Ben Urich is an investigative reporter, and has been a staple of Daredevil comics since he was introduced in 1978 by writer Roger McKenzie and artist Gene Colan. On the page, Urich typically works for The Daily Bugle, but the MCU wasn’t handling anything Spider-Man-adjacent back in 2015, so in the TV show, Urich worked for The New York Bulletin. He helped save Karen Page’s life by reporting on the conspiracy she had stumbled into, making it impossible for those responsible to avoid legal repercussions.
Urich was central to the plot of Daredevil Season 1 — he became a bit of mentor for Page, inspiring her tenacity in the seasons that followed, and their investigations into Wilson Fisk tied directly into Daredevil’s showdown with him that season. In the end, Fisk tracks down Urich himself and murders him in the penultimate episode of the season. His funeral galvanizes Matt Murdock to take action and become the Daredevil.
It’s a sad sendoff, though it didn’t feel out of place in this context, with this iteration of the character. However, it did rob future Daredevil stories of a vital figure — both emotionally and practically speaking. Ben Urich often helps accelerate Daredevil’s information-gathering process, and he makes it easy to introduce new characters, including informants and villains. In the parlance of the MCU, he’s an important “guy in the chair” for Daredevil.
Filling in for Urich
Without Urich, Daredevil Seasons 2 and 3 needed others to take on the gumshoe role. This was often handled by Karen Page, which was a somewhat divisive change from the comics. On one hand, Karen had never shown much interest in investigative work in the comics, but on the other, her characterization in the comics was meandering and often very unflattering, so many fans did not feel like the show was missing much without it.
The show finds other ways to get information to Matt and connect him with the criminal underworld — the latter is not too hard when he’s working as a public defender — and since the show generally doesn’t adapt comic book storylines directly, Urich’s absence is subtle enough. Still, if you’re aware of the part he usually plays in these stories, you can see where he might have streamlined the plot a bit or added important context. He is helpful to have on hand to express the general feelings of the city from moment to moment.
BB Urich
Urich’s biggest moments in the comics were exposing wealthy, corrupt villains, including Kingpin and Green Goblin, so it’s no surprise that Born Again sought out a substitute for the reporter as it brought Kingpin back into focus. Ben’s niece BB Urich is an original character for the MCU, although Ben did have family in the comics. BB explains early that she was named after Ben, and she holds a grudge against Fisk because she believes he was responsible for her uncle’s murder.
BB is an interesting addition, but it feels like we really haven’t seen her full potential as a character yet. She has not taken up her uncle’s role as a confidant and informant for Daredevil, instead sharing most of her screentime with Fisk’s young staffer Daniel Blake. It seems like neither of them got to complete the arcs they were building toward this season, but BB’s story in particular seemed to end abruptly. With Police Commissioner Phil Gallo dead, it’s unclear where her investigation goes next and how much Fisk knows about her true intentions.
Fans do have some ideas about how BB could get connected with Matt Murdock and/or Daredevil in Season 2, and it seems likely that she will end up playing a role similar to her uncle at that point. In the meantime, even those making these predictions are lamenting the long road to get there, and the loss of the more recognizable, iconic reporter at Daredevil’s side.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 is streaming now in its entirety on Disney+. Season 2 is filming now and is expected to premiere in the first half of 2026. The original series is streaming on Disney+ as well, along with the rest of the Netflix-era Marvel shows.
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