DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Season 3 May Bring Back the Hand With a Massive MCU Retcon
Marvel Studios’ decision to creatively reset Daredevil: Born Again ended up being exactly what the character needed. After the original version of the series drifted too far from the grounded intensity that defined the Netflix era, the studio course-corrected and leaned back into the street-level grit fans had been asking for.
That shift paid off. The first season finally bridged the gap between the Defenders Saga and the main MCU timeline, digging into the uneasy history between Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk after the events of Daredevil Season 3.
While the restructuring resulted in some uneven pacing early on, the series ultimately re-established what makes Daredevil work. The stakes felt personal again. The city mattered. That confidence clearly carried forward, as Marvel renewed the show through Season 3 and greenlit a standalone special centered on Frank Castle, played by Jon Bernthal.
Now, if a new report is accurate, the third season could make one of the most dramatic narrative pivots the MCU has attempted.
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Season 3 of Born Again is planning a major retcon by reintroducing the Hand as the primary antagonist.
As always, insider reports should be taken cautiously given how inconsistent leaks can be. That said, this rumor lines up with persistent chatter about Elektra’s return, portrayed by Elodie Yung. Considering Elektra’s deep biological and mystical ties to the Hand, her reappearance would naturally open the door for the organization’s resurgence.
During the Netflix era, the Hand was portrayed as a secretive group obsessed with immortality, using a substance derived from dragons to extend their lives.
Their story appeared to end during The Defenders, when Midland Circle collapsed and seemingly wiped them out. Bringing them back now would be a risky move, but it also creates an opportunity to finally do justice to one of Daredevil’s most iconic enemies.
Among longtime fans, the MCU’s earlier depiction of the Hand is often viewed as a misfire. In the comics, they are an ancient, terrifying cult steeped in dark mysticism.
On screen, they frequently came across as another criminal syndicate with corporate ambitions. Their demonic roots were largely stripped away, replaced with a more grounded but less compelling quest for longevity that ended in a clean and final defeat.
If Born Again chooses to resurrect the Hand, the writers will need to thread the needle carefully. The timeline must still make sense, and their return needs a believable explanation.
Marvel has navigated this kind of reset before. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings reframed the Ten Rings, moving past the parody version of the Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley and reestablishing the organization as a legitimate global power.
A similar approach could allow Born Again to acknowledge the Hand’s prior defeat while revealing a truer, more dangerous version of the group operating in the shadows.
This direction would also allow the series to finally pay off one of the most intriguing dangling threads from the original Daredevil.
Early in Season 1, a mysterious warrior named Stone, played by Jasen R. Turner, was shown reporting to Scott Glenn’s Stick, teasing a much larger conflict between the Chaste and the Hand. That storyline was never revisited, leaving fans with unanswered questions about the fate of both Stone and the larger supernatural war he hinted at.
A Hand-centric third season could open the door to darker territory inspired by comic arcs like Shadowland or the influence of the Beast. After years of watching Matt Murdock clash with Fisk’s political and criminal empire, a shift toward demonic mythology could be exactly the shake-up the series needs.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premieres on Disney+ this March.