Daredevil: Born Again showrunner reveals why major death had to happen – and Charlie Cox's contribution to brutal scene

Foggy was a key pillar of the original show, not only serving as Matt Murdock/Daredevil's (Charlie Cox) best friend, but also his conscience, safety net, and grounding force.

But all of that has now been lost, after he was shot and killed by Benjamin 'Dex' Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) in the opening scenes of the new Disney Plus revival, leaving best friends Matt and Karen Page (played by Deborah Ann Woll) distraught.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, showrunner Dario Scardapane and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead break down why that heartbreaking death had to happen, Henson, Cox and Woll's crucial input, and where that now leaves us and Matt.

"The first thing is, it wasn't taken lightly," Scardapane explains.

"The second thing, which a lot of people don't know, is that the first iteration of [the show], the one I came into, that event had occurred, but it occurred off camera.

"And for me, when I came in to talk to [Marvel], I was like, 'This is so earth-shattering, it changes everything. We have to see it, and we have to feel it.'

"So that's why we built that whole sequence around it. Charlie's the one who came in and said, 'You should put it to the heartbeat.' So if Matt's world was going to get shattered to the point where he's going to put down the mask, we wanted to lean in 100 per cent."

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Scardapane adds: "Because if Foggy is his Jiminy Cricket, if he is his conscience, it's not just the loss of a family member. It's the loss of a part of himself that was holding him in check, that was maybe making him stop from crossing a line, and that has a ripple effect through this entire season, into the next season, and probably into the life of this character.

"Foggy will live within him, and that loss and its process of grief and rebuilding is a huge portion of our storytelling."

After a pause to process all of that, Scardapane sheepishly goes on to apologise, saying: "Sorry! I know it hurts."

When it came to the actual scene, directors Benson and Moorhead, who had never worked with Henson before, found his input key.

"We talked to him about it and there's something very personal about the scene that he shared with us, that helped us all connect to how we how we would play this," Moorhead explains.

"That's for him to tell but it brought us all together about it. Looking into his eyes and realising that we're coming in to direct his death scene - we've never worked together before, except for the scene prior, and he has been playing this character for almost a decade.

"We could see a world where it's like, this is the end of a whole universe and we just need to make sure that we absolutely get it right, and treat it with the pathos that we feel about it as fans of Foggy and as fans of the original show.

"It was really beautiful where we ended up with it. He really broke our hearts."

The scene required huge attention to detail from the writers, directors, and cast, with Moorhead recalling a significant conversation with actress Woll about how long Karen would take to spring into action after the death of her best friend.

"One of the bigger conversations was the moment that the blood hits her face - how long between that and her reacting?" he asks.

"Because she carries a gun in her purse, she understands how to defend herself, all of that. How long do we get between Foggy hitting the ground and her reacting to someone coming at her? Where it's shock and grief to 'I have to take action'.

"That was definitely one of our big conversations, just making sure that that felt authentic to her character and for the audience to process what's happening."

But, as Scardapane himself has said recently, Foggy and Karen were the heart of the original Daredevil. In fact, he said he was ready to walk away from the series if it was to be made without them.

So, where do we find that heart now? Scardapane passes the question to executive producer Sana Amanat, who says: "I think it is from that loss. I think he's searching for that [heart].

"I think what happens after that first episode is a time for Matt Murdock to figure out not only who he is, but where he can rest his head. Is there hope for Matt Murdock? Will there ever be hope for Matt Murdock, or is he just playing pretend?"

Daredevil: Born Again is streaming weekly on Disney Plus.

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