If you were reeling from Daredevil: Born Again's latest shocking death, you are not alone. Even the actors involved in the scene did not initially know that the sequence would end in a character's demise.

A Brutal Season of Loss

While many television series play it safe by protecting their key players, Daredevil: Born enough has been anything but cautious. The show has consistently raised the stakes by removing significant characters from the board. Recent casualties in the series include:

  • Foggy Nelson
  • Vanessa Fisk
  • Daniel Blake

In the climax of Episode 7, Daniel Blake attempts to help BB Ulrich escape the grasp of Wilson Fisk and his fixer, Buck Cashman. The situation turns grim when Blake is violently interrogated by Buck before being shot in the head and left to bleed out in a dark room.

The Secret Behind Daredevil: Born Again's Latest Shocking Death

The decision to kill off Daniel Blake was not part of the original production plan. According to showrunner Dario Scardapane, the twist emerged while the team was experimenting during the editing phase.

In an interview with Variety, Scardapane revealed that the post-production team added a gunshot effect to the final scene to facilitate the change. In the original script, Buck would have allowed Blake to live, though he eventually would have had to admit the truth to Fisk. Ultimately, the creators felt that keeping him alive would only drag out his arc and missed an opportunity for a heroic sacrifice.

Michael Gandolfini on the Unexpected Twist

Actor Michael Gandolfini, who portrays Daniel Blake, was just as surprised by the change in direction. Speaking with TV Insider, he explained that the production had already moved past the point of filming the character's survival.

“So, the crazy part is Daniel originally lives, and we shot [some scenes for] Episode 8, and as we were going through, I was just shocked,” Gandolfini said. "I was so grateful that he had this amazing arc, not every non-superhero character gets that, and I was so lucky that they gave it to me, and after we had shot [Episode] 7 and we were shooting 8, there was this weird thing of like, 'OK, he had this great run, this great arc, what’s next?' I don’t think there’s really anywhere for him, and we had talked about some ideas, but these seasons are made in a vacuum; you can’t really think about Season 3. And I was just like, 'I don’t know, it feels weird, it just doesn’t really make sense.'"

Despite the sudden end to his character's journey, Gandolfini felt the creative decision honored the character's potential.

“So they came back to me, and they were like, 'Hey, so we actually are going to kill you in [Episode 7].' And it just felt so right. It felt so freeing, and I remember saying, 'Hey, if I didn’t think it was right, I’d fight it.' I love Daniel, but it’s so right. Where else is he gonna go? And he gets this little hero’s moment, and it just felt so great, I just felt so lucky.”