Buck Cashman’s Fate in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 Is More Complicated Than You Think

The season two finale of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ did not hold back when it came to chaos outside the courthouse, and one scene in particular left fans genuinely unsure whether they had just witnessed the death of one of the show’s most compelling new characters. Buck Cashman, played by Arty Froushan, took a bullet to the abdomen in a moment that felt designed to punish viewers for getting attached.

The question of whether Buck survives that gunshot wound lingered over the finale’s closing minutes, with no clean answer delivered before the credits rolled. But between what was shown on screen, what wasn’t shown, and what has since been confirmed off-screen, the full picture of Buck’s fate is actually much clearer than the episode lets on.

How Buck Cashman Ended Up in the Line of Fire

As chaos descended on the streets outside the courthouse during the finale, Bullseye took control of the sniper’s rifle and shot Buck Cashman. The setup leading to that moment involved a calculated misdirect. Connor Powell told who he assumed to be the AVTF sniper that Matt was in position for them to take the shot, but Bullseye was already positioned up there and promptly shot Buck Cashman through the abdomen.

As Fisk was about to exit the court after losing his case, Bullseye took his shot, shooting Buck who was acting as a protective shield for Fisk, echoing the earlier moment in season one when Matt saved Fisk from Bullseye’s bullet. The parallel was clearly intentional, and it reframes Buck’s injury as something thematically loaded rather than a throwaway action beat.

After being shot in the stomach, Buck was covered in blood, with Heather stepping in to tend to him by laying a coat over him. It appears he was not killed outright and may have been rushed to a hospital. The show left that thread deliberately unresolved, cutting away from Buck’s condition before any clear outcome was established.

What Bullseye Was Actually Trying to Do

The sniper scene is even more layered once you understand the intention behind the shot. The person who fired was not an Anti-Vigilante Task Force agent but Bullseye, who was targeting Kingpin. Buck simply happened to be standing between Fisk and the bullet at precisely the wrong moment.

In an exclusive interview with The Direct, Wilson Bethel, who plays Bullseye, confirmed that his character had Fisk in his sights from the start. Bethel stated that Bullseye was aiming for Wilson Fisk as the mayor prepared to exit the courthouse, describing the motivation as being about settling scores and adding that Fisk was the most deserving of Bullseye’s bullet at that point in the show’s mythology.

Bethel also reflected on the unpredictable nature of Bullseye’s character, emphasizing that the assassin is a deeply unstable person and warning fans not to expect him to remain in the same moral position at the start of season three that he occupied at the end of season two. That instability makes the shot that hit Buck feel even more volatile in retrospect, a near-miss for Fisk carried out by a wildcard whose loyalties shift without warning.

The Weight Buck Was Already Carrying Into the Finale

Buck’s emotional state heading into the finale had already been darkened considerably by what he had done in the penultimate episode. Kingpin’s enforcer Buck Cashman shockingly murdered Deputy Mayor Daniel Blake in a showdown between Fisk’s two right-hand men, after Blake chose to let journalist BB Urich escape rather than deliver her to Buck.

The death was not originally part of the plan. When the actors shot the scene, Cashman pointed his gun at Blake on the ground but did not pull the trigger, with the showrunner later deciding in post-production to reverse course and add CGI effects to make the kill definitive. In an interview with Variety, Froushan described the experience of learning about the change, saying the decision to kill Daniel raised the stakes in a way that he felt was necessary for the storyline, even though he was personally gutted by the loss.

Showrunner Dario Scardapane explained that keeping Blake alive ultimately felt like a weak narrative choice, saying the original version produced a story that went on too long after a natural dramatic peak, and that the twisted friendship between Buck and Daniel required both characters to be true to who they were in their final moment together. That guilt now sits squarely on Buck’s shoulders going into whatever comes next for him.

The Evidence That Buck Cashman Lives

Despite the unresolved cliffhanger, there is compelling reason to believe Buck makes it through his injuries. Of the entire ensemble, Buck Cashman was the only character who came close to losing his life in the finale, taking a bullet to the abdomen during the courthouse entrance scene, but his fate was left up in the air as the end credits began to roll.

The clearest confirmation of his survival, however, comes not from the episode itself but from the actor. Arty Froushan confirmed that he will return as Buck Cashman in season three of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, noting that filming was expected to take place in spring. That announcement effectively settles the debate, unless the show plans to bring him back in a significantly diminished capacity.

TechRadar noted that unless his only appearance in season three turns out to be in an open-top coffin, fans can expect to see Cashman again in the not-too-distant future. The dry humor in that observation aside, Buck returning means the show has preserved one of its most morally complex figures for whatever Hell’s Kitchen looks like in the next chapter.

What Buck’s Return Could Mean for Season 3

The season two finale set up several major threads for season three, including the confirmed returns of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, the revelation of Bullseye working with Mr. Charles, and Heather Glenn putting on the Muse mask. Into that volatile mix, a surviving Buck Cashman walks with blood on his hands and a fresh bullet wound to remind him of just how expendable he is to the man he serves.

Throughout the series, Buck has served as Fisk’s man-at-arms, a former SAS soldier whose loyalty to Kingpin was forged during a defining moment in his life that he credits Fisk for changing. Whether that loyalty survives both the shooting and the weight of having killed Daniel Blake remains an open question, and it is arguably the most interesting emotional arc waiting to be explored when the show returns.

With season three already in production and Daredevil’s supporting world expanding to include the Defenders, the stage is being set for a very different kind of Hell’s Kitchen story. Buck’s survival puts him right at the center of whatever fallout follows Fisk’s defeat, and whether he continues to serve a weakened Kingpin or finds a different path entirely could define his entire arc going forward. If you have a theory about where Buck’s loyalties land now that Fisk has been exiled and Daniel’s blood is on his hands, this is the moment to share it.