Every Daredevil Season, Ranked Worst to Best

Another Daredevil season has come to a conclusion, after Born Again Season 2 aired its eighth and final episode on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Marvel has already greenlit a third season, which is set to premiere in March 2027. With its 17 episodes (season 1 and 2 combined), the new MCU-set series is so far matching the style and tone of its Netflix original run. If you count the original run, the series so far has had five seasons, and there are obviously comparisons not only between the two runs but also between the different seasons.

	Daredevil	Daredevil: Born Again
Creator(s)	Drew Goddard	Matt Corman Chris Ord Dario Scardapane
Cast	Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Toby Leonard Moore, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Bob Gunton, Ayelet Zurer, Jon Bernthal, Élodie Yung, Stephen Rider, Jay Ali, and Wilson Bethel	Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Michael Gandolfini, Ayelet Zurer, Tony Dalton, Kamar de los Reyes, Jon Bernthal, Matthew Lillard, Lili Taylor, and Krysten Ritter
No of seasons	3	2
RT Score (as of May 6, 2026)	92% | 90%	87% | 83%
IMDb Score (as of May 6, 2026)	8.6/10	8.1/10
Streaming on	Disney+	Disney+

We have compared the seasons based on storylines, character arcs, visual style, and action choreography, and ranked them from worst to best. It’s Daredevil, and the worst season is probably better than many superhero shows that Marvel has put out over the years. Here are the five seasons, ranked.

5 Daredevil: Born Again Season 1

Airing Date: March 4-April 15, 2025

No. of episodes: 9

The first season of Daredevil: Born Again had one monumental task. It had to stitch the Netflix-built world of Daredevil into the larger MCU, and it pulled it off with surprising confidence. The series didn’t shy away from the gritty brutality fans had come to expect, maintaining the same grounded atmosphere that defined the earlier seasons. It also established the stakes early and decisively by killing off Foggy Nelson.

There were some great characters added to the show, like Kamar de los Reyes’s White Tiger and Hunter Doohan’s Muse. For instance, Hector Ayala’s emotional arc lends the season some of its most powerful moments. The last two episodes, in particular, felt like they were ripped straight out of the original Netflix show. The visual style, tone, and shocking twists were all there.

Where the season stumbles, though, is in its middle stretch. Several episodes felt like filler compared to the electric opening and closing chapters. A few plotlines came across as rushed or underdeveloped, which is clearly a result of the series trying to juggle too many threads at once. It had a solid foundation, but the inconsistency keeps it at the bottom of this list.

Best Episode: Isle of Joy (S1E8)

Isle of Joy is the penultimate episode of the first season of Daredevil: Born Again. It sealed the show’s reputation as the darkest corner of the MCU TV lineup. It was more popular than the season finale, and fans kept returning to it, all because of the major revelation that comes at the end of the episode. Set against the backdrop of the Fisk Black and White Ball, the hour pulls off the ultimate twist: it wasn’t Wilson who ordered Foggy Nelson’s murder, but Vanessa herself.

Once Matt found out, we got the quietest but most powerful confrontation scenes in the show. Matt takes the bullet meant for Kingpin, leaving the episode on a major cliffhanger. The episode became one of the highest-rated ones of the season with 8.9/10 as of May 6, 2026.

4 Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

Airing Date: March 24-May 5, 2026

No. of episodes: 8

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 has its share of great moments, none more visceral than Vanessa Fisk’s brutal fate in the highly-rated fourth episode of the season. The Murdock-Fisk dynamic returns to the crackling intensity of its Netflix-era peak. The return of Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones and the menacing resurgence of Bullseye were both celebrated by fans. The season is arguably the most visually stylish in the MCU, marking a creative high point.

Yet for all its highlights, the season falls short of its own lofty expectations. The political plotline threading through the story never quite finds its footing, and it feels very disconnected from the more compelling street-level drama. There are visible signs of eleventh-hour rewrites in the storytelling, leaving certain storylines feeling patched rather than purposeful. It’s a season of highs and lows, with enough brilliance to place it above its MCU predecessor.

Best Episode: Gloves Off (S2E4)

With Gloves Off, Daredevil: Born Again gave us one of the most thrilling episodes in the MCU TV lineup. The mid-season episode saw Bullseye’s some of the most creatively brutal setpieces in the entire show. Ever since Vanessa turned him into a pawn and pushed him to murder Foggy Nelson, Benjamin Poindexter has been carrying a grudge. He finally acted upon it at Fogwell’s Gym during Mayor Fisk’s charity boxing match.

In the episode’s closing moments, Bullseye hurls a heavy glass statue straight at Fisk. He shattered the statue with his championship belt, but one piece of the glass struck Vanessa on the side of her head. The episode cuts to black as Vanessa lies in a growing pool of her own blood. This episode earns its strong reactions (and 9.4 IMDb rating, as of May 6, 2026) through dread, character, and consequence.

3 Daredevil Season 2

Airing Date: March 18, 2016

No. of episodes: 13

Season 2 of the original run gave the show one of its greatest gifts: The Punisher. Jon Bernthal’s portrayal of the fan-favorite anti-hero was simply perfect, and the dynamic between Daredevil and Punisher (and Matt Murdock & Frank Castle) gave the season its moral complexity. The rooftop confrontation and the graveyard scene between the two remain some of the most powerful moments in the entire series. In these scenes, the writing, acting, and direction all peaked simultaneously. Elodie Yung’s Elektra was another welcome addition, bringing a dangerous romantic energy to Matt’s arc.

However, the season falters when it comes to its big baddie. The Hand never reached the menacing heights of Kingpin, and the mystical elements of their storyline didn’t sit well with the grounded world the show had built. Characters like Nobu and Madame Gao were given frustratingly little screen time. Actor Peter Shinkoda, who played Nobu, later blamed former Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb’s interference for the issues with these characters (via #WeSavedDaredevil). The Punisher half of this season is arguably the best stretch the show has ever produced, but the uneven back half keeps it at the bottom of the Netflix run.

Best Episode: Seven Minutes in Heaven (S2E9)

With an IMDb rating of 9.4 (as of May 6, 2026), this episode is one of the highest-rated episodes of the series. There are literally no other Marvel episodes that match the sheer brutality of Season 2’s Seven Minutes in Heaven. The episode’s reputation comes from the prison fight scene involving Bernthal’s Frank Castle. In an intense five-minute action sequence, the Punisher goes on a killing spree, murdering every inmate who attacks him.

It is also the beginning of Frank and Kingpin’s true rivalry after the latter betrays him on their unsettling deal. It was Kingpin who let the prisoners loose on Castle’s block to kill him. The episode also set the tone for the next Netflix series, The Punisher.

2 Daredevil Season 1

Airing Date: April 10, 2015

No. of episodes: 13

When Daredevil premiered in 2015, it redefined what a superhero project on television could be. It felt more like a crime drama than a superhero show. Moreover, it was a massive upgrade over Ben Affleck’s earlier cinematic take on the character. The refreshing approach to the blind superhero, built on grounded storytelling and moral ambiguity, set it apart from everything else in the genre. Hell’s Kitchen itself was practically a character, making the setting feel lived-in and dangerous. The trio of Matt, Karen, and Foggy provided the show’s emotional backbone.

And then there was Wilson Fisk. Vincent D’Onofrio’s character, with his criminal empire, gave the MCU a villain unlike any it had seen. He is complex and terrifying in equal measure. The high production value, the deliberate use of color and shadow, and some fine pieces of action choreography, like that single-take hallway fight scene, laid a solid foundation. A few peripheral storylines distracted from the central narrative, but that’s a minor blemish on what was otherwise a near-perfect debut.

Best Episode: Speak of the Devil (S1E9)

This episode incredibly raises the stakes for our protagonist. We see him fight both Nobu and Kingpin in this episode. Daredevil’s vulnerabilities are exposed in this episode, where he finds himself brutally beaten by the villains. To top it all off, the episode ends with Foggy Nelson finding out Daredevil’s true identity. Foggy is upset, as he feels betrayed by Matt’s secret. The episode is highly rated on IMDb with a score of 9.1/10, as of May 6, 2026.

1 Daredevil Season 3

Airing Date: October 19, 2018

No. of episodes: 13

Daredevil Season 3 marks the series at its absolute peak. It brings back the rivalry that made the show, Daredevil vs Kingpin, and elevates it to its most personal and devastating. Rather than using the tired formula of isolating Matt from his allies, the season strengthened the bond between Matt, Foggy, and Karen. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio both delivered career-best performances, pushing their characters into darker, more desperate territory than ever before.

Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye emerged as one of the show’s greatest assets, giving us a chilling, tragic antagonist whose unraveling complemented Fisk’s calculated moves. The season is a masterclass in tension-building that led to a satisfying series finale. Sadly, it also served as the series finale after Netflix’s cancellation. The action choreography and visual style also reached their peak here. The opening episodes were slower, taking their time to rebuild Matt from his lowest point. But that patience is worth it when the season erupts into chaos.

Best Episode: A New Napkin (S3E13)

A three-way battle between Daredevil, Kingpin, and Bullseye was the perfect way to end the series back in 2018. In the episode, A New Napkin, Nadeem’s death sends Matt over the edge, and he decides to kill Fisk to end his crime spree. But, he doesn’t. Meanwhile, Bullseye has also turned on Fisk after the latter murders the woman he was obsessed with. Matt’s descent into darkness was one of the highlights of this episode.

In the end, Matt ends up making a deal with the devil. He reveals his real identity to Fisk and offers to protect Vanessa Fisk if the latter agrees to go to prison. It is at this point that Daredevil is spiritually ‘born again’ as Kingpin fails to corrupt his moral convictions. The explosive finale is the highest-rated Daredevil episode with an IMDb rating of 9.6/10 (as of May 6, 2026).

Rank	Daredevil Seasons	RT Score – Tomatometer | Popcornmeter (as of May 6, 2026)
1	Daredevil Season 3	97% | 87%
2	Daredevil Season 1	99% | 93%
3	Daredevil Season 2	81% | 89%
4	Daredevil: Born Again Season 2	87% | 88%
5	Daredevil: Born Again Season 1	87% | 78%

Still have questions? Here are some of your questions about Daredevil answered.

Which season and episode is at the top of your list for Daredevil? Let us know in the comments below!

All episodes of Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again are now available for streaming on Disney+.