The Man Without Fear: Marvel's Daredevil

It’s been my prediction (and hope) that the future of television lies in the bolstering model of instant streaming.  With the number of Netflix Originals growing from zero to over a dozen in just three years, series’ like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black are paving the way for other series which may have too niche a market for cable or network television.

As they are with most cultural advancements, Marvel has placed their name at the forefront of this content delivery model by announcing not one, but five series, later announced to be partnered with Netflix, to be released over the next few years.  Set to deal with more “street level” characters than their costumed counterparts on the big screen, these series are led by The Man Without Fear, Marvel's Daredevil, premiering its initial season (consisting of 13 episodes) on April 10^th, 2015.

I just finished the first episode and I have to say, it is better than I expected.  And I expected a lot.  The concept is right up my alley: a superhero (my favorite Marvel character at that) paired with a street level crime show?  Sign me up.  But I didn’t think it would be this good.  The first episode is directed by Phil Abraham, a guy I know best as the director of 13 episodes (several of which were nominated for Primetime Emmys) of one of my favorite shows on television, Mad Men.  His directorial credits also include an episode each of Breaking Bad and The Sopranos, and two episodes of Sons of Anarchy.  Right off the bat, Abraham’s involvement in the series bring quite a bit of credibility from some heavyweight prestige format dramas.  I took notes while watching the first episode and quite a few of them involved how well shot the episode is.  Seeing Abraham’s name in the credits explained every single bit of that.  Being a cinematographer by trade, Abraham knows how to frame a shot.  The scene just after the opening titles (which are f***ing DOPE, by the by) takes place in a Catholic confessional.  The ever so slight zoom toward Matt Murdock’s face as he gives a monologue adds a startling amount of gravity to a scene that otherwise might have fallen flat.  Speaking of Mr. Murdock, he is portrayed by Charlie Cox, a British actor whose credits include last year’s Academy Award nominated The Theory of Everything, an episode of Downton Abbey, and roughly two seasons’ worth of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

 

Based on how dark this show will get, I don't think anyone will say that Mr. Murdock looks at life through rose-colored glasses.  That, and he's blind.

Cox portrays Matt Murdock well in this first 53 minute outing, and I have no doubt he’ll do even better as the season progresses to darker depths.  One thing I was weary to see how it was visualized is the “sonar-like” effect Matt’s superpower gives him.  How do you show that on screen without being hokey?  According to the showrunners, and to my delight, you don’t.  Killing the extra sounds, focusing solely on what Matt is hearing, and slowing down the motion on screen displays Matt’s power well, in my opinion.

 

Foggy Nelson, Matt's law firm partner and best friend

One thing Marvel-ites tout over DC fans is the live action depictions of Marvel characters typically contain more humor than their DC counterparts.  Daredevil continues this trend with the light-hearted banter between Matt and his law firm partner and friend, Foggy Nelson.  Quick asides during meetings with a real estate agent, and later their first client, Karen Page, show this quite well.

 

Ms. Karen Page

Speaking of Karen Page (with whom I fell in love halfway through the episode), she is played by the lovely Deborah Ann Woll of True Blood fame.  Her character is at the center of the inciting incident for the entire plot of the season.  Essentially, she is being framed for murder by a crime boss for whom she used to work.  Her innocence in the murder is proven quickly by Matt and his ability to detect whether or not someone is lying based on their heart rate.  This same ability later brings into question in Matt’s mind just how much she knows about her former employer’s criminal activity.

 

Absorbing Man versus Battlin' Jack

One of the coolest things in this episode was just how closely knit it is with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Nothing is directly said at all, but subtle hints are dropped throughout the episode.  A quick shot in the gym where Matt is training shows a fight poster from his dad’s boxing career.  The poster is promoting a fight between Matt’s dad, “Battlin’” Jack Murdock and Carl “Crusher” Creel.  Fans of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might recognize that name as a villain that appeared in the first episode of this season of AoS.  Creel, known to comic fans as the Absorbing Man, is actually a Hulk villain.

 

Absorbing Man on the second season premiere of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Another instance is concerning the purchase of Matt and Foggy’s offices for the Murdock & Nelson law firm.  There’s mention by the real estate agent of a cut in the price due to the “incident” (to which Matt responds, “Is that what we’re calling it now?”).  I didn’t pick up on this at first, but when a second mention is made later on, I realized they were talking about these guys:

And this:

Mentions like this really help to bring the show in tighter to the MCU continuity and give a sense of real world consequences that the Avengers and their actions have on the rest of the world.

The Daredevil fan in me really wants to see an appearance made by the original yellow suit.  I know it won’t happen, a little wink and a nod would be pretty cool, though.

 

Cover to Daredevil: Yellow #1 written by Jeph Loeb, who is now the head of Marvel's television division

In his pair of outings as a vigilante in this episode, Matt sticks with a set of black pants and a black shirt.  It will be interesting to see how he transitions into the red costume later in the season.

One thing I loved about the episode was how origin light it was.  As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I’m not huge on straight origin stories, mainly because I feel the origins could be told better than by showing everything on screen and in sequential order.  This episode achieves both of those goals in the first scene (a very well done, emotional scene showing how Matt lost his sight in a childhood accident) and later in a strategically placed flashback during a fight scene (the flashback features his father and the aftermath of a fight).  In just those two scenes, we got the cause of Matt’s disability and the reason for his powers to develop and the beginnings of his devotion to law and justice in the scene with his father.  Easily done in less than three minutes where other shows may have taken an entire episode.

Quick thoughts:

• The attempted murder on Karen was well done.
• I love the legal aspect of the show.  A procedural cop drama has been done to death, but a procedural law show?  That’s different.
• “It’s perfect ‘Chechnyan’s kidnap a pre-schooler’ weather, Vladimir.”  LOL.
• I love how the mysterious crime boss (SPOILER ALERT: it’s Kingpin) gets a Voldemort-esque treatment from the criminal underlings.
• The fight scenes are very gritty.  It helps to show Matt’s inexperience.
• But at the same time, he’s not THAT inexperienced.  We’ll get to see his training in flashbacks in later episodes, I assume.
• The events of The Avengers (2012) serve as a backdrop for the entire episode and the plot of this season.  I love it.
• I really want to see Bullseye, but I believe it’s been confirmed that he will not appear this season.

Daredevil's most well known and deadly villain, Bullseye

All in all, it was a fantastic first episode.  I can’t wait to binge on the rest of the season.  I plan to write two more posts (one covering episodes 2-7 and one covering 8-13) for the show in the next week or two. 

As always, thanks for reading!

-Josh

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by Marvel Comics, a division of the Walt Disney Corporation.