have wondered whether or not the Man Without Fear was Blipped away by Thanos’ snap.
Recently, it seemed quite plausible that he was spared but this was quickly contradicted by real-world evidence.
Daredevil’s Blip Status Debunked
Recent set photos from Daredevil: Born Again showed series lead Charlie Cox, in character as Matt Murdock, walking by a church. The sign on the building gives the date as March 15, 2020, seemingly confirming that Born Again takes place, at least in part, during the Blip. However, this is not the case.
DDevilUpdates on Twitter shared the set photos in the below post, along with speculation that the show might be set in the Blip.
But upon closer investigation, and a photo from Google Maps Street View, (via BlindWanda on Twitter) it’s clear to see that the real-life church’s bulletin board hasn’t been updated since March 15, 2020. Note that the Street View was captured in August 2021.
Previously, Kingpin actor Vincent D’onofrio commented on his character’s status after the Blip, noting that such a large-scale disruption ended up hurting his criminal empire:
“It was always established to me that it’s after the Blip and that he has lost the power that he had in 'Daredevil,' and he wants it back. … In Hawkeye, he considers that he’s lost a bit of the control of his city, and he wants his city back.”
It’s very likely that Fisk’s return to power will be covered in-depth in his upcoming appearances in Echo and Daredevil: Born Again.
Who From Daredevil Could’ve Been Blipped?
Now, it’s still a little murky whether the original Daredevil series from Netflix is part of the established MCU canon. Born Again has repeatedly been called its own thing, the implication there perhaps being that the Disney+ show is a reboot.
Having said that, it’s interesting to speculate how the Blip would have affected Daredevil’s characters. It’s presently unknown if Matt Murdock was among those who vanished in 2018, but it’s very possible that Wilson Fisk/Kingpin might have.
This would explain why his illegal enterprises don’t seem to be what they used to be. After all, in Hawkeye, the man was operating out of what looked like an old warehouse and using the Tracksuit Mafia as his enforcers. The Tracksuits were shown to be somewhat incompetent, lower-grade mooks.
As for other characters, like Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, it remains to be seen what their status was during the five years between 2018 and 2023. In fact, it’s not even entirely clear whether Karen and Foggy will even appear in Born Again.
Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Again is slated to drop on Disney+ sometime in 2024.
