Like many other fans, I was pleasantly surprised by how good Daredevil: Born Again’s first season was, considering the entire shebang was a “cobbled-together Frankenstein” (per the showrunner) that had to be reconstructed with a set number of reshoots available. Regardless of how anyone felt about those eps, all involved are sharing abundant praise for the upcoming Season 2 and saying it’s what the show should have been from the start, and it looks like the pre-release surprises aren’t over just yet, with quite the interesting new bit of casting news.
Previous murmurings about Season 2 pointed to a new character joining the fray going by the name of Philip, with the idea that he would start off a series regular with the potential to return in future seasons. Now, Nexus Point News is reporting that actor Jack Mulhern will be bringing his skills to the Disney+ series to portray the aforementioned “Philip."
Mare Of Easttown And Boys In The Boat Vet Jack Mulhern Has Joined Daredevil: Born Again
Jack Mulhern got his start on Netflix’s The Society, and returned to the streaming service several years later for the miniseries Painkiller, while also popping up in Wu-Tang: An American Saga and for a series regular role in the award-winning HBO mystery drama Mare of Easttown. On the film side, Mulhern co-starred in the horror prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, in George Clooney’s biographical drama The Boys in the Boat, and appeared in the Noah Segan’s 2026 movie release The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, which hit theaters in January.
If the actor is indeed portraying the rumored Philip, he’ll be portraying a character who’s been described as a New Yorker who is intelligent and feisty. He’s someone who presents as charismatic and approachable, but harbors a deep-down rage that will no doubt rise to the surface in one way or another.
According to the outlet, Jack Mulhern’s contract for Daredevil: Born Again is said to feature the options for his character to possibly return in a future season, which implies he’ll be more important to the story than just a minor background character. So who could it be?
This New Character Is Likely The Son Of Wilson Fisk (Or One Of Them, At Least)
At this point, the two most promising theories regarding Jack Mulhern’s new character point to two of Wilson Fisk’s sons from the comics, or at least the villainous persona one of them took on. The first would be Richard Fisk, whose 1970s origin story involves him being sent to a school in Switzerland, where he grew to hate his criminal father and his seemingly limitless power.
While Richard Fisk initially took on the villainous alter ego of The Schemer, he rose up for a 1984 comic arc as The Rose, a mid-level criminal entity working on Kingpin’s turf at the manipulative behest of the Hobgoblin. For the most part, Richard opposed his father’s actions, but didn’t harbor any additional heroic elements to keep him out of the criminal underworld altogether.
The Rose alter ego was adopted comic characters beyond Richard, which is pretty much the norm across decades of existence for certain characters. But one later adopter that fits the purposes of this story is Rose IV’s Dr. Philip Hayes, who obviously shares the same first name as the character Mulhern was cast to play. So does this mean the actor will actually be playing this version of Rose, or was “Philip” indeed just a clever nod hinting at Richard Fisk?
Another potential character for Mulhern to portray is Butch Pharris, the Fisk offspring who was the creation of the creative team of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto for 2019's Daredevil #13. Though if Born Again's showrunner did indeed opt to bring Butch into the show, I cannot imagine they would stick faithfully to the source material.
Butch Pharris' backstory includes being school-age friend with Mike Murdock, who's the imaginary-turned-real twin brother of Matt Murdock. And I just don't see the Disney+ series introducing magical, reality-breaking ideas like this into the fold so early on. That's like a Season 8 idea.
So I'm all in on Jack Mulhern taking on the role of The Rose, especially if it's true that Kingpin will be losing his mayoral duties in Season 3, which could pave the way for his offspring to either take over the city, or to challenge him in running the underworld.
Daredevil: Born Again is set to hit the 2026 TV schedule with its Disney+ premiere on March 24, 2026.
