DAREDEVIL: The Most Stunned-Heavy TV Series Ever Made

An exciting action adventure. Marvelous.

Rating:   9/10 - IMDB

                98% - Rotten Tomatoes

                75% - Metacritic

Let me introduce Marvel’s Daredevil, Netflix’s original series that follows a blind lawyer’s transformation to a masked vigilante who is “just trying to make his city a better place”. Yes, we have seen the likes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter, but what really separates this series from the common idea of a superhero TV series is the fact that it feels more like a court drama than something ripped directly from a comic book.

Netflix teamed up with Marvel Studios to release a thirteen episodes season of a brand new serial, starring the man without fear, Daredevil. The first season showed the early stages of Matt Murdock taking the mantel, as well as introduce major players in the comic book established street level scene of the Marvel Universe, laying the ground work for future Netflix/Marvel serials: A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders.

Daredevil stars Charlie Cox in the title role, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Hanson as Foggy Nelson, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, the main antagonist of the series. The casting is one of the strongest points of the series. Cox plays blindness in a convincing way, and masterfully embodies the calculating intelligence and charismatic persona of Murdock. Perhaps the strongest performance comes from D’Onofrio’s portrayal of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin from the comics. Fisk is genuinely terrifying, volatile, and violent, but also so well developed that the audience begins to feel compassion and understanding for him. This makes him less of a simple obstacle for Murdock, and more of an opposing force, equal in strength, and colliding in spectacular fashion. About Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, the feelings is quite mixed though. They did good but definitely not extraordinary.

As mentioned earlier, the series follows the early stages of Murdock’s transformation to a masked vigilante, but it doesn’t feel like a tired origin story. The explanation of how our protagonist lost his vision is given in the opening three minutes of the first episode, and the rest of his origin is given through flashbacks throughout the next ten episodes. This allows the viewer to learn the backstory gradually, while still being invested in the present of the story. We as viewers see Murdock rise and fall time after time as he develops who he is both with and without the mask. As someone who has watched many superhero movies, I am sick of origin stories, and this was an excellent way of handling the necessary evil they bring.

Daredevil is not a family friendly show. Violence is given a spotlight, but not used for shock value. The brutality only ever adds to the story and character development, often leaving the viewer in a stunned state, and a loss for predictions of what will follow. Gore and violence is depicted in a realistic fashion, which makes it even more effective. The best example of this comes from a three minute fight scene at the end of the second episode. The fight scene takes place in a hallway where the Russian mob is holding a young boy as bait for the protagonist. The entire scene is showing in one continuous shot, where Daredevil takes out numerous opponents. The realism comes from the struggle between the two forces depicted. The hero is clearly exhausted, and at points looks as though he will fail to overcome these odds, rather than smoothly defeating the enemies without breaking a sweat. The villains are not the typically henchmen we are used to in films, taking one hit then never getting up, or crawling away to safety. These men get knocked down, get back up, and keep fighting. This better shows the reality of a multi-man fight than we are used to in film and television.

The plot of the story is well written, making almost each episode a valuable addition except for the one named ‘Nelson vs. Murdock’. This episode, ‘Nelson vs. Murdock’, is more like a romance comedy that we clearly don’t except and the series cannot afford that too. Except for that, the plot is also incredibly capable of standing alone, separate from the comic book source material, while still adding enough subtle nods and fan service to diehard fans. This makes it totally accessible for comic readers, superhero fans, and casual viewers alike.

Back in 2003, Marvel came up with the big-screen version of Daredevil. The movie was a disaster. If I compare movie Daredevil with the TV series Daredevil, TV series Daredevil will definitely come out victorious. The television version has realistic fights, better character development and a proper villain the movie Daredevil lacked. The TV version connects the series with Marvel’s timeline. The series clearly states that ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, as well as the rest of New York, is still recovering from the attack by the ‘Chitauri’ in 2012’s ‘The Avengers’.

I am completely enthralled by the show. Having finished the final episode, I am truly dying for more. I highly recommend this show to the comic book fans and new comers alike. Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ along with DC’s ‘The Flash’ and ‘Arrow’ have been very successful in introducing the super hero genre to our local TV series fans. Our native entertainment personnels should utilize this advantage and gradually introduce a home of our own characters.