Daredevil: Born Again‘s very first episode doesn’t shy away from tragedy, opening with a violent cold open that warns Marvel fans that no character will be safe on the new Disney+ show. However, the real tragedy shadowing the new Daredevil show rears its ugly head at the start of Episode 2. Daredevil: Born Again Episode 2 opens with a title card, reading “In Loving Memory of Kamar de los Reyes.”
**Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1-2, now streaming on Disney+**
As Daredevil: Born Again fans will soon learn, de los Reyes plays Hector Ayala, aka the White Tiger, in the new Marvel show.
Hector enters the story as a seemingly innocent bystander who gets in over his head when he tries to help a man he sees getting roughed up at the 168th Street subway station. As the fight intensifies, Hector pushes one of his assailants into the path of an oncoming train. Then, the other aggressor reveals they’re cops.
Naturally, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), aka Daredevil, comes to Hector’s rescue, volunteering to represent him pro bono. What Matt soon learns, though, is that he and Hector have something in common. Hector is the uptown vigilante known as the White Tiger.
Who is Kamar de los Reyes? What happened to him? And what does his death mean for the larger storyline in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1? Here’s everything you need to know about the untimely death of a new Daredevil star.
Who is Kamar de los Reyes? Meet the Daredevil: Born Again Actor Behind Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger:
Kamar de los Reyes is a Puerto Rican actor who tragically passed away from cancer on December 24, 2023. He was perhaps best known for his long run as Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live. You might also know de los Reyes from Sleepy Hollow or All American.
Hector Ayala/White Tiger is the first Latin American superhero in American comics and the first Hispanic hero in the Marvel stable. The White Tiger first appeared in 1975’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19 and the mantle has been passed on to several other characters since. There have been four other White Tigers since Hector’s heyday, with the current White Tiger being his youngest sister Aya.
Disney+’s first live action version of White Tiger is introduced in background chatter in Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1 as a contemporary of Daredevil. Both the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen” and the masked White Tiger are used as examples of how crime has gotten so bad in New York City, the city needs these caped crusaders.
Daredevil: Born Again Episode 2 introduces Hector Ayala as a man arrested and put on trial for being a “cop killer,” with Matt Murdock working to exonerate him. But will getting close to another vigilante pull Matt back into the cowl of Daredevil?
Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1 & 2 are now streaming on Disney+. Episode 3 premieres next Tuesday, March 11.
The post RIP Kamar de los Reyes: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episode 2 Pays Tribute to Tragically Deceased Actor appeared first on Decider.
