Depicting Daredevil's Sensory Vision In Born Again Was Even Bolder Than It Looks [exclusive]

JoJo Whilden/Marvel Studios

Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for the "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 finale, "The Southern Cross."

"A world on fire." That's how Matt Murdock memorably described what he "sees" in his every waking moment early on in the debut season of Netflix's "Daredevil." While we've certainly come a long way since 2015, some things have remained the same. Chief among them? "Daredevil: Born Again" continuing to push the envelope of how to depict the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and his powers of sight.

While Season 2 of "Born Again" may have left some room for improvement, everyone can probably agree that our main vigilante has never looked better. That has a lot to do with the talent surrounding him in showrunner Dario Scardapane's revival series, from the directorial team of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead to cinematographer Hillary Fyfe Spera, all of whom are mainstays of "Born Again" dating back to the first season. Fortunately, I had the chance to speak with the latter over Zoom in an extended conversation that explored much of what made Season 2 so visually distinct. At the top of the list was the stylish change of aspect ratios that highlight exactly what Matt senses at any given moment, and this choice proved to be even bolder than it looks in the final product.

According to Spera, this was the brainchild of both Benson and Moorehead. "We call it the sensory grande effect, the way that we showed [Daredevil's powers] in Episode 1 in Season 1, and then also again in Season 2 where we do this three-headed monster: three cameras mounted on the same dolly, with the middle camera being a long spherical zoom and the two flanking cameras being wide spherical primes." Figuring out this technical challenge on set, however, was only half the battle.

JoJo Whilden/Marvel Studios

As sleek and deceptively simple as it may look to bring Daredevil to life in "Born Again," the actual process involved was anything but. Director of photography Hillary Fyfe Spera worked on the majority of Season 1 and fully half of Season 2 (including the premiere, the fifth episode featuring flashbacks evoking the color palette of the original Netflix series, and Episode 6's big riot sequence between protestors and members of the Anti-Vigilante Task Force outside City Hall). She had a front-row seat to the many factors involved in defining the look and feel of this show — and, specifically, how to best depict Daredevil's sensory vision and hearing.

The camera rig constructed by key grip Matt Staples was crucial to capturing this lens effect on the day of filming. Afterwards, the post-production process allowed Spera and the directors to further refine exactly how this would come across to viewers at home. As Spera revealed, this instance of visual magic was one that even she had trouble wrapping her mind around:

"Later, we created this effect where the whole world becomes wider in aspect ratio and then shrinks down to really target in on what [Daredevil's] sensing. That was something that, it kind of blew my mind out the back of my skull when we first started talking about it because I was like, 'This is totally — I've never done anything like this before.' I'd never even heard of it. It's just a great example of how a crazy idea became what we did in practice [...] I'm proud of it. I think it's a real signature to our show in particular."

"Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+.