Daredevil Gives Justice to Marvel TV

The Devil Went Down to Netflix

I’m going to be blunt here: Daredevil is one of the best things to come out of the MCU. It’s not only Marvel’s best television show, but it might even be in the running for one of the best superhero shows ever, period. Comparing it to the Ben Affleck film from 2003 is like comparing the Joel Schumacher Batman films to Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. So yes, it’s pretty good.

On a larger note, Daredevil also marks the beginning of Marvel’s collaboration with Netflix, the first in a string of series to show off the grittier, street-level side of the MCU. It all leads up to the Defenders miniseries, a more down-to-earth version of The Avengers more concerned with protecting the little guy than world ending threats. But while the set-up for Defenders is here, it’s the very definition of subtle. Daredevil’s two seasons concern themselves more with enveloping us in the world of Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox), blind lawyer by day, vigilante by night. The results are nothing short of phenomenal.

Season One: Good Samaritans

The binge-watching nature of Netflix is a natural fit for Marvel TV, and Daredevil in particular. Like ABC’s Agent Carter, the shorter episode run makes for a tighter narrative, with more focus on story and characterization. But since it’s Netflix we’re talking about here, the episodes are gorgeously cinematic. The serialized nature of both seasons means they play like thirteen hour movies, with far more psychological depth, bone crushing action and thrilling character work than a majority of the MCU films.

Charlie Cox is pitch perfect as Murdoch, nailing Matt the lawyer and Daredevil the vigilante with absolute sincerity. They’re two very different sides of Murdoch, but Cox makes sure we know it’s still the same person. Matt’s commitment to justice, to protecting the innocent, is both a virtue and a weakness, thanks to his Catholic upbringing. Matt knows he has “the devil in him,” as he confesses to his local priest, and hates it just as much as he wants to use it to keep Hell’s Kitchen safe.

But the real success of Daredevil’s first season is the dual focus on not just Matt, but his archenemy Wilson Fisk. Known to comic fans as the Kingpin, Fisk is a villain so dynamic and complex that he rivals Loki as the best MCU antagonist we’ve ever had. Vincent D’onofrio plays Fisk as an unusually quiet man who only needs the right situation to let his anger come spewing out. He works best as a mirror to Matt, with both men seeing themselves as good Samaritans trying to help Hell’s Kitchen.

The city is reeling from the aftermath of The Avengers, where several crime families have risen to take advantage of the destruction. Fisk wants to tear down several slums to save the city “on a scale that matters,” while Matt takes the fight to the crime families. If not for the dual focus on Matt and Fisk, juxtaposing the two as mirror images of each other, the season simply wouldn’t work.

To sell this duality, we get several flashbacks that flesh out both Matt and Fisk’s origins. And in a surprising twist on superhero conventions, it’s Fisk who gets a love interest here, who embraces him even after learning of his darker half. Not only does it humanize Fisk more, but it gives Matt a moral dilemma when he finds out his enemy has a loved one. Is it right to bring down a man who, despite his actions, is still loved by someone? Morality plays a huge role here with all the characters, making for a superhero tale that’s just as big on brains as it is on fists.

Speaking of characters, the orbiting cast is just as good as Cox and D’onofrio, complementing them perfectly. Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Murdoch’s partners at his law firm, have fully realized goals and character arcs, which help give the season more personality. Rosario Dawson’s Clair Temple is a nurse who acts as a sarcastic sound board for Matt, as he tries justifying his lifestyle. Vondie-Curtis Hall’s Ben Urich is a journalist who helps crack the Fisk case, with a compelling tale that ends in tragedy. But the most fun is had with Scott Glenn’s Stick, Matt’s blind childhood mentor whose no nonsense attitude and constant snark is a joy to watch. He only shows up for one episode in season one, but easily runs away with it.

Season one is also helped immensely by its dark tone, which gives it the vibe of a crime drama rather than a superhero slug fest. The action is brutal and uncompromising, with a hallway fight and an altercation between Fisk and some goons being highlights. Matt even dresses in an all-black ninja outfit for most of the season, referencing Frank Miller’s original comic book run. He doesn’t even wear the iconic red suit until the final episode, where the superhero tropes come out in full force. In doing so, season one marks itself as a fantastic origin story for both Daredevil and Kingpin, ending it on a note of closure but with the promise of more to come.

Season Two: Crime and Punishment

And boy, what comes after is something else. Going into season two, morality plays an even larger role with the introductions of Elektra (Elodie Young) and Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Bernthal’s Castle nearly steals the season, capturing Frank’s brutality with criminals but also tenderness when it comes to his family. His scenes with Daredevil are powerhouses, as they set up an ideological conflict over how to handle crime that doesn’t have an easy answer.

Bernthal is so good as Castle that I would dare say his performance is Emmy-worthy. The rooftop scene with Daredevil. Frank’s graveyard recollection of his family’s murder. That prison fight (!!!) It’s no wonder a spin-off Punisher show’s been confirmed. With a performance as good as Bernthal’s, it’d be insane not to give him the spotlight. And there’s season two’s problem: Bernthal is so good, it makes any moment he’s not on screen seem tame by comparison, even when every other character is given a compelling arc to work off of.

How so, you may ask? Matt Murdoch is one of the few MCU superheroes to lead a double life. Season two zeroes in on that double life, making Punisher the focus of Matt’s lawyer side and Elektra of the Daredevil side. The problem is the Punisher plot is so captivating that the Elektra plot suffers for it. This isn’t to sell Young’s Elektra short, as she’s amazing here. Fiery, exotic and sarcastic, Elektra effortlessly plays off Matt’s serious approach to vigilantism. As Matt’s old college flame, she walks back into his life eager to take Matt on a mission, treating crime fighting as a game. It’s a bold approach, and just like with Punisher, Elektra’s role here is to hold a mirror up to Matt’s ideologies on heroism.

Her mission is to destroy the Hand, an ancient cult with the power to resurrect their members. Introducing more of the supernatural is always great, especially when it involves loads and loads of ninjas. And it picks up one of the few dangling threads from season one, bringing back Stick for a meatier role. But because of the sheer excellence of the Punisher subplot, the whole Hand/Elektra business just isn’t as interesting. And the Hand has ninjas.

They are ultimately the antagonists for season two, which is unfortunate because it has no bearing on the Punisher’s arc. The Hand has huge implications for Matt, since we learn it’s a war he’s unintentionally been training for since he met Stick. In and of itself, it’s also a pretty well handled story for season two to tackle. It’s just that with the Punisher drawing so much of the focus, the Hand subplot loses some steam.

The Punisher plot, on the other hand, becomes a huge part of both Matt’s story and the season’s forward momentum. It nearly destroys Matt’s personal relationships with Foggy and Karen. By taking on Castle as a client in the “trial of the century,” it also effectively ends Matt’s legal career. When the trial reveals a conspiracy involving Castle and a bad mob hit, it allows Karen to grow into her own as a character while Foggy gains more confidence and independence from Matt. The ninja thing almost seems like this little side operation that doesn’t really effect the season in any meaningful way. Mostly because the Hand’s plan is never really stated, just hinted at, and it all boils down to set up for season three and/or The Defenders. 

To drive the point home of how inconsequential the Hand are as villains, Wilson Fisk even shows up for a few episodes to show us his prison life. Fisk is still great as ever, especially in his scenes with Castle, although a standout moment comes with his one interaction with Murdoch. Fisk’s effectiveness as a villain is what drove season one to greatness. While Punisher and Elektra do an admirable job of filling that hole, ultimately their status as allies to Matt makes this season the weaker of the two. It ends on some powerful emotional beats, sure, but without the gravity of Fisk pulling everything in, things just aren’t as consistent.

Conclusion: Justice Brought to Marvel TV

Despite an uneven second season, the show overall is still one of the strongest productions put out by Marvel. The characterizations of Matt, Fisk, Elektra, and Punisher easily erase any ill will from their various film incarnations. Like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Marvel simply knows how to treat their characters when they’re brought back into the fold. I’m incredibly excited to see what Defenders, The Punisher and the inevitable season three bring to the table, given the strong foundation of these two seasons.

But not only does Daredevil set these up, it also shows Marvel can diversify their genre output away from their films’ action-comedy approach. Daredevil is our introduction to another side of the MCU, and while tonally it feels different, certain flourishes ensure it’s still playing in the world we know and love. We never question why Iron Man shows up, because he’s not dealing with New York’s criminal underworld. Daredevil is, and it’s that window into the seedier side of Marvel that makes this show so entertaining. Even if you have no interest in superheroes or Marvel in general, this show works as a gripping crime thriller that knows how to treat stories, themes and characters with respect. Quite simply, when it comes to Marvel television, Daredevil can’t be beat.