Daredevil: Born Again’s first two episodes introduce us to Hector Ayala, better known as the White Tiger. It wasn’t a secret that this vigilante Marvel character, played by the late Kamar de los Reyes, would make an appearance in this series. But it wasn’t clear how he’d fit into Matt Murdock’s world until now. Here’s what happens with the White Tiger in Daredevil: Born Again.
Episode one reveals via the news that there’s more than one vigilante defending NYC. In addition to Daredevil, the people really love a hero who is called the White Tiger. He’s dressed as, well, a white tiger, and takes down baddies in the city. Outside of that, we don’t really see him in action. The show’s first episode focuses on the aftermath of Foggy Nelson’s death and Wilson Fisk’s mayoral run.
In episode two, we meet a man named Hector Ayala who gets into the worst of situations. He breaks up what appears to be two guys beating another dude up on a subway platform. In the midst of the brawl, one of the bad guys gets flung into a speeding train. Matt Murdock goes to visit him and, after a little check in with Hector’s heart rate, knows that this guy didn’t intentionally kill anyone.
What makes it super bad is that the two assailants are both NYC cops who were out of uniform. The third guy, later IDed as Nicky Torres, is MIA, so there’s no one to help corroborate Ayala’s version of events. That means Hector has the ultimate cards against him in so many ways. The poor guy is suffering from frequent beatings in Rikers Island because he’s a “cop killer.” So, taking on Hector’s case is not going to win Matt points with the police.
He gets Cherry to dig into Hector’s life a bit. It doesn’t take long to connect the dots that Hector is also the White Tiger. The trial gets underway and Matt meets with the judge and his opposition to insist that Hector’s vigilante identity not be a part of the trial to cause more unjust bias. The judge agrees and now Matt can focus on trying to find the one witness that can help this case and get him to safety, which he does with a little brawling in the mix.
We will have to see if Matt Murdock can pull it off and gain Hector Ayala his freedom or not as Daredevil: Born Again progresses. Even if he does, it will certainly make Hector and anyone he knows/loves a target, which is something that Matt doesn’t want considering his recent loss. Will the White Tiger and Daredevil link up for action one day? Maybe so.