Warning! This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 8.Directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson explain why Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye is lit with blue lighting inDaredevil: Born Againand why it was important to bring Benjamin Poindexter into theMCUwith a nice visual change. Bullseye pushes Matt Murdock to abandon his Daredevil alter ego temporarily afterkilling Foggy Nelson inDaredevil: Born Againepisode 1. Using only a broken tooth, Bullseye breaks out of prison and attempts to assassinate Wilson Fisk, injuring Matt Murdock instead. ThroughoutDaredevil: Born Againepisode 8,Bullseye’s powers are accompanied by blue lighting, which signals the moments his violent tendencies come out.
In an interview withBrandon Davis,Daredevil: Born Againdirectors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson explain why they came up with the idea to associate blue lighting with Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye. Benson and Moorhead wanted to honor Bullseye’s story from Netflix’sDaredevilseason 3 and enhance both his powers and personality with clearer visual cues that could compare to those of Matt Murdock. Read Benson and Moorhead’s comments below:
Justin Benson:“The whole thing with the blue lighting and the blue flowers and all of that was something we were laser-focused on because of our weird love for Bullseye.
Aaron Moorhead:"(…) There was something about that season 3 plot where he becomes the job of the show, like, horrible thing after horrible thing happens to him that turns him into this monster. And for us, there was something about making sure that we honor that transformation, and that you may still see the reasons why you should empathize with him, and why he’s tragic. That was something we’re really protective over while also allowing him to change and allowing the character let his monster out a little more.”
Aaron Moorhead also explains how the idea of lighting Wilson Bethel’s Bullseye scenes with a rich blue came to be. According to Moorhead, theDaredevil: Born Againcrew was"messing around"with the lights inDaredevil: Born Againepisode 8’s prison hallway scene when they realized a drastic color change would suit the character. In the end, Bullseye’s blue lighting ended up becoming a direct parallel to Daredevil’s red lighting and Wilson Fisk’s white lighting. Moorhead says:
Aaron Moorhead:“Here we are shooting the scene near the beginning. I think it’s the second scene where he’s being led down the hallway, and it’s this really, really long hallway in a former prison in New York. Our gaffer had swapped out every single lighting fixture to be controllable by a dimmer board. Charlie Grubs. He’s just amazing. Him and our DP Hillary, they said, ‘Hey guys, check this out,’ and they just pressed the button, and it turned to party mode. It turned this really somber place into a dance hall, and it was super fun. The crew starts dancing and Justin pulls out and plays Sandstorm on his phone, and we’re just messing around. Then when it ends we kind of think about it, we’re like ‘there’s something in this’. So we just did one take where at the very end everything faded to blue, which is Bullseye’s color. (…) We just did one take with it and everyone was so enamored with it that we decided to run with it. But it was something we discovered right there on the day that has come to define the visual language of that character.”
What The Daredevil: Born Again Episode 8 Directors' Bullseye Comments Mean
Bullseye’s Abilities Have Clear Visual Cues
In Marvel Comics, Bullseye’s perfect accuracy is a blatant superpower.Netflix’sDaredevilandDaredevil: Born Againnever confirm Benjamin Poindexter is a literal superhuman at any point, butDaredevil: Born Againunderscores this implication with its visual cues. Every time Wilson Bethel’s Benjamin Poindexter gets ready to use his sharpshooting skills, the frame turns blue, similarly to how every time Matt Murdock uses his super hearing, the camera’s perspective shifts and the background becomes blurry.
I Can’t Believe Bullseye Totally Foreshadowed Daredevil: Born Again Episode 8’s Shocking Ending
Not many could have predicted the ending of Daredevil: Born Again episode 8, but a Bullseye quote foreshadowed this surprising scene.
Bullseye’s blue lighting effects are a natural evolution of hisDaredevilseason 3 role, where he didn’t have a costume of his own and was strictly on Wilson Fisk’s payroll. Colin Farrell’s 2003 Bullseye may have been closer to his comic book counterpart in terms of explicit superpowers, but Wilson Bethel’s gradual transformation into a more faithful Bullseye is provides more opportunities to portray his abilities and personality on screen in creative and subtle ways, asDaredevil: Born Againepisode 8does. The fact that Bullseye’s blue lighting is a direct mirror to Daredevil and wilson Fisk’s own colors is the cherry on top.
Our Take On The Daredevil: Born Again Episode 8 Directors' Bullseye Comments
Bullseye Will Keep Evolving In Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
Just likeDaredevil: Born Againgave Wilson Bethel’s Benjamin Poindexter a visual upgrade afterNetflix’sDaredevilseason 3’s cliffhanger ending,Daredevil: Born Againseason 2 will likely add more elements to Bethel’s Bullseye portrayal. For starters, Bethel’s Bullseye may finally wear his classic comic-book costume inDaredevil: Born Againseason 2.Bullseye’s comic-accurate costume could also come with even more impressive feats of ability and more visual cues other than blue lighting.
