By Mike McCarthy
Matthew Murdock proves why New York is his city in the first season of the Netflix exclusive Marvel’s Daredevil. After binge watching all thirteen episodes of the inaugural season of Daredevil, Marvel has stepped up their game when it comes to the television aspect of their universe. With DC Universe owning the television world with hits like Arrow, Flash and Gotham, Marvel had to step up their game in this world and they pulled it off with the release of Daredevil. Now don’t get me wrong, over the last decade, Marvel has demolished DC when it came to films with nothing but hits and now their tv shows will be up to par as well.
The grittiness of this show makes it quite a bit different from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blood, and murder have never really been a part of the MCU, but in Daredevil it is in the forefront, but not for the hero. Murdock who’s played by Boardwalk Empire star Charlie Cox is a blind lawyer who develops exceptional senses after an accident, who takes justice into his own hands. He beats down people with his bare hands and with some wooden clubs. Now in the comics most fans will notice that 90% of the season he doesn’t have his red devil costume, but just a black mask. This outfit is a homage to the graphic novel; Daredevil: The Man Without Fear which was by Frank Miller back in 2008. It is a great origin store for this character and builds up a lot for the second season.
With the help of his friends and coworkers Foggy Nelson(Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Murdock is trying to clean up the streets of the New York area known as Hell’s Kitchen. Foggy is Matt’s best friend and legal partner and doesn’t know that Murdock has some extracurricular activities at night. Karen becomes their legal secretary after they took her case against a corrupt company in the premiere episode. Also joining his cause, but not by her choice is nurse Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) who is also Murdock’s love interest. She finds him half dead in a dumpster and stitches him up, while finding out his secret identity. The chemistry between Claire and Murdock is captivating and really brings the show to the next level. Obviously a vigilante having a girlfriend that isn’t part of the hero world is difficult on both of them, more so on Claire who knows what he is doing out there, and what could happen to him.
The villain of this season is businessman Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) aka The Kingpin. He is a large white bald man with incredible strength and a hell of a lot of anger issues. He pummels people with his larger than life hands and at one point even takes a guy’s head clean off by slamming it in a car door repeatedly. The blood that comes from this man’s hands in this series is what makes it so dark and gritty. He works with some dangerous people that are all after the ‘Man in the Mask’ and even has half the police department bought and paid for.
The fight scenes are, obviously, worth nothing. Most fans and viewers will be raving over the sequence in episode 2, “Cut Man”, which was shot as a single shot, among a few other fights. With amazing choreography aside, its the fact that Murdock takes an extreme asskicking that gives the fights more believability and keeps you on the edge of your seat. When every shot that Murdock endures, every fall that knocks him out, you feel, makes it even more incredible.
The writers really brought the character’s perspective and lives alive in this adaptation of this popular comic book. There were a lot of easter eggs in this season going back to The Avengers, Iron Man and Thor which really brings the world together. By keeping the MCU involved and intertwined into the show, it adds a deeper motivation to grow the world as a whole. Marvel has other shows like Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter but they are adding four more Netflix exclusives to their repertoire. The train has left the station with this show, next stop is Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
Photos care of Marvel inc and Netflix