With Daredevil: Born Again being a continuation of the Daredevil Netflix series, it was only natural that it would continue to put heavy emphasis on the impact Matt Murdock's secret identity had on his life.
Interestingly enough, given their prominence in superhero media more generally, secret identities are relatively rare in the MCU. In fact, Charlie Cox's Daredevil is one of only three main MCU characters to explicitly have a secret identity (the other two being Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel).
Daredevil's secret identity is a well-kept secret for the most part, though there are several characters in the know, as this list will explore.
Who Actually Knows Daredevil's Secret Identity In the MCU?
Note: This list does not include characters who might know, or at least suspect (i.e. Brett Mahoney), only ones who definitely do. Additionally, this list does not include characters who do know but are not canonically alive as of the start of Daredevil: Born Again (i.e. Elektra or Ray Nadeem).
Karen Page | Daredevil Season 2, Episode 13
Matt Murdock tells his other close friend (and former girlfriend) Karen Page that he is Daredevil in the final moments of the Netflix series' second season.
By that point, Nelson and Murdock was in tatters, and Karen and Matt's short Season 2 fling seemed well behind them, at least for the moment. Still, Karen devotedly kept Matt's secret, even when she lost her job at the Bulletin in Season 3 when she refused to share Daredevil's true name.
Whereas throughout Season 1, Foggy was extremely skeptical of Daredevil before learning who was behind the mask, Karen Page was one of his biggest advocates — something which was reflected in her defense of The Punisher throughout Daredevil Season 2.
Claire Temple | Daredevil Season 1, Episode 2 / Episode 4
If it were not for Claire Temple's upstairs neighbor Santino finding a masked man in a dumpster and informing Claire about it, Matt Murdock would probably be dead. And even since, she has saved his life (and those of other New York heroes from the Netflix shows) countless times.
She sees Matt's face for the first time right after finding him nearly dead in the dumpster. Still, once Matt is fully conscious, he refuses to tell her his real name until the end of Episode 4, when the tables are turned and he is caring for her.
So, she calls him "Mike" for all of Episode 2 and 3 and most of Episode 4, having had an ex-boyfriend named Mike who also kept secrets. Of course, she did not know that, coincidentally, Michael is actually Matt's middle name.
(This is also a fun nod for comics fans. In early Daredevil comics, Matt kept his identity secret by pretending he was his own fake, identical, seeing twin brother Mike Murdock, and that Mike, not Matt, was actually Daredevil.)
Wilson Fisk | Daredevil Season 2, Episode 10 / Season 3, Episode 4 / Season 3, Episode 13
Exactly when Wilson Fisk figures out for certain that Matt Murdock is Daredevil is a bit murky, but he first suspects it after Matt's visit with him in prison from Season 2, Episode 10, and seems to know for sure by his phone call with Matt in Season 3, Episode 4. Still, it is not until the Season 3 finale that he actually sees Daredevil unmasked.
Matt confronting Fisk in prison at the end of Season 2 is perhaps one of the show's most iconic moments. Throughout the tense exchange, though, it becomes clear that Fisk is catching onto something. This is confirmed at the end of the episode, when he asks to take a new look at Matt Murdock's files, implying he may know more than Matt wants him to.
In Season 3, Episode 4, it could reasonably be argued that he fully knows Matt Murdock is Daredevil. One comment during Fisk's phone call with Matt about how impressive his reflexes are is what seems to tip both Matt and the audience off that Fisk could be in the know.
Still, Fisk does not officially see Daredevil fully unmasked until Matt takes his mask off during his final speech to Fisk at the end of Season 3, saying that if Fisk reveals Matt's secret (and if he hurts Foggy or Karen), Matt will go after Vanessa.
Vanessa Mariana | Season 3, Episode 13 (if not sooner)
Vanessa Mariana is another case where she may have actually learned earlier than when the audience gets it confirmed, but unlike Fisk, there are not any particular moments prior to her seeing him unmasked that indicate she knows.
It is 100% officially confirmed that she knows when she watches Matt unmask to Fisk, standing on the staircase in the back of the room. Still, it is very possible that Fisk had shared the knowledge with her in the time between their reunion and the final Season 3 fight.
Margaret Murdock (+ other nuns) | The Defenders, Episode 8 / Daredevil Season 3, Episode 1
Truly, Season 3, Episode 1 is when audiences actually see Sister Maggie (Matt Murdock's mother, unknown to Matt) learn that her son is Daredevil. However, a scene after she learns doubles as the final scene in The Defenders, so technically audiences are aware she knows from there first.
Following the collapse of Midland Circle, which appeared to kill both Matt and Elektra, Matt manages to get to Clinton Church, with the help of a stranger who finds him. Maggie (who does not realize the newly unmasked, unconscious Daredevil is Matt Murdock) immediately wants to call 911 or bring him to a hospital, but Lantom tries to explain that his status as a vigilante would mean he would be arrested if brought to a hospital.
When she starts calling anyway, he tells her that it is Matt (who he knows is her son), and she instantly changes course. It is later revealed that Maggie also swore all the nuns to secrecy about who Daredevil actually is.
[ Daredevil Born Again Cast & Character Guide: Charlie Cox, Jon Bernthal & More ]
Jessica Jones | The Defenders, Episode 3 / Episode 4
Jessica Jones is the first of the to-be Defenders to learn who Matt Murdock really is — and in true Jessica fashion, she is one of the only characters who figured it out herself (the others being Father Lantom, Elektra, and, if they do actually know, Frank Castle and Brett Mahoney).
After Matt shows up to represent Jessica after she was brought in by police for questioning — to Jessica's surprise — she has a feeling there is more to the story. She follows Matt, and ends up snapping a couple pictures of him, in her words later in the show, "leaping around the city like a Russian gymnast."
She confronts Matt about this, but they never get to finish the conversation after they hear shots fired. It is not until Episode 4 that she tells Matt that she knows he is Daredevil, when he refuses to take his mask off with the other Defenders.
[ Krysten Ritter Makes Jessica Jones Post Hours Ahead of Daredevil: Born Again Appearing at D23 ]
Luke Cage | The Defenders, Episode 4
When the four Defenders start all getting to know each other in the Royal Dragon restaurant in The Defenders, Episode 4, Luke quickly wants to know who Matt is, and why he would not take his mask off.
After asking a couple times, the conversation becomes more heated, before Jessica steps in and tells Matt what she figured out, and how Luke and Danny likely will figure it out soon too. She explains to Matt that he seems to want to fight back against The Hand, but he knows that the others will not trust him if he does not tell them who he is.
So, he reluctantly unmasks, introducing himself to Luke and Danny.
[ Why Luke Cage’s Mike Colter Is Hesitant to Return to the MCU ]
Danny Rand | The Defenders, Episode 4
After introducing himself as Matthew, and telling Luke and Danny off screen that he is Daredevil, Matt explains how important it is that they keep this secret. Luke seems to understand, while Danny remains a bit confused.
He mentions Matt's blindness, seemingly confused how he can do what he can without sight, to which Matt responds that "sight's overrated" and does not really elaborate.
Still, just a couple moments later, Danny is, somewhat affectionately, calling Matt a "blind ninja" and wanting to work with him.
[ Marvel's Iron Fist: Finn Jones Wants MCU Redemption Following Poor Reviews ]
Jennifer Walters | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Episode 8
Technically speaking, Jennifer is the only person so far to literally unmask Daredevil herself. After having met Matt Murdock in court and at a bar near the beginning of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Episode 8, she comes across Daredevil and the two fight on a rooftop (in classic "two superheroes meet and fight" fashion).
As the fight comes to an end, she lifts Daredevil and pulls his mask off, revealing Matt Murdock. After she learns that no, he is not faking being blind, she and he talk about what is actually going on and realize they should be on the same side and not fighting each other.
By the end of the episode, though, they had gone from two heroes working together to something a fair bit more intimate.
Luke Jacobson | She-Hulk, Episode 5 / She-Hulk, Episode 8
Though the audience does not see superhero fashion designer Luke Jacobson learn that Matt Murdock is Daredevil, he does appear to know. Firstly, in Episode 5, he makes a remark about the importance of "client confidentiality" while the camera zooms in on the Daredevil mask. But this alone is not enough to say he knows.
Rather, it is that Matt later tells Jen that him representing Luke in court was part of how he repaid the designer for the new Daredevil suit he wears that episode, and potentially others. Granted, he does not tell Jen that the "suits" he is referring to are superhero suits just yet, as this conversation comes before she learns.
If that were not enough proof, though, Luke then calls Matt personally to ask for Daredevil's help when Leapfrog kidnaps him. With all that evidence, it is fair to say he does know that Matt Murdock is Daredevil, even if the show never says as much explicitly.
Benjamin Poindexter | Season 3, Episode 13 (if not sooner)
Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter is another tricky situation, because like Vanessa, he is present for the final Season 3 fight between Matt and Fisk. However, he could have possibly been unconscious for the part where Matt actually reveals who he is, after Fisk threw him to the ground and seemed to paralyze him.
It is entirely possible, though, that Fisk told him who Daredevil was at some point. This is because it provides motive for both his attack on Clinton Church in Daredevil Season 3 and his killing of Foggy in the Born Again premiere, encounters that are centered around personal details from Matt Murdock's life.
Still, there are several avenues where he could have learned, and, more importantly, he was physically present when Matt revealed himself. Given this, he is worth a mention, as a fair argument could be made saying he might not actually know.
Cherry | Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1
Daredevil: Born Again spared no time in revealing Matt's secret identity to a brand new character in the premiere. A former NYPD detective, Cherry finds himself on the rooftop after Foggy's assassination.
Amid the chaos, he finds an unmasked and emotionally distraught Daredevil after his fight with Bullseye, surprised to see that it was Matt Murdock under the cowl all along. This event leads to the two working even more closely, with Cherry becoming a private investigator.
Frank Castle | Daredevil: Born Again Episode 4
By the time Jon Bernthal's Punisher enters the mix in Daredevil: Born Again, it's firmly established that Frank Castle knows Daredevil's alter ego.
When Matt pays Frank a visit to inquire about the bullet casing with the Punisher logo found at the scene of Hector Ayala's death. Frank clearly knows who Matt is by this point through him calling Daredevil by his nickname, Red, and pushes back against the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's suggestion for Punisher to do more around New York City.
Melvin Potter | All three seasons of Daredevil
Point blank, Melvin, who creates Matt's Daredevil suits throughout Daredevil, has seen Matt without his mask. It is somewhat implied that by Season 3, he may have figured out that Matt is blind, but that is simply speculation. However, he never uses Matt's name once, and Matt does try to keep at least some of his face covered when interacting with Melvin.
As such, it is hard to know for sure if he knows that the unmasked Daredevil he speaks to several times throughout the show is Matt Murdock specifically — it could truly go either way. But what differentiates him from someone like Brett Mahoney, who also could go either way on knowing or not at this point, is that Brett has never seen Daredevil unmasked, and would immediately recognize him as Matt Murdock if he ever did.
(It is worth noting that Colleen Wing from Iron Fist and The Defenders is in a somewhat similar situation, having seen Matt's face in the fifth episode of the latter, but it being unclear if she knows who he is or not. Unlike with Melvin, though, the two do not interact much at all, so she likely does not learn his name.)
Bonus: Foggy Nelson | Daredevil Season 1, Episode 9 / Episode 10
Foggy Nelson finds out that his longtime best friend and business partner Matt Murdock is secretly Daredevil at the very end of Daredevil Season 1, Episode 9, and grapples with that revelation throughout Episode 10.
The key piece of Foggy finding out is just that — he found out. Matt did not tell his best friend his secret himself, rather, Foggy found Matt in his all-black costume from Season 1, sprawled on the floor and close to death.
Much of the original Daredevil series sees Foggy grapple with this new side of Matt that was hidden from him for so long — particularly given how vocally anti-Daredevil he spends much of Season 1 being, and how long Matt hid his abilities from him, despite their deep friendship.
By the end of Season 3, though, Foggy seems to have more or less come to terms with it, as Matt seems far more willing to keep Foggy in the loop about Daredevil business, rather than simply trying to protect Foggy from it.
Unfortunately, Foggy met a tragic fate in the opening minutes of Daredevil: Born Again. However, Elden Henson's Foggy is already confirmed to return in Season 2, causing some fans to question if he could get resurrected.
Read more about Daredevil: Born Again:
Charlie Cox Reveals How Daredevil Born Again Will Be "Darker" Than Netflix Seasons
Who Is White Tiger? Daredevil: Born Again Character & Marvel Connections Explained
Daredevil Born Again's Muse Villain Gets Officially Announced by Marvel Studios
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
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