Daredevil season 3 is one of Marvel's strongest series to date, and the finale's ending leaves the Man Without Fear's life transformed. There's a sense in which Daredevil is the flagship Marvel Netflix show; it was the first to release in 2015, it set the tone for everything that followed, and both previous seasons have been a tremendous success. Season 2 even launched a spinoff series, starring Jon Bernthal as the Punisher.
We've been waiting for season 3 for a long time. It was first teased back at SDCC 2016, with Marvel dropping a brief teaser. The dramatic ending of The Defenders clearly set it up, promising an arc inspired by the classic Born Again comics. But, for all the excitement and hype about Daredevil season 3, Marvel and Netflix have taken their time - working hard to get this show right.
Related: Daredevil Recap: Where Season 2 & The Defenders Left Matt Murdock
Fortunately, they've succeeded. New showrunner Erik Oleson's season is a love-letter to some of the most popular Daredevil comics of all time, but it also brings something fresh and new to the franchise. At the end, it establishes a thrilling new status quo for Matt Murdock and his allies.
- This Page: What Happens In Daredevil Season 3
- Page 2: Some Dangerous New Foes
- Page 3: Set Up For Daredevil Season 4
What Happens At The End Of Daredevil Season 3
Daredevil season 3 is a thirteen-episode, ever-escalating grudge match between the Kingpin and the Man Without Fear. Wilson Fisk has three specific goals: he aims to get out of jail, marry Vanessa, and restore his good reputation in the city. Incredibly, over the course of the season he actually achieves every one of those goals. He does this through a complex, Machiavellian scheme that essentially sees him take control of the entire system, to the extent that a Special Jury dismisses sworn testimony against Fisk by an FBI whistle-blower. By the end of the season, Matt Murdock is close to despair, and he's concluded that the only way to beat Fisk is to kill him.
He's reckoned without Foggy Nelson. Foggy receives the dying declaration of FBI Agent Ray Nadeem, testifying to the many crimes he was forced to become complicit in due to the Kingpin. What's more, because Foggy is a smart lawyer he knows that a dying declaration is admissible in court. He posts the statement on social media, and State police head in to Fisk's Presidential Hotel to arrest the Kingpin again.
Meanwhile, Matt has launched a plan of his own. Daredevil season 3 saw the Kingpin manipulate FBI Special Agent Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter into becoming a murderous fake Daredevil - but finally Matt learns just how this was done, and that the Kingpin murdered a woman Poindexter cared about. When Daredevil reveals this to Poindexter, the psychopath goes on a killing spree at Fisk's wedding reception. This gives Matt the perfect opportunity to slip in to the Presidential Hotel the back way, leading to a brilliant three-way battle between Daredevil, Wilson Fisk, and Poindexter.
Related: Daredevil Season 3 Villain Bullseye's Mysterious Comic Book Origins
In the end, Daredevil is able to force Wilson Fisk to agree to go back behind bars, and to leave Matt and his friends alone. Fisk will do this because Matt knows Vanessa was becoming implicated in his world, and threatens to find evidence against Mrs. Fisk. Kingpin can't abide the idea that Vanessa will wind up in jail. Bloody, beaten and defeated, he returns to his cell.
Nelson, Murdock & Page
Daredevil season 3 reconciles Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, and Karen Page. It forces Matt to face the fact that he needs his friends, and he stops pushing them away, which gives Foggy the chance to pitch an idea. He suggests they get the band back together, establishing the new law firm of Nelson, Murdock & Page. Matt's in favor, admitting he had a similar idea, and when Karen protests that she isn't a lawyer, he points out that she's a great investigator. As he notes, she's a whole lot more stable than Jessica Jones.
It's a poetic close to the series, ending Daredevil's life in a similar place to how it began back in season 1. And yet, each one of the three has grown so much as a person over the course of the years. Matt is learning that he needs people, and he's opened up and revealed his secret identity to both Foggy and Karen. Foggy is a confident attorney in his own right, having demonstrated his skills and even made a bid to become DA. And Karen is no longer the secretary (sorry, office administrator) but is now employing her investigative skills in helping collect evidence.
Page 2 of 3: The Birth of Bullseye
Bullseye Is Born
Daredevil season 3 introduced viewers to Dex Poindexter, a name that will be familiar to any readers of the comics. That's one of the identities traditionally associated with Bullseye, one of Daredevil's most ferocious foes, an assassin with disturbing marksmanship skills. The Marvel/Netflix version is a sociopathic FBI agent who gradually falls under Wilson Fisk's influence. The Kingpin manipulates Poindexter into suiting up as a Daredevil impostor, and the FBI agent proves more than a match for the Man Without Fear in several brutal battles. He's also responsible for a number of atrocities, murdering witnesses and even a priest while wearing the Daredevil mask. Unfortunately for Fisk, Bullseye ultimately learns that the Kingpin has manipulated him, and turns against his boss.
Bullseye is badly injured in the final three-way battle, with Fisk managing to break his back by slamming his body against the edge of a brick wall. A final scene revealed that Poindexter agreed to undergo experimental surgery to repair his back; the camera focused in upon his eyes, and showed a Bullseye in them. Daredevil season 3, then, is an origin story for Bullseye.
Related: Daredevil Introduced Bullseye In Season 1 (Then Forgot About Him)
In the comics, Bullseye's back was broken in the classic Daredevil #181. It's one of the most famous Daredevil issues of all time, in which Bullseye murdered Elektra before being taken down by Daredevil - falling from a height, and refusing to allow Daredevil to save him. Bullseye ultimately wound up undergoing a surgical procedure that implanted the unbreakable metal Adamantium in his spine. The rights to Adamantium currently sit with Fox, but will become fully available to Marvel when the Disney/Fox acquisition concludes on January 1, 2019. So, it's entirely possible Marvel could choose to do a comic-book-accurate plot here, with Bullseye emerging from these experiments more dangerous than ever.
Vanessa Is More Dangerous Than Kingpin
Vanessa returns to Wilson Fisk's side towards the end of Daredevil season 3, and she swiftly proves to be even more dangerous than the Kingpin. She insists on being involved in every part of the Kingpin's world, but she's less cautious, and frankly seems even more bloodthirsty. In one significant scene, she rejects the advice to leave FBI Agent Ray Nadeem alive, instead telling Fisk to have him killed because she doesn't believe in leaving threats around. Ironically, this decision ultimately leads to Fisk's undoing; had Nadeem not been shot, his statement would have been considered hearsay and thus inadmissible in court.
Under the terms of his deal with Daredevil, the Kingpin is going to prison, but his wife is staying out. Wilson Fisk will take sole blame for his criminal enterprises, portraying Vanessa as little more than a trophy wife who had no idea what he was really involved in. But as the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa will inherit all his wealth. She's already shown all the instincts of a crime boss in her own right, and she could easily choose to take over the Kingpin's operation. If she does, Daredevil season 3 demonstrates that Vanessa will be a very dangerous figure indeed.
Page 3 of 3: Set Up for Daredevil Season 4
Daredevil Season 3 Is About Matt Murdock Becoming The Man Without Fear
At the end of Daredevil season 3, Matt Murdock speaks at Father Lantom's funeral. It's a powerful speech, and it serves an important purpose in that it outlines the show's narrative theme. Daredevil season 3 is all about conquering of fear. As Matt reflects, Father Lantom's goal for Matt was that he become a man without fear; a man who stops pushing others away, fearing they will leave him or that he'll let them down, but who instead draws his friends close. That's smartly symbolized by Matt's decision to pay one more visit to his newly-discovered mother, a beautiful hint that he's almost ready for forgiveness and reconciliation.
In truth, almost all the characters in Daredevil season 3 must face their fears. Karen, for example, is forced to confront her fear that she is beyond redemption for the deaths of her brother and James Wesley. She first tells Matt about Wesley, and then, moments later, blurts out the truth about her brother's death as well; it's as though the pressure has been building up inside her all these years, and she just can't keep them in any longer. When Matt accepts her, offering her love instead of rejection, her fears crumble to dust.
Related: Deborah Ann Woll Interested in Karen Page Spinoff
The Kingpin's arc, however, is very different. As his speech in the final episode indicates, he's essentially a prisoner to his fear of losing Vanessa. That fear, more potent than any locks or chains, is what will keep him behind bars in future. Where the heroes of Daredevil season 3 conquer their fears, the Kingpin is conquered by his. He can never truly be a threat again - well, as Karen notes, at least not unless Vanessa gets run over by a bus.
Set Up for Daredevil Season 4
So what can we expect from the (surely inevitable) fourth season of Daredevil? Ultimately we have a new status quo, one in which Matt Murdock has conquered his fears and now has a certain lightness of heart that we've never seen in the Marvel Netflix shows before. It's almost reminiscent of the classic Silver Age Daredevil, who had something of a buccaneering spirit. Matt and his friends have established a new practice, but they've stopped keeping secrets from one another, and they stand more united than ever before. We can safely presume Matt and Karen will restart their relationship.
But what of Daredevil? The red suit is tarnished now, a symbol of bloodshed and violence, and the man Daredevil would go to for another costume is imprisoned. It's possible Matt will simply stick with the black duds, but he could also instead choose to opt for another suit instead. Perhaps we'll see another of the classic costumes adapted for Daredevil season 4.
Where recent Marvel Netflix have ended with large amounts of setup, though, Daredevil season 3 feels like it's come close to wrapping up its story - with the one exception being that ominous tease that Poindexter is finally being transformed into Bullseye. It's clear that Bullseye is destined to return, most likely in Daredevil season 4, and the groundwork for his dangerous obsession with Daredevil and Karen Page has most certainly been laid.
More: Daredevil Season 3 Suggests How Marvel Netflix Will Avoid Infinity War
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