One of the most discussed elements in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 4, is the Watcher’s cameo in the third act of the episode. Yes, you read that right: Uatu, the Watcher, from What If…?, has a cameo in the latest Born Again episode. This would mark the first MCU project since the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 post-credit scene that a Watcher (it should be noted that Uatu probably was not there) in live-action.
Since 2021’s What If…? Season 1, Marvel has followed the tradition of putting The Watcher (probably Uatu) in the background during or right before major MCU events. Now, Uatu’s appearance in the third act of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s fourth episode, “Gloves Off,” sets up darker episodes, because something similar happened in animated MCU projects as well.
Uatu’s MCU cameos before Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 explained:
Apart from the three seasons of What If…?, fans noticed Uatu in other MCU projects like Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1. But the noticeable The Watcher cameo in an animated MCU project is in X-Men’97 Season 1. We can see The Watcher’s silhouette in the sky amongst the celebrations in Genosha in the fifth episode.
However, things take a dark turn in just a few minutes as the time-traveling mutant, Cable, tries to evacuate the people, only to fail. Soon, a giant sentinel wipes out the entire nation of Genosha, killing a lot of characters, including Gambit. The destruction of Genosha is a major event that seems to have been set as a canonical event, meaning it was always meant to happen.
The events of Genosha set the tone for a darker second half of X-Men’97 Season 1. This is why many believe that Vanessa’s death in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 4, was also a canon event.
The Watcher’s Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 cameo explained:
The third act of last week’s Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 focuses on the charity match in which Wilson Fisk is fighting. The Mayor wins the match, and he is presented with the championship belt. One of the audience members is Wilson’s wife, Vanessa, whom Wilson tried to send out of New York for her protection earlier in the episode.
But Vanessa arrives to see her husband fight and sees him win the match. After winning the match, Wilson is given a championship belt, and Vanessa walks into the ring to celebrate his win. But things take a dark turn as Bullseye attacks the Fogwell Gym, the place where the wrestling match is taking place. Poindexter throws a glass figurine of New York towards Wilson, and he blocks it using the belt, shattering the glass.
Wilson takes a gun and aims it at Poindexter, but that’s the precise moment that Daredevil intervenes. The Man Without Fear kicks Bullseye out of the gym’s window. As that happens, the scene cuts to an exterior shot of the window. The shattered glass and the two ceiling lights make a perfect outline for The Watcher’s silhouette.
Many fans pointed out the similarity to The Watcher’s outline in the gym window. Now, Brad Winderbaum confirmed that it was indeed The Watcher noticing the devastating events, as right after that, we see Vanessa fall unconscious after a shattered glass lodges into her head in the closing minutes of this Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 episode. As of now, her fate is up in the air, but many believe that she is dead.
The Watcher cameo only points towards Vanessa probably dying due to her injury. Since the beginning, she has served as the humanizing presence in Fisk’s life, and her passing could only mean that Fisk is going to enact more and more brutal policies. Even Vincent D’Onofrio hinted at something like this in the ScreenRant interview:
“It’s going to add in a major way to his rage. And the more they do and the resistance to topple my regime, I think the more he wants to get rid of all of them, every one of them. I think what’s happened with Vanessa has rocked him in a way where he’s different than he’s ever been before. He’s not thinking completely clear. And just so you know, the effects, that doesn’t end at the end of this season. The repercussions of her death and what it’s done to him begins the third season.”
Did you notice The Watcher cameo in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Epsiode 4?
Edited by Ravikumar N