Just when you think Marvel may be doing too much at once, they surprise everyone and give us one of the most unexpected successes and compelling TV shows in years. What looked to be a bit naff from the trailers is actually a shockingly high quality show produced by Netflix and succeeds in making an underrated B list superhero into a gripping action star.
Although it appeared like Marvel had settled into the fun tone of Avengers, Daredevil brings audiences to the seedy and violent world of Hell’s Kitchen. A realistic and serious style make this street-level superhero more grounded and believable, with Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) gaining extremely heightened senses and learning martial arts in order to go out at night and beat the crap out of people whom he deems to be criminals. The show is less like a superhero romp and more akin to a crime drama; fans of Nolan’s Dark Knight would do well to take a look. There’s plenty of gore and some very dark moments, with the main focus being the rivalry between masked vigilante Matt Murdoch and crime “kingpin” Wilson Fisk.
The show may be rough and violent but it’s not entirely sombre and there are plenty of laughs from a solid ensemble cast. Matt Murdoch’s circle of friends add a lot of humanity to this excellently written show and Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll bring the entertainment outside of the brilliantly choreographed fight scenes. This is street-level Marvel that showcases how crimes affect normal people in the everyday world, and the great cost that taking on organised crime has on those who would be heroes. The series is the most morally ambiguous setting in the MCU by far, with Matt Murdoch’s obsession with taking down criminals with his fists often making him seem obsessive and dangerous to those around him. Charlie Cox is charming as the blind lawyer for his day job and compelling as the tortured vigilante. At the root of the show’s morality is the interesting addition of Murdoch’s Catholicism, which adds an undercurrent of ethical and theological questions and makes Murdoch one of the most nuanced and unique characters Marvel have offered so far. It would be fantastic to see this character appear alongside Captain America in the upcoming Civil War, and hopefully judging by the runaway success of this fledgling series, audiences may be clamouring for a cameo or more.
Worthy of special mention is Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. You may recognise him as Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket, but this could be his defining role in the years to come. The writers bravely give almost as much development time to the series’ villain as to its hero, and so D’Onofrio gets plenty of time to shine and absolutely steals every scene. A few moments even had me wanting Fisk to succeed, and I imagine the character will inspire many Breaking Bad comparisons. Whilst being a truly intimidating villain, he gets a well-rounded backstory and his motivation makes for a very interesting dichotomy between him and Murdoch. What starts as Murdoch trying to take on Wilson Fisk for his behind the scenes crimes as an honest lawyer, escalates into Murdoch taking things into his own hands and getting physical as the masked vigilante. Both have a public and secret side and the ongoing battle between the two is fantastically written. Both actors go a long way to provide great depictions of their onscreen characters, seeming to do the impossible and appear both believable and comic book-esque simultaneously. The show in general is very good at seeming plausible without losing its comic book heart.
Far better than anyone could have guessed, this series does a lot to erase memories of the 2003 Affleck movie and makes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D look fairly crap in comparison. The show has a great cast with even tertiary characters well realized and the two leading men Cox and D’Onofrio taking the show to surprising heights. Wilson Fisk is seriously one of Marvel’s best villains so far and as an origin story for Daredevil, this is by far the best onscreen version of an under-appreciated Marvel hero; one that will hopefully gain traction and lead to many more seasons and at the very least a guest appearance in a big screen Marvel movie (Charlie Cox definitely has the talent.) It’s a remarkable series and stands even amongst the flood of quality TV in the past few years – as one of the highlights. Check it out.
Badd Motivator 