Daredevil (2015-Present)

After a shaky start with the first episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel has definitely gotten the hang of this TV business.  For Marvel shows, I still prefer Agent Carter, because awesomeness, but Daredevil, the first of several Marvel properties to debut on Netflix this year, is another knockout for the brand.  (It’s also worlds better than the 2003 pre-MCU movie, but it wouldn’t have taken much to manage that.)

In a universe with super serums and gods from other planets, Matt Murdock got his powers the old-fashioned way:  being exposed to nuclear waste during a childhood accident.  The incident blinded him, but it boosted his other senses to superhuman levels.  He can eavesdrop on conversations blocks away and hear a lie in someone’s changing heartbeat, he knows how recently someone fired a gun from the smell of the residue on their hands, and put together, his abilities create a pretty thorough impression of the world around him.  Fueled by his laundry list of issues, which range from Catholic guilt to an inability to block out the suffering he hears all over Hell’s Kitchen, Matt begins to head down the vigilante route.  By day, he’s an ethical lawyer in a fledgling practice, and by night, he serves beat-downs to gangsters and lowlifes.

Is it a little eye-rolling that a blind man’s power is super-heightened senses?  Of course – when are we going to get a disabled superhero whose power in no way cancels out their disability?  (I vote for pyrokinesis.  That’s always a good one.)  Still, I like the inventive ways the show uses Matt’s abilities.  It’s far more varied and interesting than the 2003 movie, which spends most of its time showing us how Matt “sees” echolocation-style.  The show also really demonstrates how Matt’s abilities do more than just put him on a level playing field with his sighted adversaries; like any superhero, able-bodied or otherwise, he’s legitimately “super.”

Additionally, Matt more than earns his moniker.  I love the way we see how reckless he is, how he barrels into hugely dangerous situations without any sort of armor or protection, and how much punishment he lets his body take before retreating.  The action is both impressive and brutal, a lot grittier than the typical Marvel fare.  Likewise, the story goes to some pretty dark places, in the plot as well as in Matt’s personal journey as a character. 

Charlie Cox, who I saw earlier this year in The Theory of Everything, does a nice job as Matt, skillfully driving home the “lone wolf with a death wish” angle.  Vincent D’Onofrio joins the proceedings as Matt’s chief antagonist, and Rosario Dawson has a decent recurring role.  The real revelation for me, though, is Elden Henson as Matt’s legal partner Foggy.  That’s right, the former Bash Brother from The Mighty Ducks is just fantastic.  Right from the pilot, when he’s not-so-subtly trying to turn Matt off of the pretty woman Foggy is after, his delivery of, “And she kinda told me she thinks blind people are ‘God’s mistake?’” makes me love him forever. 

Nitpick, though – why does no one mention the fact that Daredevil’s mask doesn’t have eyeholes?  We know why, obviously, but nobody wonders what’s up with that?

Warnings

Some fairly serious violence, dark themes, swearing, drinking and drug use, and sexual content.