Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Againdelivered one of only a few bottle episodes in the history of Marvel Television with its fifth installment this season. Titled, “With Interest,” Episode 5 excludes most of the series’ regular supporting cast, instead surrounding lead Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) with an assortment of guest stars, including Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur), father of fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroKamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), as Matt, works to foil a bank robbery.
While Marvel’s return to more traditional, episodic structures of television storytelling has helped recent series distinguish themselves more strongly from the franchise’s films, the premise and plot of “With Interest” are noticeably similar to those of an iconic film outside the superhero genre,Spike Lee’sInside Man, which is also about a bank robbery, andthose who watch both projects closely will notice that they even share a filming location.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Shot Its Episode in the Same Place as ‘Inside Man’
While appearing on thePhase Heropodcast, the director of “With Interest,”Jeffrey Nachmanoff, confirmed thatmuch of the episode was shot in the same building that doubled as the bank for Lee’s film.The real building is located at 20 Exchange Placein New York City and had, in reality, previously housed a Wall Street bank, though the space used for the productions was repurposed into a cigar bar by the timeInside Man(which was released in 2006) was filmed. Nachmanoff also noted that he assumesBorn Againwill be the last production to utilize the location in its current incarnation, as the interior is set to be demolished.
Taking place on St. Patrick’s Day, “With Interest” begins with Matt visiting a branch of the fictional New York Mutual Bank in the hopes of securing a loan for his law firm. Although complimentary of the firm’s altruistic work providing legal services to those with low incomes and others in need, Yusuf regretfully informs him that it doesn’t meet the bank’s requirements for a loan and Matt leaves before a team of Irish criminals led by Devlin (Cillian O’Sullivan) enters the building and takes its occupants hostage. However,Matt notices the beginning of the robbery withhis superhuman hearingand returns to the bank, pretending to be unaware of the situation due to his blindness, and attempts to use his legal knowledge to talk the robbers down, before the escalating danger of the situation eventually forces him to also covertly fight some of them with his ninja combat training.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’s Most Controversial Episode Is as Close to a One-Shot Comic Come to Life as I’ve Ever Seen
And I want more of it!
InInside Man, the building doubles as a branch of the fictional Manhattan Trust Bank, which is robbed by a crew led by Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) (who introduces himself to the audience through fourth-wall-breaking narration in the first scene) that also takes hostages.NYPD Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) is assigned to serve as the lead hostage negotiatorand quickly notices both Russell’s high intellect and unusual, relatively non-violent tactics. Meanwhile, bank founder Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) hires influential and amoral fixer Madeleine White (Jodie Foster) to ensure that the contents of his safe deposit box at the bank are not stolen or revealed to the public.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’s Location Filming Is Key to Its Style
As another story that explores ambiguities related to crime and how the law and justice aren’t always properly aligned,Born Againis a sensible project in which to include anInside Manhomage, and there are more connections between the film and episode than just the location. Devlin’s crew is after a specific item in one of the safe deposit boxes, with their hiring being a result of the tensions between former mob bosses Wilson (Vincent D’Onofrio) andVanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer)and other members of the New York underworld that have been ongoing since Wilson was elected mayor. And, without spoiling exactly what they are,both Devlin and Matt use similar tricks to those Dalton employs to outsmart his opponents.
The connection alsodraws extra attention toBorn Again’s commitment to on-location filming, which is one of its significant strengths. Although the new series makes heavier andmore obvious use of CGI and similar visual effects than the NetflixDaredevilshow did, which has had some unfortunate consequences for certain action scenes, it follows in its predecessor’s footsteps by frequently filming in real locations in New York and the surrounding areas. This separates both shows from similar projects in the superhero and related genres, which often either film in less busy locations that are disguised to resemble famous locales or use extensive visual effects even for the creation of settings. While many fans prefer the more heavily shadowed, noir-inspired cinematography of the originalDaredevil,Born Again’s aesthetic is at least similarly authentic, helping the series appear as cinematic as prestigious films likeInside Man.
Daredevil: Born Again
