‘Daredevil: Born Again’ – Does Michael Gandolfini’s ‘Daniel Blade’ Exist in Marvel Comics?

Daredevil: Born Again is all set to officially welcome the titular superhero back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after his brief appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It has been almost 7 years since the superhero’s solo Netflix series came to an end and the upcoming series is finally going to give some fans what they have wanted for years.

In the trailer dropped recently, besides Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdoch and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, many other characters appear. One such character is Michael Gandolfini, and fans can’t help but speculate about his on-screen role as Daniel Blade – wondering if he has any roots in Marvel Comics.

Is Michael Gandolfini’s Daniel Blade really a character in Marvel Comics?

Daredevil is one of the most acclaimed live-action superheroes, thanks to the eponymous TV series that aired for 3 seasons on Netflix from 2015 to 2018. The show was set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and shared continuity with the films. After Netflix canceled the show post the third season, fans were very displeased and demanded its renewal.

In 2021, Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio began reprising their roles in different MCU projects, and the revival series is scheduled to be released in March this year. In the recently released trailer (via Marvel Entertainment on YouTube), Matt and Wilson’s conversation at a New York City diner serves as the backdrop to show the history between them.

The trailer gives a look at quite a few new characters including the Muse and the White Tiger. Michael Gandolfini’s Daniel Blade appears towards the end of the trailer. He has a blink-and-you-miss appearance as he can be seen walking down the street. The striking thing about this character is that he has never appeared in the original series nor has he appeared in the Marvel Comics. This brings us to the question: who is Daniel Blade?

It is quite possible that the character is entirely new and the studio’s own addition to the show. There is also a good chance that the name is just a guise for a younger version of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin or either of his two sons, Richard Fisk and Byron ‘Butch’ Fisk. While Richard was the red-hood-wearing villain The Rose who had a complicated relationship with his father, Byron has a much-underdeveloped storyline that could be explored in this show.

Vincent D’Onofrio has claimed that Daredevil: Born Again‘s story is “bigger and crazier”

The consistent buildup of tension between Daredevil and Kingpin can be felt in the trailer. Other than them and Daniel Blade, other older characters like The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), Foggy Nelson, and Karen Page are also seen in the trailer.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Vincent D’Onofrio has said that fans should be ready for the most unexpected events to take place.

Anything on our show is, nine out of 10 times, leading to something that’s even bigger and crazier. For Fisk, this journey is a path to more control.

Judging from the scenes in the trailer, Fisk will be running for mayor of New York City. This was first hinted in the finale of the series Echo, which was released last year. Elsewhere in the interview, Cox revealed that he and D’Onofrio made sure that the interactions between their characters were not too many.

I believe you have to be really careful when and how you bring these two people into the same room because we have to feel like when they meet, it is an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. It has to feel like it could and will explode. The more you bring us together with no consequence, the less that illusion can maintain itself.

They needed to save all that tension for it to result in something much more dangerous instead of letting it dissipate by making Matt and Wilson interact frequently. Hopefully, it will have the desired impact on fans.

Daredevil: Born Again will premiere on Disney+ on March 4.