Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Daredevil: Born Again's Shocking Finale
By Published Apr 29, 2026, 11:32 AM EDT Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Warning: This article contains spoilers from Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 7, "The Hateful Darkness"
The most recent episode of featured a major death, and the actor just revealed a shocking alternate ending for their character.
In Daredevil: Born Again season 2, episode 7, "The Hateful Darkness," Daniel Blake, one of the highest-ranking members of Mayor Wilson Fisk's team, dies at the hands of Buck Cashman. After Daniel decides to let BB leave, he's confronted by Buck Cashman, who demands to know BB's whereabouts. The climactic scene ends with Buck pulling the trigger on Daniel.
After the episode aired, Michael Gandolfini, who plays Daniel, spoke to about his character's demise and revealed that he wasn't supposed to die. In the original script, Daniel survived, and Gandolfini ended up returning to the set to film the Daredevil: Born Again season 2 finale, which included a scene with him and Zabryna Guevara's Sheila.
Then the creative team realized that Daniel had a "great arc" on the show, and it didn't seem like there was "really anywhere for him" to go after this, so they told Gandolfini, "Hey, so we actually are going to kill you in [episode 7]."
Fortunately, the actor handled the news well and admitted that it "just felt so right" to end Daniel's storyline in this episode when he has his own "hero's moment."
"The crazy part is Daniel originally lives, and we shot episode 8, and as we were going through, I was just shocked. I was so grateful that he had this amazing arc, not every non-superhero character gets that, and I was so lucky that they gave it to me, and after we had shot 7 and we were shooting 8, there was this weird thing of like, 'Okay, he had this great run, this great arc, what’s next?' I don’t think there’s really anywhere for him, and we had talked about some ideas, but these seasons are made in a vacuum; you can’t really think about season 3. And I was just like, 'I don’t know, it feels weird, it just doesn’t really make sense.'
"So they came back to me, and they were like, 'Hey, so we actually are going to kill you in [episode 7].' And it just felt so right. It felt so freeing, and I remember saying, 'Hey, if I didn’t think it was right, I’d fight it.' I love Daniel, but it’s so right. Where else is he gonna go? And he gets this little hero’s moment, and it just felt so great, I just felt so lucky. Again, it’s hard, you’ve got Bullseye, Fisk, Karen Page, Matt Murdock, and including other people from the comics, so sometimes, characters that don’t have superpowers don’t have the longest arcs, and they’re there to support the superheroes, which is great, but the fact that Daniel got to have this, I just felt so touched and that they trusted me…there’s only so much screen time that you get every episode, and so the fact that they gave me a real journey to go on, I was very lucky."
Even though was already filmed when the producers decided to kill off Daniel, Gandolfini didn't need to come back for reshoots.
The scene originally showed Buck pulling his gun on Daniel and then "putting it down and walking away, and we have some dialogue," according to Gandolfini, who explained that in post-production, the editors added a gunshot flare and some blood with Daniel on the floor.
"Buck pulls a gun on me, holds it on me, and then ends up putting it down and walking away, and we have some dialogue, and so what they added was that gunshot flare, and they add some blood with me on the floor. I ended up calling Arty and telling him, 'You know you killed me?' And he was like, 'What do you mean?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I’m dead.' He was so distraught. He was so upset, but it just felt so right, and I’m so glad we didn’t know because your job is to never anticipate, but if I might have known, maybe I would have leaned into it a little tiny bit more, and the fact that I didn’t, I think really helps."
wrapped filming in July 2026, and Gandolfini didn't find out about the major storyline change until October. Afterwards, he called Arty Froushan to let him know that his character, Buck Cashman, killed Daniel.
"He was so distraught," the actor revealed. "He was so upset, but it just felt so right, and I'm so glad we didn't know because your job is to never anticipate." If Gandolfini had known about his character's fate ahead of time, "maybe I would have leaned into it a little tiny bit more."
"I found out in about October, and so I told Arty, and then Charlie called me and was very sweet, and Vincent called me and was very sweet, so I talked to those three, and then no one knew. At the premiere of season 2, I was talking about it, and the two best [reactions] were Wilson and Zabryna, who plays Sheila. She was like, 'Oh my god, what do you mean?' Because Daniel and Sheila had a scene in the last episode [that’s now cut]. So it was this really beautiful thing of telling people, and people slowly learning about it."
Then Gandolfini received phone calls from Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio, who were "very sweet" about the situation.
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Cut to several months later at the season 2 premiere, Gandolfini was talking to Wilson Bethel and Guevara about Daniel's abrupt ending, and they were shocked. "So it was this really beautiful thing of telling people, and people slowly learning about it," Gandolfini added.
Now there's only one more episode of Daredevil: Born Again season 2. In the same episode as Daniel's death, Murdock was injured when AVTF officers ambushed him after he represented Page in court. That, combined with Daniel's shocking demise, shows that no one is safe at this point heading into the upcoming finale.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 streams Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on Disney+.
Cast
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Matt Murdock / Daredevil -
Wilson Fisk
Blind lawyer Matt Murdock uses his heightened abilities to pursue justice in New York as the superhero vigilante Daredevil. Manages his bustling law firm, Murdock butts heads with former mob boss Wilson Fisk's political ambitions, leading both men toward inevitable confrontation time and again.
Franchise(s) Daredevil, Main Genre Creator(s) Matt Corman, Chris Ord, Dario Scardapane Executive Producer(s) , Dario Scardapane, Heather Bellson, Jesse Wigutow, Sana Amanat, Justin Benson, Louis D'Esposito, Aaron Moorhead, Brad Winderbaum, Matt Corman, Chris Gary, Chris Ord, , , Iain B. MacDonald Producers Rudd Simmons, David Chambers Seasons 2 Number of Episodes 9 Story By chris ord Streaming Service(s) Expand Collapse
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