Kill your darlings.

If you’re interested in storytelling of any kind, that piece of writing advice should be familiar to you.

While it’s dispensed so often it’s practically a cliche, it’s correct: There’s no better way to get your readers to pay attention to them than to put them through hell.

“Daredevil: Born Again” did precisely this in the first ten minutes of its debut season. The sequel series to Netflix’s “Daredevil” (which is now on Disney Plus with almost all mention of its original platform scrubbed) sees many characters return, including Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page and Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson.

Well, Foggy is in the show for at least those first ten minutes. Spoilers.

The show starts with a gut punch, with Foggie being killed off by returning villain Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), which is necessary to set up the sequel show’s premise. A lot of time has passed, and Matt has since given up the mantle of the masked vigilante whom the show is named after.

The death of his friend is the only thing that could have forced him to do that. Daredevil is not only an alter ego for Matt, it’s a means from which he’s able to enact justice outside a legal system that foils him at every turn, despite being a brilliant attorney.

Foggy’s death makes him question everything. If he can’t even protect those close to him, what’s the point in concealing his identify to fight crime?

BACKLASH

Some fans have denounced Foggy’s death as tasteless. He was a beloved character in a show that hadn’t had any new episodes for eight years.

It’s completely understandable to feel upset, even betrayed by this. But the show wants you to feel this way.

If Matt started “Born Again” on top with all of his prior relationships intact, what’s the point of this show? To rehash nostalgia?

That has never been Daredevil’s MO. Every season, Matt is put through hell only to somehow emerge intact.

Foggy’s death forces Matt to reexamine who he is and what Daredevil means to him, as well as his own sense of justice — the cornerstones of his ideology.

Beyond that, it also puts a spotlight on vigilantes; Foggy was both a friend of one and the victim of another.

Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onfrio), who becomes mayor of New York, uses Foggys death to prop up his own agenda to clean the streets of vigilantes who challenge his power. Fisk always serves as an excellent foil to Daredevil, and in this series the two face off on very different terms.

Most importantly, his death gives Matt a goal: To once again become whole.

In the episodes that have aired so far, we see him struggle to repress Daredevil — a fight he loses in the most recent episode, where he dons the mask to fight a serial killer.

There’s also a chance Foggy will be resurrected. This is Marvel, after all.

But I hope he doesn’t. Death needs to mean something in this universe.

As much as fans might want it, there’s no going back to the same dynamic Matt, Karen and Foggy had in their Netflix show. And that’s a good thing.

Matt needs to grow as a character. But the only way for him to do that is to tear him down.

It’s a great risk. But it will likely pay off handsomely.

So far, this has been the most engaging Marvel show I’ve seen in a while.

Disney, don’t let me down.