Every Monday in January going forward, WH and I will be recording an episode of MCU L8R that focuses on a season of Daredevil’s Netflix Series, Daredevil Born Again, and general thoughts on what’s to come for the series. This will serve as the holding spot for any thought you have had on the prior series, the upcoming one, or our guests.
So far, the plan is:
-Jan 6: General discussion on the upcoming series
-Jan 13: Thoughts of season 1 of Daredevil
-Jan 20: Thoughts of season 2 of Daredevil
-Jan 27: Thoughts on Defenders, and the crossover appearances of Matt Murdock in the MCU/Netflix verse
That one November night when the news broke that Netflix pulled the plug on Daredevil, I was a little devastated as I felt there was a lot more in the tank. That show gave me the push to read comics full-time and I still do till this day.
I kept my ear to the ground for years as the #SaveDaredevil campaign picked up steam and lo & behold, Hornhead got a second life. I’d like to think Born Again will pull a lot from the Soule run since Echo did hint towards Kingpin running for mayor. In addition, White Tiger being in it might loosely adapt the “Trial of the Century” arc from the Bendis run. Feige knows how beloved the original show was and, like X-Men '97, it’ll take what worked and make it better.
Howdy gentlemen and welcome to my world! (It’s a very dark place.)
Anyway, it’s finally time for a hero who represents my people! I’m really looking forward to revisiting these shows since I don’t think I’ve rewatched… or relistened… to them since they were originally dropped on Netflix. From my memory, I loved the first season of Daredevil and thought the second had some great stuff while being more uneven. For me, Matt and Jessica Jones’s dynamic in The Defenders stood out before the third season of Daredevil became my favourite by far.
Needless to say, I was really bummed out when the Netflix shows were cancelled (I couldn’t actually see how bad Iron Fist looked and enjoyed it more than most. Even so, Daughters of the Dragon would’ve been more compelling.) Now I’m hoping that Born Again can maintain the same quality of the original and even surpass it while moving forward. It’s also my wish that it could lead to more stories from this corner of the MCU (like the aforementioned Daughters of the Dragon) if successful.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts while re-examining my own over the next few weeks. Until next time, enjoy a crisp ice cold can of Canada Dry and make mine MCU L8r! Park mark out… brap brap!
P.S. I’d also like to continue the demand for Daredevil-inspired MCU L8r merch. I will shill for this until my face turns… red. (See what I did there? Good… because Matt Murdock and I didn’t.)
Dc jermaine from Chicago. What’s good wh? I haven’t listen to mcu in a while and I hope you are doing well, Agatha and what if wasn’t my bag. I tried what if but saw mark ruffalo and I couldn’t do it. He is god awful. Really quick Superman trailer was great it had grown men crying… the peguin won golden globes and has Emmy’s coming up. Creature commandos being a far better animated show than what if. We are getting supergirl next yr and a clayface movie people…Dc and the dcu is cooking like I said it would. People in the comment sections ask me to comeback and I have to give the people what they want wh. Ok on to daredevil wow this show is greatness. Netflix gets all props. This show made you totally forget about that daredevil movie with Ben Affleck. Thank god Batman saved his superhero career. Charlie cox was perfect in this role and when he saved the little girl giving guys hands I was sold. A real good guy not a guy who pretends to be something he is not. Loved the kingpin. You know a show is good when you call everyone you know to watch it. Love the show and can’t wait to talk about it. Have a great week wh
This week, we’ll have myself, WH and as long as his wifi in NC works out my former Torch colleague and comics historian Bruce Mitchell on to talk season 1. What worked (including THAT SHOT), what it was inspired by, and more!
For video viewers, I’m probably another 3-4 weeks before I can bear weight on my foot to sit up long enough for our podcasts, so until then my Inspector Gadget Klaw impersonation continues haha.
Daredevil perfectly built a world where demigods, talking raccoons and super-soldiers don’t exist. It was a real triumph for something uniquely different. Season 1 was a perfect blend of Miller’s Man Without Fear miniseries and Bendis/Maleev’s classic run of issues that capture the seediness of Hell’s Kitchen. Charlie Cox nailed Matt Murdock’s warring dichotomy throughout all 13 episodes. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk layers his villainy with such sympathy that it’s almost dangerous to like him.
The supporting cast (Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Toby Leonard Moore, Rosario Dawson) is top-notch. Episode 1x10 is a great character study of Matt and Foggy’s friendship being tested by his double life. Karen (Woll) got a lot to do and she’s just as nuanced as her two coworkers. The sound design and camera work gets the message across about Matt’s heightened senses without hitting the viewer over the head about it.
The action is grounded, gripping and simply awesome. Enough has been said about that one-take hallway fight. Each fight scene is rooted in story, character and there’s tangible, life-or-death stakes.
the TL;DR version: Daredevil is a watershed show in the genre that few try to match.
Here is a question…what universe is this variation of Daredevil taking place in? Is this going to be the same Matt Murdock that we saw on the Netflix series? Or is this Charlie Cox playing a different Daredevil?
I am so far behind on the movies (just watched the first Avengers), but I am caught up on the Netflix series and I saw She-Hulk (I jumped ahead because I love Tatiana Maslany).
What I know is that Daredevil interacts with She-Hulk in the She-Hulk series, and She-Hulk interacts with The Hulk who is in the MCU which therefore ties the Netflix universe to the Avengers MFU, unless of course that was a different Daredevil in She-Hulk then what we saw on the Netflix series. Has there been any indication of this from Marvel?
I apologize if this is common sense or something known by most of you, the MCU is a world I am not well verse in.
Kliq,
We’re going to answer the question on show, but NEVER assume we’re gonna make fun of not knowing. Half the fun, just like with wrestling for me doing this is learning from each other. So we’ll give our theories, but by no means are they absolute (word to Batman/Superman/Wonder-Woman).
Hello gentlefolks, I know I always write more than intended so let’s get down to brass tacks here.
Rewatching the first season of Daredevil was surprising in some ways. While I remember enjoying it, I didn’t recall how great it really was. The Acting was top notch and while the 13 episodes dragged slightly, I loved how Wilson Fisk wasn’t simply taken down by force. Every small chip in the armour is eventually what brought him down. From his actions against the Russians, to the Japanese and beyond, he gradually isolated himself from each faction one by one. As those dominos fell, Foggy, Karen and Ben’s digging allowed Matt’s work as the man in the mask to truly pay off. If any one of those pieces hadn’t been in place it wouldn’t have worked. This multi-pronged attack truly gave everyone something to do throughout the series and created stakes for every character.
As far as representation, I loved how they incorporated Matt’s blindness without making it intrusive. He’s treated like a normal guy in society instead of an inspirational figure without flaws. Using everyone else’s’ preconceptions about being blind to his advantage, he also turns his disability into a weapon (no one ever suspects the blind guy!) Even incorporating minor details like his talking phone to subtly relay information (like when Karen’s trying to call) just works organically. I realize the his superhero persona and powers are a different story, but it makes me wish that more mainstream entertainment would incorporate those with various disabilities this way.
I also thought the sound design was fantastic and helped bring you into Matt’s world. Needing to showcase powers that aren’t visual must have been challenging, but I’m glad they were creative in doing so. Still, I now feel the need to stress that I don’t go around feeling people’s faces to find out what they look like.
The only negative I have with the first season is how they did Ben Urich dirty. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the character was excellent and understand his death was to raise the stakes. Still, I can’t help but think of what it would be like to see some of the biggest events in the MCU from his perspective. Sometimes I feel like Marvel Studios could really benefit from showing how normal people view these massive events. Being such a grizzled veteran, I think Ben would’ve been a prime candidate for this. Not to mention his supporting role in both Spider-Man and Daredevil comics.
Anyway, that’s it for me. Enjoy yourselves a crisp ice cold can of Canada Dry and while I await my Daredevil-inspired MCU L8r merch, make mine… well make it MCU L8r! Park mark out… brap brap!
It would’ve been real easy for this show to play it safe in its second season. It wisely changed the formula by putting two antiheroes in opposition to Daredevil. The season is broken up into two independent arcs with Hornhead being the common denominator and the tolls they took on his double life.
It’s quite a feat to nail both Punisher and Elektra. Jon Bernthal owns the screen every time he’s on it, he can terrify(or thrill) you with a prison fight one minute, convince you in an ideological debate the next and make you shed a tear with an 8 minute monologue. Him and Charlie Cox have fantastic chemistry.
Elodie Yung shined just as brightly. Elektra is every bit as deadly, magnetic and dangerously charming as Frank Miller depicted her, but better.
The action levelled up here. The stairway to hell fight in episode 2x03 was a technical tour de force. The character work kept me engrossed between the fisticuffs. Foggy and Karen get a lot more to do and they are just as fascinating to watch as Matt.
I was pretty thrilled about the Hand getting more of a presence but it did get a little played out by the tail end.
The Blacksmith subplot didn’t really hit as well as it should, However, dropping Fisk into the middle of the chaos made me jump. I remember losing my shit at the end of 2x08
Simply put: Daredevil season 2 is unapologetically the most comic book-like of the three seasons. The bad I’ve found in it was outweighed by the good and unlike another superhero face-off that came out around the time this season aired. This was superior
