I spent last weekend watching all 13 episodes of the Daredevil television series produced by Netflix. I had been anticipating it for a while and had watched the trailer a couple of times. I am glad to say I was not disappointed, in fact I was amazed. I have always found Daredevil to be one of the most fascinating comic book characters in existence. Daredevil's powers are not that over the top and he is not some wealthy billionaire playboy.
For those who may not already know it, Daredevil is the story of Matthew Murdock a lawyer turned vigilante who was granted enhanced senses by an accidental chemical spill as a child that also cost him his eyesight. His father was a boxer killed by gangsters for refusing to take a dive in a boxing match. Daredevil is situated in Hell's Kitchen a neighborhood in New York city
I loved the Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck but its lack of commercial success made people label it a flop. In my opinion it also had one of the greatest movie soundtracks I have ever heard. The problem with the movie is that they made Daredevil out to be a tortured and tragic hero; which he is but people are often more comfortable witnessing mental and emotional torture than the evidence of physical torture. In the movie Daredevil required pills and a sensory deprivation tank to sleep at night in order to survive. In the recently released TV series they addressed these and other issues in order to portray Daredevil as the great but conflicted hero he is.
The TV series takes us through Daredevil's rise as a hero through conflicts with his nemesis Wilson Fisk more commonly known in comic books as the Kingpin. The TV series is set in the same Marvel Universe as The Avengers and Iron Man in the aftermath of the Battle of New York so the people are already used to vigilantes and super heroes. However Daredevil starts out in what can only be described as an economy class costume which he confesses at some episode that he purchased online. Despite the lack of high tech or specialized gear; the story line and action sequences are detailed enough that you can't help but accept the circumstances that force Daredevil to be the way he is.
The supporting cast are definitely a major part of what makes this show great in my opinion. Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk is probably one of the greatest portrayals of a villain in television. The other characters like Foggy Nelson and Karen Paige also add depth to the story line.
I thought it was great that they made Ben Urich an African American which added a dose of ethnicity to the story which like most comic books is predominantly white. They did this in the Daredevil movie by making Wilson Fisk an African American as well. The comic book industry has been changing over time to reflect a wider range of characters which hopefully will broaden their appeal to their audiences.
One thing that did not change from comic book to movie and now TV series is how conflicted Matthew Murdock is about the actions he takes as Daredevil and how far he is willing to go for his brand of justice. Daredevil is a deeply religious Catholic and as such goes to confession which gives us an insight into how he thinks about himself and his actions which is hard to discover with other cinematic heroes. Something that did change was the lack of Elektra Natchios though there was some mention of their dating in college.
The show ends with Wislon Fisk going to prison and Daredevil finally donning the traditional devil costume he is famous for. However there are a number of unresolved story lines remaining so hopefully Netflix is planning for more seasons of Daredevil to be released. I for one am highly anticipating where the story will go next.
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