Daredevil is a free-to-watch series on Netflix, with all 13 episodes of season 1 available to watch. It’s tied in to the Marvel movies that we all know and love. But, if you were to actually watch the series, you wouldn’t be able to tell, if not for a few references to the battle of New York, which we saw in the first Avengers film. It’s so distanced from everything else going on in that cinematic universe. There’s no relation to Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, or anyone else. It’s not about any SHIELD agents, or anyone directly related to the bigger heroes. It’s just focused on this one guy in one section of New York City. I’m glad they decided to make the story so seemingly small and insignificant when compared to the grand scale adventures of the movies that we’re accustomed to. This small scale plot makes the Marvel universe seem even larger. It is a cinematic universe, so to have the rest of the world that the heroes fight in be uneventful and empty wouldn’t be a wise choice. Things do go on when Thor isn’t flying around the planet. Things happen when the SHIELD agents aren’t going on missions. But Daredevil isn’t simply world building for the sake of filling it in… it’s a great show all around.
Daredevil himself is lawyer Matt Murdock by day, and a Batman-like vigilante by night. Unlike Batman, he’s got no gadgets, no car, and no money. Instead, all he’s got is a suit, martial arts skills, and a rating of 20 million points on the bad@$$ scale. He’s also blind. And for a blind person, he sure does see and fight better than a person with 20/20 vision does. Daredevil was made into a movie in 2003, starring Ben Affleck (who is now the new Batman). That movie was relentlessly hated by fans, critics, and average moviegoers alike, and it deserved all that hate. When Marvel decided to revive the character with this series, I can only imagine what the executives and producers were doing behind the scenes. I’m thinking they were praying so intensely for this show to work that it hurt. They probably prayed to every god and supreme being that was ever believed to have existed for good measure, because everyone knows that they can’t afford another disaster like the Daredevil movie. I really couldn’t be happier with the result of all that hard work the cast and crew put into it. Judging by the 9.4 on IMDb, and the 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, I think others liked it, too.
The first thing to call attention to is the dark, brutal tone. I’m genuinely surprised at how dark and serious this show is. The Marvel movies are indeed serious, but they always do have a lighthearted aspect somewhere. Daredevil doesn’t know the meaning of the word “lighthearted”. It gets brutal. The violence is one of the things that makes Daredevil seem more distanced from the movies. It’s not fun, Hulk smashing, hammer throwing, shield bashing action, it’s the bloody fisted, ruthless, relentless, rage filled, decapitation by car door violence that, now that I think about it, is not really okay for kids, which thus far have been a big portion of the audience that watch the Avengers related properties. It is rated TV-MA for a reason.
Don’t be mistaken, Daredevil isn’t all about the mindless violence… although it is one of the best aspects of the show. The story is engrossing as well. Basically, a crime lord named Wilson Fisk is one of the biggest problems in Hell’s Kitchen, a problem that Matt Murdock and his friends try everything in their power to bring down. In doing that, they bring upon themselves unending turmoil and heavy burdens that would break just about anyone else. Wilson Fisk, more commonly known as Kingpin, is a fantastic villain. He’s so emotionally unstable that you can never predict what he’ll say or do next. He’s almost scary. I’ve never been scared by a Marvel villain before. They’re usually charismatic and cool or slightly menacing. Fisk is the first one that I was genuinely scared of.
Most of the misfortune of Murdock’s friends comes directly from his role as Daredevil. That’s the part that reminded me of Breaking Bad, of all things, mostly because of how 99% of everyone’s distress comes from the main character. I think that if any show is ever able to remind me of Breaking Bad in any way that there just might be some good behind it.
If you can’t already tell, I’m trying to keep this review as spoiler free as humanly possible. I do not want to ruin anything for anyone who has yet to see it, so I do apologize if this review seems a bit off. The only other thing I can say is that Daredevil absolutely needs to be seen by everyone. Whether you’re a Marvel fan or just an average fan of what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done so far, you will want to see Daredevil. It may be graphic at times, but if you can get through that, you’ll be alright. I almost completed the season in one sitting, something I wasn’t able to do with Breaking Bad (it all goes back to that, doesn’t it?)
I’m already growing impatient in the wait for season 2. I also hear that Daredevil is supposed to be tied in with future Marvel Netflix series, such as Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage. Supposedly, they’ll come together in the future to form a team called the Defenders. If any of those upcoming shows are anything like Daredevil, then I’m already hooked. But I think everyone was hooked since the first Iron Man back in 2008.
Final Rating for season 1-
5 / 5
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