Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | News | April 14, 2026
WARNING: Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
Last week's episode of Daredevil: Born Again ended with a cliffhanger as Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) seemingly delivered a fatal blow to Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer) despite the best efforts of both Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio). Like Tori, I'm not rooting for Vanessa to pull through because her death will undoubtedly send Kingpin on a rampage that leads to an explosive back-half for the season.
Turns out, Marvel planted a pretty significant clue that we just witnessed a cataclysmic event. Eagle-eyed viewers spotted what looked like the outline of The Watcher in the window that Daredevil and Bullseye crashed through before making their getaway. Could this have been a reach by fans? Sure, happens all the time. It does look a heck of a lot like him, but I'm old enough to remember Mephisto hiding in every corner of WandaVision. I was leaning towards nerds making nerd theories, but they were right on the money.
Marvel producer Brad Winderbaum has since confirmed on Instagram that the outline of The Watcher is fully intentional. So, what does that mean? Well, as something of a nerd myself, The Watcher often shows up in the background of Marvel Comics when a significant event occurs. Like a benevolent perv, he only watches and (mostly) never gets involved. But his presence is often shorthand for some major sh*t just went down.
In the case of Vanessa's near or actual death, we're probably about to see New York City crack open from the Kingpin's fury. Marvel has been playing things very close to its chest, but I would bet cash money that this season of Born Again tees up Spider-Man: Brand New Day way more than anyone is letting on. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) is obviously a big hint in that direction, but even more so, The Hand is in the freaking trailer. The ninja group has major history with Daredevil, and there is clearly somebody edited out of that scene who still yearns for the canonical embrace of She-Hulk. (Karen is a distraction, Matt!!)
Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane has also made it a point to proclaim in interviews for Season 2 that the show is walled off from the rest of the MCU, which I've always clocked as a red herring. The Watcher showing up is a huge giveaway that Daredevil is about to be drawn into a much bigger world.
Can any of that restore interest in a dying MCU? A kickass Spider-Man movie certainly couldn't hurt. There are worst approaches to take.
You can see Winderbaum confirming The Watcher below:
