Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

First shown at New York Comic Con, the teaser trailer for Daredevil: Born Again’s second season has surfaced online, and the choice of music sets the tone for where Matt Murdock's at for round two.

The trailer opens with Matt (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) in their hideout, with Karen putting on a record as a diegetic introduction to "Lithonia" by Childish Gambino. Released in July 2024 as part of the final album under the Childish Gambino name, the song foregoes the funk and hip-hop inflections of his past work. Instead, the song opts for a guitar-driven rock power ballad produced in collaboration with Ludwig Göransson, Max Martin, and Michael Uzowuru.

The lyrics, initially meant as part of a concept record by Gambino, unsurprisingly apply well to Matt Murdock—a man who has, as the lyrics say, done his job and paid his dues—yet finds himself invisible despite this work, which is fair as an anonymous vigilante cannot claim credit. Moreover, even the song title invites comparison: ”Lithonia" is Greek for "city of stone”, evoking the cold, indifferent urban landscape that NYC’s Hell's Kitchen has become under Wilson Fisk.

At 0:08 we see Murdock enter a diner with a particularly disorienting, shallow-focus Dutch angle shot, which is accompanied by a commensurately distorted sound of the bell that rings as he enters. Next we hear the exaggerated sound of whipped cream as the organ from the song continues. “I did my job,” Gambino sings, as it appears that all is well in the neighbourhood—a montage of smiling children and police officers follows. The rug pull happens precisely as Gambino changes lyrical course—“cause nobody gives a f—“ he sings, just as an explosion greets Murdock. Notice also the sudden change of aspect ratio on the video, moving from the standard 16:9 to a boxy 4:3, which serves to amplify the sense of temporary deafness following such an explosion.

What next but Fisk’s laugh, of course—followed by Gambino returning with “I feel liberated”, accompanied by heavy guitar and guns on screen. At 0:35 the music pauses for Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones making an entrance to deadpan “I hope you can walk because I’m not carrying you”. All the action Daredevil fans have come to expect is here. The next time Gambino lands on the lyric “nobody gives a f-“ we’re greeted by Daredevil’s cheeky, irreverent smile at 1:07—a nice bookend to the explosion earlier.

Overall, the choice of song is defiantly upbeat in the face of adverse circumstances, which fits the whole Daredevil ethos to a tee. As one YouTube commenter notes, “the vibe shift in this teaser is insane in the best way”—and we couldn’t agree more.

Season two of Daredevil: Born Again drops on Disney Plus on March 24th.

— Curtis Perry