Daredevil Raises Hell on Netflix

On April 10th, Netflix released the first season of Daredevil. A remake of the famous vigilante/lawyer who lost his sight in an accident when he was a boy. Now uses his heightened senses to save Hell’s Kitchen from various factions at night while being an attorney during the day. Unlike Bruce Wayne who has an endless revenue stream of money for gadgets, Matt Murdock only has his wits and his fighting styles. This is what makes him unique among the superhero community and has been an inspiration to those who are disabled in certain ways.

The last time Daredevil was introduced was in a movie adaption starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, and Michael Clarke Duncan. While it brought people’s attention to the talents of everyone listed above, the movie was a horrible flop and it buried the hero until now. This time Daredevil is brought to us by actors Charlie Cox as the vigilante and he plays opposite Vincent D’Onofrio as his nemesis, Wilson Fisk or The Kingpin. A villain who controls all the crime in Hell's Kitchen and rules the underground of New York with an iron fist.

Also joining the cast is Rosario Dawson, Deborah Ann Woll who is famous for her role as Jessica in the vampire hit show True Blood and Elden Henson whom you may know as Fulton Reed from Mighty Ducks. While it may not be considered an all-star cast things will surely change in time as the popularity will soon rise. As the show progresses you see two separate stories unfold with one being Matt Murdock’s rise to becoming a lawyer by day and becoming Daredevil at night. The other is Wilson Fisk and shows how he rose to being the Kingpin of crime while at the same time, trying to enjoy his personal life as well.

Unlike the movie adaption, this Daredevil goes all out with intense choreography fighting and in depth character building as Matt Murdock is constantly fighting a two front war. The legal one where the Kingpin has every cop and judge in his back pocket and the one on the street as his persona begins to take shape. A bloody trail is left behind with screaming victims with broken bones as Daredevil tries to bring Wilson Fisk down but first he has to go through the local Russian mafia and Triads. In the season finale, everything comes full circle as Matt Murdock is able to get ahold of information that will bring the truth to light while at the same time find someone who will bring the devil out of the darkness.

Another difference from the movie adaption is Michael Clarke Duncan’s portrayal of Wilson Fisk who was very confident and outspoken. Vincent D’Onofrio’s portrayal of Fisk is shy and introverted who has only known loneliness, misery and pain. While Duncan’s Fisk is also just a murderous mobster, D’Onofrio appears to start out with good intentions by wanting to rebuild Hell’s Kitchen for the better by using terrible means. The similarity between them is they share the characteristic that the Kingpin is a man of size and strength and is a force to combat Daredevil. In the finale, the two will have a great fight that will leave the door open for more sinister enemies to appear.

Marvel hasn’t gotten a lot done right as of late with animated movies and television shows but this time they did something right. Daredevil is one of a four show deal that will eventually collaborate into the famous group known as The Defenders. Think of them as the Avengers only not as powerful and they handle less serious threats. The other shows are Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones and hopefully they will be just as good as the first defender. For comic nerds like myself, Daredevil is our Orange is the New Black.