Daredevil Review- Hell's Kitchen Makes Its Devil

In the early morning hours on Friday, April 10th, a devil was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanks to a unique partnership between Marvel and Netflix, subscribers could instantly binge watch all 13 episodes of Daredevil starting at 12:01 a.m. PST.

Fans from all over the world got the chance to be introduced to the newest hero and it opened up a whole new side for the MCU to play in. The MCU started with a billionaire and his advanced suit, a super soldier, the god of Thunder, a rage filled beast, and two highly trained and skilled SHIELD agents. It has since evolved to include Inhumans, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and soon a pair of super powered twins. Then as Phase 3 hits, we will be introduced to the mystical corner of this universe with Doctor Strange and continue to explore the cosmic side.

Daredevil has given Marvel the opportunity to explore the streets of Hell's Kitchen and follow the journey of Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), who both want to transform the city into something greater.

***** Possible SPOILERS for the Daredevil series to follow *****

Marvel decided to bring the story of Daredevil to Netflix so that they could make stories for a more mature audience. Daredevil certainly achieves those goals as it is the darkest and bloodiest property to come out of the MCU, and it's not even close.

Daredevil takes no time introducing the newest batch of characters to the audience and quickly shows the plethora of people Fisk has at his disposal. Whether it is Nobu (Peter Shinkado), Leland Owlsley (Bob Gunton), Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho), Vladimir (Nikolai Nikolaeff), Anatloy (Gideon Emery), Turk Barrett (Rob Morgan), Melvin Potter (Matt Gerald), or Fisk's right hand man Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore), Fisk has people from different backgrounds and different talents to help him run his empire.

Our hero is not without his allies as he gets help from his best friend Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) throughout the series and makes new friends such as Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Ben Urich (Vondie-Curtis Hall), and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson).

Daredevil is tasked with introducing all these characters, and more, plus tell an origin story through flashbacks that deliver pay off during the rest of the series. The best part about the series is Murdock's inner conflict about how he should be dealing with everything he encounters. Being a lawyer by day, but the man in the mask at night, brings Murdock a lot of turmoil.

He is a very good lawyer and Daredevil shows that off early but there are also moments where he is either dangling a mobster off the top of a roof or going in alone to a building full of henchmen that show his wide-ranging and conflicting beliefs. His catholic upbringing certainly factors into his decisions, especially not killing anyone when he is masked up.

The majority of the cast are given meaningful story arcs and it shows just how well Steven DeKnight did as the showrunner after Drew Goddard stepped away. Fisk is shown as a ruthless monster and then as a big hearted softy towards Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) within minutes of each other. Foggy is the typical best friend at the beginning of the series but really shines during the last half of the series. Karen's arc is fascinating as she constantly shows that she has a lot of fight in her as well.

Obviously, the fight sequences, choreographed by Philip Silvera, were arguably the best to ever happen in the MCU. That title, previously held by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is put on display multiple times throughout the series. Without getting too far into spoilers, the sequence at the end of episode 2, the fight throughout episode 9, and the confrontation between Fisk and Daredevil in the finale are among my personal favorites for different reasons.

Not only were the sequences amazing, but there are plenty of moments that are far bloodier than I was ever expecting to see in a Marvel property. Episodes 3 and 4 both close on jaw dropping scenes and the previously mentioned fight in episode 9 had more blood than any single scene I can remember.

One of the best things about Daredevil was its ability to exist inside the MCU but NOT rely on it to tell a meaningful story. Sure there were references to the Battle of New York, The Rising Tide, and Carl Creel, who we saw as The Absorbing Man in Agents of SHIELD, but Daredevil didn't use anything that was already established in the MCU to make the story it told meaningful.

That doesn't mean that Daredevil finishes without laying the groundwork for whats to come as there are many teases of what could come. They tease Potter becoming The Gladiator, the logo of Iron Fist villain Steel Serpent, and possibly the beginning of Civil War as pictured above.

The one disappointment I had was not with the show itself, but rather with the leak of the classic Daredevil suit. The final suit looks great but the lack of a surprise during the final moments of the season. It would have made the reveal even great had it been mistakenly released before Marvel and Netflix intended it to be.

If AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders can deliver at the same quality and content then Marvel may have just found a great avenue to tell the stories to dark for TV or in movies. The likes of Punisher, Blade, Moon Knight, and Ghost Rider could all benefit from a Netflix series but we will have to wait and see if that happens.

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