Once again Netflix proves that they are a better future for TV because Daredevil is an ongoing superhero/vigilante show done well. It’s a strong balance between being ridiculously gritty/hyper-violent (HBO, Showtime) and milquetoast (all the broadcast networks). An average episode is also over 50 minutes long too! A broadcast hour clocks in around 42 minutes on a good day and cable is hardly better.
I wasn’t too thrilled when Daredevil would be the first character Netflix and Marvel (Disney) were going to release in their new partnership. Even before the awful Ben Affleck movie, I’ve always felt the character was a poor-man’s Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe and a weak attempt to compete with Batman. Sure Frank Miller injected new life into him way back in the early Eighties which continues to flourish. Recently he was a minor guest in my short-lived She Hulk comics as a rival attorney facing off against Jennifer Walters (that’s She Hulk). Yet Daredevil does remain low on my list of any comic book I’d ever read though; after Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns “realistic” street-justice superheroes were done to death, they remain abundant.
Anyway, the creative team behind this direct-to-Netflix series successfully found a way to make a compelling story arc with an excellent supporting cast, menacing villain and got it all to plausibly be woven into the cinematic Marvel Universe. Not a spoiler warning but if you’re expecting any of the Avengers or Agents of SHIELD to drop by, you’ll be disappointed. Casting is another strong point. Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson “the Kingpin” Fisk proved to be a brilliant move. D’Onofrio really throws himself into the villain and makes him a more complicated person. He’s not comic-book evil as say Loki, Ronan the Accuser or Mandarin, he’s more along the lines of many historical figures who feels his means justify his ends. You’ll soon discover his one weakness as the episodes progress. Then comes the other supporting cast members, most are primarily character actors you’ve seen over the last 20 years. The most obvious one is Bob Gunton as Fisk’s money guy, he delivers as always; a man in his seventies yet he has enough pull to speak his mind around Fisk’s dangerous allies. I was pleasantly surprised to finally see Rosario Dawson in a role in which she functions credibly unlike the horrible Clerks sequel.
Yesterday’s news got me more excited about next season in April (they’re probably shooting now since Netflix posts the whole thing in one swoop). Jon Bernthal will be either an ally/nemesis as the Punisher. Again, the Punisher is another lame, me-too character Marvel came up with during the Dirty Harry fad in the Seventies. I’m confident the producers will make this work well. Plus Bernthal was cool as the unhinged Shane in The Walking Dead and he’ll be in a couple movies I’m looking forward to.