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.

The Needs of the Many...

Leonard Nimoy

1931-2015

Before this blog, before I left school, before my first kiss, before I even loved Batman, there was Star Trek.

 

Some of my earliest memories are of my mother and I (back in the good ol’ days before she remarried) watching reruns of The Next Generation.  I know it wasn’t necessarily her first pick of shows to watch, but I was awestruck.  And she saw that.  I have vivid memories of spring and summer time Saturday evenings watching the exploits the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and marveling at the technology on the screen.  When Steve Jobs died in October 2011, I remember instantly thinking that the world had lost, not only a genius, but the man that brought us closest to Star Trek becoming a reality.

The vision Star Trek and of Gene Roddenberry, creator of the franchise, was of a better life than what mankind had at the time (and today, if I’m being honest).  No war, no poverty, no hate.  One of the more overt messages Star Trek transmitted was against racial prejudice.  Lieutenant Uhura, portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, was one of the first prominent black actors on television.  In the episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", Captain Kirk and the crew encounter a race of people locked in a constant civil war.  Despite the crew not understanding the basis for their hated, the aliens find their difference to be obvious: half of their race has white skin tone on the left side of their face and the right half is black, whereas the other half of the race has the reverse (black on the left, white on the right).  This lamp-shaded the idiocy of the racial divides of the United States in 2015 1969.

Spock, one of my favorite characters since first being introduced to the character over twenty years ago, is probably the most iconic and influential characters in the entirety of the franchise.  The man behind the ears, Leonard Nimoy, was the reason for that.  Appearing in the entirety of the original Star Trek series, six films dedicated to that cast (directing two of them), two episodes of The Next Generation, and bridging the gap between the original crew to the crew of the reboot films with Zachary Quinto taking over as the character of Spock, Leonard Nimoy was referred to as the “conscious of Star Trek’.  I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Nimoy at a convention years ago.  It was brief, but I knew instantly why so many loved him.

He was an actor.  He was a director.  He was a writer.  He was a poet.  He was a mentor.  He was a husband.  He was a brother. 

He was a father. 

He was a friend. 

He was a good man.

I'll leave you with his final message to the world.  Great words to live by.

 

Live long and prosper.

-Josh

Review Time: The Flash "The Nuclear Man" and Arrow "Canaries"

This week marked the thirteenth episodes of both The Flash and Arrow.  The unraveling of both the mysteries of Ronnie Raymond’s disappearance (and subsequent reappearance), as well as Joe’s unearthing of the past to learn more about the killer of Barry’s mother continue this week on The Flash.  Over in Starling City, the ramifications of Ollie’s return are beginning to be felt.

This is going to be very “stream of consciousness” so bear with me.  Okay, so if you haven’t seen this week’s episodes of either show, STOP READING RIGHT NOW.

SPOILERS INCOMING.

The Flash- "The Nuclear Man"

• “Uptown Funk”- The song begins the episode.  And I like Mark Ronson, I just don’t buy into the Bruno Mars hype AT ALL.  Never have.  It’s a fun song, though, and it fits the theme of Barry preparing for his date with Linda Park.
• Sex joke.  They really went there, didn’t they?  It was funny, but Cisco asking Barry about whether or not he’s worried about his *ahem* “super speed” seemed a little juvenile.
• Joe and Cisco investigating into Barry’s mother’s murder is cool.  It also gives a fresh interaction with characters that have been on the show all season, but really haven’t had scenes with just the two of them.  The explanation of the photos in the mirror due to the super speed  and being able to identify the killer that way came across as a little “well, you know because science”.
• Wells’ mini-speech to Caitlyn about how people "want to go home, where we feel safe, where we feel loved" is a Peter Pan paraphrase.  Which, if you know me, you know I love me some Pan.  So that was cool.  Also, even though I’m not supposed to, I really love Dr. Wells, but I really, really do.
• Barry's adorkableness in the sex scene was hilarious.  Maybe I just identify with him.  Who knows.
• "Flame on".  What you did there?  We see it.
• TIME TRAVEL??  We knew this was coming, with the concept of time travel being so intrinsically linked to The Flash and his mythos, but it’s cool to finally see it mentioned as more than just a passing reference.  Joe’s suspicions of Dr. Wells being involved in Barry’s mother’s murder (which we know to be true) being brought to the forefront is, I think, coming at a perfect time in the season.  With there being ten episodes left this season, now is the time to start ramping up to the eventual showdown between The Flash and Reverse Flash (Dr. Wells).
• Imagine how Caitlyn must feel while talking to her thought-to-be-dead fiancé who has someone else’s consciousness inside him.  It’d be super weird.  And these are people that deal with super weird on the weekly.
• I liked that there was no villain on this episode.  Ergo, there was no "villain of the week" on this episode.  Which is great.  The “villain of the week” concept is pretty prevalent in seasons one of many other shows (Smallville comes to mind), but The Flash has done it in style.  I’m just relieved to have had a break from it this episode.
• Dr. Wheels sure does love killing people, am I right?  He killed Simon Stagg at the beginning of the season, and now he wants to kill Ronnie/Dr. Stein, then he’s got a gun for some reason.  Dude’s creepy.
• Wouldn't Linda kissing Barry after he ate the ghost pepper make her mouth burn too?  Cute though.
• I know I mentioned it earlier, but YAY, TIME TRAVEL!!  I love time travel.  Something to ponder:  Is Reverse Flash Dr. Wells now or is he Dr. Wells from the future?  Or the past?  Did he kill Barry’s mom earlier, or has he not killed her yet because Barry isn’t ready to be able to stop him?  Is that what his “timetable” is?  I know my theory.  What’s yours?
• Ronnie/Dr. Stein- "How can you save me?"  It's a technobabble!  This show has entirely too much technobabble.  I mean, it’s Cisco’s forte, but at least they make fun of it (“I thought ‘super light’ would be easier to say.”
• The reappearance at the end of the episode of Clancy Brown as DC Comics villain General Wade Eiling.  Brown, while a great actor, is an even better voice actor.  Best known, probably for his performance as Lex Luthor in almost every appearance of that character in animation for nearly two decades, but also as Mr. Krabs of SpongeBob SquarePants fame.

Arrow "Canaries"

• Although the Hong Kong stuff is better than the island, I'm so done with the flashbacks.
• Soooo, Vertigo is Scarecrow now?
• DJ Douchebag using "Vine", "fan girls", and "epically epic" is trying too hard to be youth relate-able.  Unless they’re just trying to make him annoying.  In which case, it’s working well.
• Thea's reaction is to Ollie telling her that he’s the Arrow is f****** perfect.  "You're him" and the multiple "thank you"s were great. It’s exactly how a REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to finding out a loved one is a costumed vigilante.  In my opinion.
• Thea: "I did kinda kick your ass" Ollie: "you didn't..."  Fun stuff.  Stephen Amell has good comedic timing.
• And I love that Thea gets mad at Merlyn, EXACTLY LIKE A REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to learning their psychopath father has been lying to them for so long. 
• More Hong Kong stuff.  Snooze. 
• Love the Ollie vs. Laurel stuff.  The “pain doesn't go away cliché” is to be expected with tragic superhero origins, so it gets a pass.  The “Laurel's an addict” is a nice twist, though.
• I rather enjoy the word "detonator".  Random thought.
• Vertigo’s "I weep for thee" could just be a passing “oh look, he’s cultured”, but I think it’s actually a Shakespeare/Henry V quote.
• It is in the midst of this episode that I finally realized that Thea is pretty hot.
• I love fun dialogue.  "You smell like smoke.  Korean BBQ?" "C4, actually..."
• Detective Lance calls Sin “the one with the boy hair”! Lololol.
• Good for Felicity for standing up for the team against Ollie!  I disagree with her... But good for her!
• While I’m on the topic, good god, I love Felicity. Why do I love her so much?
• Thea’s surprise fight scene against DJ Douchebag was super fun. 
• Daggett Pharmaceuticals is a Batman: The Animated Series reference to Roland Daggett’s Daggett Industries, a pharmaceutical company.  A Daggett (named John) also appears in The Dark Knight Rises and is a corrupt businessman. 
• Black Canary got hit with the drug again.  What an amateur.  WAIT, she's hallucinating Lance this time!  So.  IS Vertigo Scarecrow?
• Lance's guess at Laurel's secret starts out kinda funny.  It's like "well, YES. But no..."  The actual reveal that Sara is dead is legitimately heart wrenching.  
• Random note on The League: I like that they use the "of Assassins" name as opposed to "of Shadows" from the Dark Knight Trilogy.  Comic versions trump film/tv any day of the week in my book.
• Next week: OOH, DEATHSTROKE!  Can’t wait.
• Where the f*** is Ray Palmer!?  This is two episodes straight without him!

All around, both episodes were good.  The builds to each season finale will be fun.  Prediction Time:

The Flash Season One will end just as the season began:  Nora Allen’s murder.  This time, it will be from our present day perspective.  Wells’ timetable refers to him having enough technobabble stuff ready to go back in time (and Barry will follow him back) to kill Barry’s mom, which is the inciting incident in Barry becoming The Flash.  It’s a causality loop.  It happens because it already happened.  Gotta love time travel.

Arrow Season Three will obviously end with another Ollie vs. Ra’s fight.  This time, Ollie wins.  Beyond that, I don’t have any bold predictions.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

 

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.