Since Iron Man blew up cinemas back in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and DC TV for that matter) has undergone a transformation for the better when it comes to movies and TV shows about iconic comic characters
Daredevil is a new twist on these shows, dark and gritty is somewhat of an understatement when I think about how to describe Daredevil and Netflix was the BEST way for this addition to the MCU to be adapted. This season takes place after the events of the first avengers film, as does Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Unlike S.H.I.E.L.D. though, with its worldwide coverage of the aftermath of the battle of New York and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Daredevil centers around Hell’s Kitchen, a part of New York. Wilson Fisk (A.K.A. The Kingpin), played spectacularly by Vincent D’Onofrio, and his criminal empire want to demolish most of Hell’s Kitchen and rebuild, of course, this also comes with all the other seedy activity like racketeering and drugs.
Fighting not only as Daredevil, but also in the courts, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) save Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) from a murder charge she was framed for, then, with her help, and Murdock beating thugs as Daredevil, uncover Fisk’s operation.
This season is all about Murdock evolving from the warrior Stick (Scott Glenn) started training him to become after Murdocks father was killed, into Daredevil that we’ll see in the upcoming The Defenders series which will involve Iron Fist, Luke Cage, etc…
So, my thoughts…
I loved this 13 part series, I binge watched it over the weekend as all 13 episodes were released together in one go, and frankly, I liked it. Although, I do like a weekly release schedule, I like a cliffhanger from time to time. But, I see a change coming with this show and other Netflix are helping put together and that is a change to how we watch TV now, with Netflix and Amazon Prime, traditional TV channels are missing out as people can do what I did with this show and binge watch shows they’ve either missed or just want to watch again.
The biggest surprise is Disney in this. Marvel have changed Disney, something I was worried about when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise aswell, but Daredevil is gritty, it’s more what I expect from DC with Arrow or Batman. The Daredevil comics have always had a dark tone, especially with assassins and the devil involved, and regular teams ups/fights with Marvel regulars like The Punisher, Elektra, Ghost Rider and Blade, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still grounded more in our reality than the comics more outlandish themes (although, that may be changing after Guardians of the Galaxy and the existence of the Inhumans and mutants in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Well, I loved this show, it had me totally hooked from start to finish. I loved the writing of the characters involved, I was incredibly shocked by what happened to some characters that I’ve known in the comics for decades now and I even liked the suit in action in the last episode (it looks SO MUCH better on screen than it did in the stock photos Marvel released)
The fight scenes are gorgeous, from early ones where Murdock takes on a dozen Russian thugs and all of them are clearly tired (beautifully played by Charlie Cox), to the final showdown of the series
One caveat to all this, if you’re not a fan, you won’t like it, simple as that, but if you’ve loved the Marvel movies and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then you’ll love this too
~9 out of 10 from me, but it would be difficult to have made it better than it was
