Being the Devil Has Its Consequences

DGIX

April 2, 2025

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 7.With more than sixty victims to his name, neither New York City nor the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen a serial killer as prolific as Muse. The artistic sadist has been making quite a name for himself in Daredevil: Born Again, keeping his reprehensible activities in the shadows — until recently. Now, Muse is ready to create his masterpiece, and it’s one that is going to cause significant problems for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox).

With both Matt and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) getting up to their old tricks, it’s only a matter of time before the two come to blows again. The seeds have already been planted, but before their feud can be reignited, there’s one problem they need to take care of first. Muse needs to be taken off the board by any means necessary, but, unfortunately, for a specific set of characters, they won’t have to wait long to see what he has planned next.

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Now that Matt has fully embraced his destiny as Daredevil, that means he is going to get banged up quite a bit. Muse has proven to be a surprisingly formidable fighter, and Matt’s tussle with the serial killer left some sizable wounds and bruises on the Man Without Fear. None of it goes unnoticed by Matt’s girlfriend, Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), but some steamy fun time in the shower helps take her mind off it. Heather is still very much suspicious of Matt’s strange behavior, but she inevitably shrugs it off and heads to work.

One person who doesn’t ignore it is Fisk, who suspects that Matt has donned the Daredevil moniker again following evidence found in Muse’s hideout. The artistic serial killer managed to escape in the last episode, with Matt just barely being able to rescue an abducted Angela del Torr (Camila Rodriguez). Fisk still has an unfathomable amount of leverage over Matt, given that he knows for a fact that he’s the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, but it also could throw his future political aspirations into disarray if he concedes his knowledge of a known vigilante’s identity. To combat this impending threat, Fisk puts together a vigilante-hunting task force of New York’s least finest, those being the same officers who have used the Punisher’s (Jon Bernthal) image to justify police brutality. With these abusive thugs at his command, Fisk aims to target both Daredevil and Muse, and the mayor takes another step back into his life of crime.

While Fisk uses his own personal private army to find New York’s new serial killer, Matt is back into full Daredevil mode, trying to pick up the trail left by Muse. After the task force leaves Muse’s lair, Matt jumps in to see what clues he can find amidst this web of depraved cruelty. What he finds not only reveals who Muse is, but he’s also been closer to Matt’s personal life than he ever could have imagined.

Muse’s Identity Is Revealed in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episode 7 (and It’s a Big Letdown)

Muse in a white mask with black eyes in the Daredevil: Born Again Trailer. — Image via Marvel Studios

While Murdock and Fisk are hot on Muse’s trail, Heather is continuing her normal duties as a therapist. Today, she’s meeting with a client named Bastian (Hunter Doohan), who was very briefly introduced as a fan of Glenn’s work back in Episode 2 of Daredevil: Born Again. A seemingly routine therapy session suddenly takes a turn when Bastian starts to get more and more cryptic about his disturbing fantasies, even implying that his family upbringing gives him immense joy for… oh, who are we kidding? You know where we’re going with this. Bastian is Muse.

After being introduced as a ruthlessly creative serial killer who has already slaughtered dozens of people before being discovered, Muse being unmasked as someone who had exactly one line of dialogue several episodes ago is a curious decision. The character had so much going for him as a demented version of Banksy, coming off the heels of an incredibly choreographed fight sequence in Episode 6. For that amazing setup to be almost immediately upended in the most cliché and derivative way possible is a crying shame and does a real disservice to an excellent character from the comics. Since his comics counterpart’s identity is never revealed, the decision to do so in Daredevil: Born Again sucks away any intrigue or suspense that was established prior.

Anyway, now that Muse’s identity has been revealed in a predictable manner, it’s only appropriate that the rest of his journey also ends predictably. Viewing Heather as the subject of his masterpiece, Muse begins putting the pieces in place to use her as a canvas for his next murder. Things go haywire when Daredevil breaks in to save the day, leading to another scuffle between the hero and serial killer. However, it’s actually Heather who puts an end to Muse’s reign of terror when she shoots the masked murderer, an awkward conclusion for a once-promising antagonist.

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And I want more of it!

Muse’s Death Is a Gift and Curse in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episode 7

By the time Fisk and his newly deputized squad of Punisher fanatics arrive on the scene, all they find is Muse’s body and more than enough evidence that Daredevil was involved. Even if the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen didn’t pull the trigger on the gun that killed Muse, this all but confirms the mayor’s suspicions that he’s back. Now the only question is: What comes next?

The demise of Muse should be a win-win for both Matt and Fisk. Murdock can rest easy knowing that a savage murderer is off the streets, and Fisk can fully take credit for justice being served. However, underneath all of that is the underlying feeling that both of these Marvel icons have fully returned to being who they really are. That’s good news for a fearless hero like Daredevil, but spells doom for a villainous crime lord like the Kingpin.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere Tuesdays on Disney+.