This Week’s Shocking Episode of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Almost Had a VERY Different Ending

Episode 7 of Daredevil: Born Again ended in shocking fashion when Buck (Arty Froushan) killed Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini).

Over the course of the series, Buck and Daniel had grown close, developing a friendship that paralleled Matt and Foggy.

Photo: Nerdist

In a pivotal moment, however, Daniel chose to protect BB Urich, who had been leaking Kingpin’s plans to the public.

At first, it appeared that Daniel was leading Urich to her demise as he tried to bring her to an apartment where Buck lay in wait. Ultimately, however, he returned BB’s phone and told her to run.

Photo: Also Nerdist

He then enters the apartment alone, where he tussles with Buck before the latter kills him with a single shot.

That, however, is not how the scene was originally filmed.

The Original Ending

In an interview with Variety, showrunner Dario Scardapane revealed that, initially, Daniel survived the encounter.

Photo: Nerdist

“The way that it would have gone is that he stayed in the Fisk administration,” he says. “He goes in to resign and the new interim mayor is like, ‘I’m not taking your resignation. I’m going to keep you close because I don’t trust you.’”

For his part, Buck would have lied to Kingpin to spare Daniel’s life.

Source: Marvel Studios

“Buck had to face up to Fisk, but he doesn’t admit it,” Froushan tells Variety. “He lies to Fisk’s face, basically, and says, ‘I killed him,’ but obviously he doesn’t.”

The Change

Long after the scene was filmed, Scardapane was watching the episode in the editing room when he realized the story felt unearned.

Photo: Marvel

Keeping Daniel alive, he determined, “was kind of meh and a non-story… Sometimes the arc is built in and you’re extending it a little too far. Like, wait a second. He and Buck, in their twisted friendship, both had to be true to who they were. That’s the last moment because everything afterwards seemed kind of like a weird, lame coda that didn’t pay off.”

Eventually, Scardapane reworked the scene in editing and had Buck kill Daniel. The final result was exactly what the team had hoped for.

Photo: Threads

“In the editing room, we’re like, ‘We should try this,’” Scardapane says. “They mocked it up really fast, and you could have heard a pin drop in the editing room after that, like it is at the end of the episode.

Then, he had to break the news to Gandolfini.

“I was like, ‘Dude, I’ve got the worst news,’” Scardapane recalled. “And he’s like, ‘I know exactly what you’re gonna say, and it’s the right choice.’ He felt in that moment that there’s no way he’s getting out of that apartment. It was funny because there were scenes shot of him after that moment, and it really feels like we’re telling the wrong story here. I think it’s a testament to how much we all love him, that we knew this character probably should not survive but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do it.”