Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Finale Delivers A Rare MCU Endgame Battle Done Right

Contains spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2, Episode 8 — "The Southern Cross"

No big CGI fights. No contrived last-minute battles between the hero and the villain. None of the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe endgame face-plants that even otherwise superb shows like "WandaVision" are subject to. Instead, "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 finale "The Southern Cross" gives us an elegant conclusion where both Matt "Daredevil" Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) fight the physical embodiment of consequences. 

Daredevil's team battles the remainder of the Anti-Vigilance Task Force, who are out to kill them on Kingpin's orders after Matt foiled Fisk's plans by winning the Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) court case. Meanwhile, Fisk has finally pushed the city too far and has to tear through a wave of citizens out for blood after his period of oppression. When they meet, a mentally and psychically exhausted Kingpin — who's still dealing with the intense trauma of losing Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) — is promptly overwhelmed by the mob.

A lesser show would have made this the villain's last stand. However, the critically acclaimed second season of "Daredevil: Born Again" chooses otherwise, with Daredevil stepping in to defuse the situation. The two enemies simply talk it out, both agreeing to step back from their feud to save their beloved city. It's perhaps not a surprising turn of events given everything that's led to this moment, but it's certainly a refreshing one.

"Moon Knight," "Agatha All Along," the aforementioned "WandaVision," and several other Marvel Cinematic Universe shows share one particular weakness: They might focus on some pretty deep things for much of their runs, but they all drop the ball at the very end in favor of a CGI-heavy final battle sequence. This MCU issue has played out show after show, but it's delightfully absent from "Daredevil: Born Again."

Kingpin and Daredevil already had their big battle in "Born Again" Season 2, Episode 6, "Requiem." As such, there was no need for another round in the finale, and, to its credit, the show recognizes this. What we get instead is the battle over the city that closes the book on their mutual vendetta — at least for now — and serves the themes of this refined and confident Marvel series at large.

Of course, it's worth noting that "Born Again" is a descendant of "Daredevil," the best Marvel Netflix series. The original show rarely relied on overt CGI madness, so it makes sense that "Born Again" would steer clear of this, too. Still, it's impressive that "The Southern Cross" manages to do so in a way that not only avoids traditional MCU final fights but still delivers plenty of action.

"Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 is streaming on Disney+.