Not even quality could save Daredevil: Born Again

Daredevil: Born Again is a fascinating case.

We expected a tame, family-friendly version of the show. But the first season was every bit as violent as its predecessors on Netflix. It was also primarily set up, and the plodding pace repelled some viewers.

However, season 2’s payoff was worth the wait. We got the same gritty action as the Netflix version, but better choreographed (because Disney gave the show a decent budget). Kingpin went to war with New York in a literal sense, and the results were glorious.

Matt’s vendetta against Bullseye was satisfying in unexpected ways, pushing his faith to the breaking point. Karen was finally allowed to shine, and even though he perished in the previous season, Foggy was still the heart of the show.

And yet, despite exceeding every expectation, Daredevil: Born Again season 2 severely underperformed. It lost 50 per cent of the audience that season 1 drew, and no one understands why. Why would a show as well-crafted as *Daredevil: Born Again *flop? Well, you can blame season 1’s pacing issues (which I never noticed) or the fact that many Daredevil fans don’t have Disney+.

But those factors lose their relevance once you remember one significant variable. The original *Daredevil *on Netflix was a critical hit. Viewers immediately ranked it among the best live-action comic book shows when it debuted in 2015.

However, Daredevil on Netflix was never the ratings juggernaut people think it was. In fact, the third season on Netflix also experienced a notable reduction in unique viewers. This is where most of us fail; we assume that a show’s quality directly correlates to its popularity.

We also think that everyone shares our passion for what we like. It will only take you a few minutes of Googling to realize that many of your favourite shows were never as big as you remember.

Take *The Wire *from the early 2000s, which critics and audiences continue to hail as the greatest TV show of all time. That praise contrasts sharply with the show’s poor ratings. Season 1 had an average of four million viewers per episode, which placed it on the same footing as The Sopranos Season1 (3.5 million viewers).

But by its final season, The Sopranos was pulling a staggering 18.2 million viewers every week. Compare that to season 5 of* The Wire*, which struggled to secure 1 million viewers per episode. Firefly, the true greatest TV show of all Time, recorded an average of 4.5 million viewers, which was not great by early 2000s standards.

It ranked 98th in Nielsen’s Ratings. But the praise it receives in 2026 makes you think that Firefly was the Game of Thrones of its time. It wasn’t. You could argue that Hollywood had no idea what it had with Firefly in 2002, hence the premature cancellation.

But surely, they could tell in 2013 that Hannibal was the best-written psychological thriller on TV. And yet, it was also cancelled due to poor ratings. Now, I could end this conversation by encouraging you to watch your favourite shows as they air rather than waiting to binge them months later.

But let’s be honest. Uganda has no role to play in this debate. Yes, Ugandans love Daredevil: Born Again. Unfortunately, most of you watched the pirated version, so your views are not counted, which makes our country partly to blame for Daredevil: Born Again’s abysmal viewership. It won’t get a 4th season because we like free things.

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