“Daredevil: Born Again” marks the official entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for most of the characters in the series — excluding Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, who first appeared in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and again in “She-Hulk,” along with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, who made appearances in “Hawkeye” and “Echo.”
The initial Netflix series was technically part of the broader MCU but rarely referenced it, focusing primarily on its own corner of street-level heroes. Up until now, “Born Again” has maintained this trend, lacking major crossovers with the larger MCU, aside from a few references here and there.
However, that changed with Episode 5. If you haven’t caught up with the other Marvel shows on Disney+, you might find yourself a bit confused.
To be fair, “Born Again” did connect to the larger universe with a brief glimpse of the Broadway marquee for “Rogers: The Musical,” which we first encountered in ‘Hawkeye.’ Beyond that, there have been no significant character appearances outside of those from the original Netflix “Daredevil” series.
In fact, we wouldn’t label the surprise character from episode 5 as major. He’s an unexpected choice to connect the threads, but oddly enough, it worked. The character in question? Yusuf Khan, portrayed by Mohan Kapur.
In the latest episode of “Daredevil: Born Again,” currently streaming on Disney+, Matt Murdock (Cox) visits the bank to secure a loan for his law firm. He’s supposed to meet with the manager, but unfortunately, the manager is unavailable, leading Matt to speak with the assistant manager, Yusuf.
During their conversation, Yusuf proudly mentions his daughter Kamala Khan — now recognized as the superhero Ms. Marvel. However, Daredevil has never heard of Ms. Marvel.
If you watched the “Ms. Marvel” series on Disney+ or “The Marvels,” you certainly know who Kamala Khan is. Here’s the brief version: she’s a mutant who can manipulate energy. Yes, a mutant, but not part of the X-Men.
Kamala is primarily known in Jersey City, but we also discovered at the end of “The Marvels” that she’s aspiring to form her own team. If Yusuf’s casual comment to Matt about Kamala being in Los Angeles is any indication, she might be taking steps in that direction.
Perhaps we’ll learn more if Matt gets the chance to visit Jersey City for dinner at the Khan household, as he was invited to do. But for now, “Daredevil: Born Again” has officially crossed over into the larger MCU.
“Daredevil: Born Again” is now streaming on Disney+.
