Marvel StudiosAfter an incendiary season finale that saw Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock finally stop running from their true natures, and then a year-long wait to find out exactly how New York City would explode in the fallout, Daredevil: Born Again has returned to Disney+ with an intriguing first episode that sees Matt and Karen finally go on the offense against their longtime enemy and resident immoveable object Wilson Fisk. Both the first and second season of the show, alongside being both a continuation and a reboot of the original Netflix series, is also pulling heavy inspiration from Chip Zdarsky’s acclaimed run on the character, which elevated The Kingpin to mayor of New York City and put him in control of a state-sanctioned anti-vigilante secret police force, while Matt Murdock wrestled with the effectuality of the law in the face of unfathomable judicial corruption. The run culminated in the Marvel Comics crossover Devil’s Reign, which pit Daredevil and multiple of his heroic partners against Kingpin and his forces; after Fisk was elected mayor in Born Again’s first season, many believed that the MCU was building to some sort of Devil’s Reign adaptation, although the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have snuffed out that potential flame.Regardless of any potential Spider-Man appearances, Born Again is wasting no time in introducing characters both new and old; some of them aiding Daredevil and some of them allying with The Kingpin. The trailer for the season revealed the return of Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, a gateway that could potentially lead to the return of other members of the Netflix Defenders team (no confirmation on that quite yet), and while a few other smaller yet familiar faces are set to pop up, there’s one mysterious character who already has fans running wild with speculation despite this being his first MCU appearance.Warning! Spoilers ahead for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s premiere.Sorry to disappoint but it doesn’t look like a wedding with Luke Cage is coming anytime soon. | Marvel StudiosIn the first episode of season 2, Matthew Lillard makes his official MCU debut as the impenetrable Mr. Charles, a fixer sent from up on high in Washington (directly under the command of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine) after Daredevil attacks a private freighter smuggling illicit weapons (and maybe more) under the jurisdiction of Mayor Fisk. The sinking of the freighter ends up drawing the attention of some people much further up the totem pole, who send in their own interloper to watch over Kingpin’s enterprises — enter Mr. Charles, a remarkably calm and collected logistics expert unafraid of seemingly anything, including the traditionally ruthless Wilson Fisk.Naturally, the internet has gone into super-sleuth mode trying to piece together the character’s secret identity, although the answer is much simpler than Mephisto or any of the other go-to theories from MCU fans. Mr. Charles does have a counterpart in Marvel Comics, but the character’s sole appearance is a non-canon one: he appears briefly as a businessman aiding the sinister Roxxon corporation in an issue of a special series published by Marvel in partnership with the Army and Airforce Exchange Service. Thus far the character has never appeared again, either out of canon or in the traditional 616 Marvel Universe.He’s certainly no less sinister without a mask or a secret identity. | Marvel StudiosThe Roxxon Corporation has reared its head multiple times in the MCU, from Agent Carter to Captain America: Brave New World, although not yet in any significant capacity. It’s possible that Mr. Charles is the seed of an arc that will grow much larger concerning the company, but truthfully the character is probably just a name lifted and repurposed from his singular comic appearance to be an enforcer of sorts, with his allegiances lying in Washington and the political and corporate interests therein.Both Daredevil: Born Again season 1 and the first episode of season 2 focus on Wilson Fisk’s attempts at legitimacy being stymied by people with much larger aspirations and far more resources than him: politicians and billionaires, the people who truly have the power to enforce their will upon the world (for both good and evil, but frequently evil). Only time will tell whether or not Lillard’s Mr. Charles is revealed to be a familiar, villainous face, but until then it’s safe to assume that his presence represents the true villain at the heart of the show: corrupt, weaponized bureaucracy.Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s premiere episode is streaming now on Disney+. New episodes release on Tuesdays.