Who Plays Cherry In Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again

With all due respect to the Russo Brothers (you know, the guys behind that original hit colloquially memed online as “Cherk”), we’re here today to talk about a very different kind of “Cherry.” Marvel’s “Daredevil: Born Again” might be making headlines for bringing back — and occasionally killing off — certain characters from the Netflix series, but don’t underestimate the new additions to the supporting cast. Even among these newbies, performances by Nikki M. James as legal partner Kirsten McDuffie or the late Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala/White Tiger have certainly taken the fandom by storm. Yet the entire creative team has one key cast member to thank for arguably the show’s best and most welcome new element: Clark Johnson as the always reliable, even-keeled private investigator Cherry.

Thus far, we’ve seen Cherry emerge as one of the standout characters in Matt Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) close circle of allies. One of the very few individuals to become aware of Matt’s secret identity as Daredevil, Cherry goes from a retired NYPD detective to Matt’s personal private investigator. Willing and able to go to any lengths to help Matt’s legal cases, up to and including leading corrupt cops on a merry chase through the streets of New York City in order to get a key witness to court in time, the trusted ally has helped “Born Again” define a fresh new identity all to itself. 

So where did Kevin Feige and the Marvel team find this veteran character actor to help Matt throughout the new season? Johnson might be a new face to comic book fans (though, as we’ll soon see, he absolutely shouldn’t be), but those who know their television history should’ve immediately adopted the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme from the moment Johnson first walked onto the scene in the premiere of “Daredevil: Born Again.” Here’s where you’ve seen Clark Johnson before.

Bet you had no idea we had a genuine renaissance man on our hands here, eh? Well, real ones knew that Clark Johnson’s career has been anything but conventional to this point. After first getting his start in the department of special effects work on movies such as David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone” in 1983, Johnson began acting in various movies and television shows throughout the ’80s and ’90s (headlined by his starring turn in all seven seasons of “Homicide: Life on the Street”) before landing the biggest catch of them all: a recurring role as desperate newspaper editor Gus Haynes in the hit HBO series “The Wire.” Although not typically considered the high-water mark of the show by any means, Johnson’s subplot throughout season 5 provided an early, ahead-of-its-time look at the idea of “fake news” and the dire straits that newspaper reporting would find itself in during the age of the internet. Extraordinarily convincing as a seasoned editor who would resort to extreme methods to save his profession, Johnson’s performance here set the stage for his eerily similar role decades later in “Daredevil: Born Again” as Matt’s right-hand man who’s willing to get his hands dirty in the pursuit of justice.

But wait, that’s not all! Remember when I alluded to the idea that there’s far more to this actor than first meets the eye? Well, let’s just say he didn’t stop at merely being an actor and special effects man. Johnson eventually branched out as a proficient television director, most notably gaining experience behind the camera on a handful of episodes of “Homicide: Life on the Street” that helped him gain creator David Simon’s trust on “The Wire” — so much so that he actually directed the pilot episode of that acclaimed HBO series. He would go on to continue directing on high-profile productions such as the 2003 film “S.W.A.T.” and “The Sentinel” in 2006, along with various episodes of TV including “The Shield,” “The Walking Dead,” and recently the Elizabeth Olsen-starring “Love & Death.” But his most relevant directing work over the years will be of special interest to “Daredevil: Born Again” fans.

For anyone wondering why Clark Johnson would be so eager to hop on board a moving train like “Daredevil: Born Again,” well, it probably has something to do with the fact that he’s worked with Marvel before. As much as his casting in “The Wire” lends a neat, thematic subtext to his appearance in the superhero series as a private investigator, we’re inclined to believe that his previous experience on the Marvel/Netflix production “Luke Cage” played an even bigger role in bringing him back for more vigilante action.

Yes, Johnson once directed a pair of episodes for “Luke Cage,” the series about Mike Colter’s bulletproof Black man who joined the very same Defenders team headlined by Daredevil and all the rest of his pals (all of whom may eventually return in the second season of “Daredevil: Born Again”). Although the character hasn’t yet been brought over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe the same way Daredevil, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), Frank Castle/Punisher (Joe Bernthal), and more have, Luke Cage remains a fan-favorite hero and one of the more important examples of representation in superhero media. As for Johnson, his directing work spans two episodes across the series: the season 1 finale “You Know My Steez,” co-written by Cheo Hodari Coker, which involved a brutal street fight against antagonist Diamondback (Erik LaRay Harvey) and Luke’s eventual arrest, and season 2’s “For Pete’s Sake.”

Whether you’ve been keeping close tabs on Johnson’s career or not, it’s likely that you’ve been exposed to his work in some form or another. After watching and reviewing all of “Daredevil: Born Again,” I can confirm that Cherry continues to steal every scene he’s in. Once the season wraps up (or even before), it might be worth perusing his decades-long work as one of our steadiest and most talented character actors/directors around.