Just before it comes to a close, Marvel Studios' Netflix reboot show, Daredevil: Born Again, is taking on a new genre in Season 3. The six shows in Netflix's Defenders Saga explored vastly different genres: Daredevil was a legal crime drama, Jessica Jones was a neo-noir psychological thriller, Iron Fist was a martial arts corporate drama, The Punisher was a conspiracy action thriller, Luke Cage was an urban crime drama, and The Defenders was a good old-fashioned superhero ensemble.
For the most part, Netflix's Daredevil was a superhero legal crime drama that dipped its toes into the supernatural realm in its second season through the Hand. The ancient order of ninjas added a new edge to the beloved Netflix show through its fascination with resurrection and dark, satanic rituals using the blood of kidnapped children and an elixir derived from dragon bones.
Season 3 firmly returned to the series' gritty, grounded crime drama roots by refocusing on the mob boss villain who started it all: Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. That would conclude the Daredevil saga for then, until Charlie Cox's Man Without Fear returned on Disney+ in Daredevil: Born Again, having since dabbled in the MCU's less grounded side in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
When it came to the first two seasons of Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel Television refocused on the never-ending feud between Daredevil and Kingpin, albeit through a slightly different lens. Instead of being an outright legal crime drama, the Netflix reboot leaped headfirst into the political thriller genre, with Wilson Fisk taking office as mayor and Matt Murdock leading a rebellion to oust him.
Now that Kingpin has been replaced as New York's mayor, showrunner Dario Scardapane confirmed Born Again Season 3 will cut back on the politics to avoid being "too topical," instead opting for something a "little more street level." That strongly indicates that, unlike its opening seasons, which were a legal political drama, Season 3 will return to Daredevil's roots as a legal crime drama.
But that isn't the only way Marvel Studios' Netflix reboot is switching genres for Born Again's final season; the Disney+ show will also return to the supernatural. Scardapane confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Murdock's psychologist ex-girlfriend, Heather Glenn, an almost-victim of the serial killer Muse, will return in a way that "seems supernatural" in next year's season.
Scarapane pondered "what happens if she literally puts on that trauma" in wearing the Muse mask herself in the coming season, suggesting the way that it "solves a lot of her conflict" almost "seems supernatural:"
"What happens if she literally puts on that trauma, and that trauma solves a lot of her conflict? We talked to Margarita about that. It seems supernatural if you watch the way it's progressing, and now we have a Muse that isn't just dropped in."
The return of Elodie Yung's Elektra is adding a further mystical element to Born Again, as she was previously resurrected by the Hand between Daredevil Season 2 and The Defenders. The immortality-seeking ninjas revived Elektra, believing her to be the Black Sky, a living weapon prophesied by the Hand, although the ending of The Defenders (her last appearance) left her fate ambiguous again.
It won't just be the femme fatelles of Elektra and Lady Muse leading Born Again into the supernatural, as Finn Jones' Iron Fist is finally re-entering the fray. Unlike Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones and Mike Colter's Luke Cage, whose powers hail from twisted science experiments, Danny Rand channels the mystical chi of the immortal dragon Shou-Lao into his hand, which is about as supernatural as it gets.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 is expected to follow in the footsteps of previous seasons by returning to screens in March, but several more Marvel TV shows will be arriving before then, with more in development to release afterward.
The Confirmed Genre of Every Other Upcoming MCU Disney+ Show
VisionQuest - Sci-Fi
Unlike the psychological sitcom mystery of WandaVision or the fantasy dark comedy of Agatha All Along, the MCU's next Disney+ show, VisionQuest, is going full-on sci-fi, with a plattering of superhero comedy. The genre is fitting for a show that is half set inside the Mind Space of a synthezoid Avenger, especially one created by the former Star Trek: Picard showrunner, Terry Matalas.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - Coming-of-Age
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will return for Season 2 in January 2027 to continue a coming-of-age story starring a young Peter Parker in his early heroic days, contrasting greatly with his star quarterback classmate Lonnie Lincoln, who is pulled into a life of crime as he becomes Tombstone. This exploration of different circumstances in high-school are crucial to the ongoing web-slinging show.
X-Men '97 - Soap Opera
After five seasons of the original X-Men: The Animated Series and two of X-Men '97 (with Season 3 coming in 2027), the mutant saga has solidified itself as a superhero soap opera, just as comic writer Chris Claremont once did. Despite all of the action, X-Men '97 leans heavily into love triangles, family drama, found family dynamics, and gossip, all staples of classic soap opera TV.
Marvel Zombies - Zombie Survival Horror
As fans eagerly await a true MCU horror on the big screen, Disney+ is offering one through the TV-MA animated series, Marvel Zombies, inspired by comics written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Between its brutal undead violence and classic zombie survival storytelling (with a superhero flair), Marvel Zombies Season 2 is expected to continue the familiar genres of the 2025 original.
