Matthew Lillard's Daredevil: Born Again Character Is Connected To A Major Marvel Villain

Contains spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2, Episode 1 – "The Northern Star"

Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the excellent first season of "Daredevil: Born Again." The show had Matt dealing with conflicts from his past while deciding on a new path for himself as Daredevil going forward. Season 2 not only pits Daredevil and New York's other heroes against a hostile Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) but also introduces some more connections between Daredevil and the rest of the MCU.

Matthew Lillard joins the cast of Season 2 as Mr. Charles, a CIA operative who is directly involved in the brewing vigilante war in New York City. In the very first episode of the season, we learn that Mr. Charles might have a connection to an MCU villain who is only getting more important as time goes on. During the episode, Mr. Charles arrives at a meeting between Mayor Fisk and the Attorney General (Ty Jones), who are discussing the mayor's crackdown on vigilantes in New York. Afterward the Attorney General gets a phone call from a mysterious, and seriously ticked off, third party who he calls "Ms. de Fontaine."

There's only one character in the MCU who fans know with that name. The last time fans saw CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), she basically helped create the villain in 2025's "Thunderbolts*" and it now seems like she's taking an interest in what Mayor Fisk is doing in New York. Her call coinciding with Mr. Charles' arrival could have big implications for Daredevil and his companions going forward, especially considering de Fontaine's sketchy past in the MCU.

Mr. Charles is working for the CIA during the events of "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2. Because of that, we have to assume that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine ordered him to head to New York City. The season premiere didn't give us many hints about what de Fontaine is planning with Mr. Charles, but her history inside and outside the MCU just might.

In the world of Marvel comics, de Fontaine has often played the role of a villain. Like most spy characters, her morality is a shady gray, and she's always trying to figure out how to benefit herself in any given situation. There's a weird reason why the MCU's Fontaine wasn't a villain when she was first introduced, but she's definitely been moving in a villainous direction since then. In "Thunderbolts*" Fontaine turned Bob (Lewis Pullman) into a superpowered weapon called The Sentry and tried to kill the titular team. She managed to turn the movie's main disaster into a PR win by naming the New Avengers, but it's clear that she's still looking for a way to get some supercharged muscle under her control.

Mr. Charles seems to be intervening in Mayor Fisk's campaign against vigilantes, but it's possible that he's really just on a recruiting mission for de Fontaine. It's possible that de Fontaine is going to use the mayor's efforts to pressure heroes into working for her. Whatever she's doing, fans can rest assured that it isn't for the greater good.