Marvel debuted Daredevil exclusively on Netflix last week and the original series has gotten high praise. Steven DeKnight was brought onto the show as the executive producer and showrunner after Drew Goddard, who is set to write and direct the Spider-Man reboot, left for another project.
DeKnight sat down with IGN this week and talked about the first season in length as well as the possibilities for the future of the show and Daredevil. Check out some of the highlights below!
***** SPOILERS for all 13 episodes of Daredevil below *****
Daredevil was one of the first superheros to become noticeably tired during fight sequences. That was a focus for the show and DeKnight saying,
"Gritty and grounded were always the way we approached all aspects of the show, especially the action part. We had many conversations about the action because obviously I am very invested in the action... It's something we don't see very often in superhero shows, but since Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is very human and we always wanted to stress that he has heightened senses but otherwise he's just got to push himself to the limit."
Daredevil has drawn comparisons to the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy due to the style and darker tone. Another similarity lies between the two heroes and their reluctance to kill their enemies. Daredevil made it through the whole season without killing a foe and that was a big focus for the show.
"We never wanted him to intentionally kill someone, could certainly put someone in a coma. With Nobu (Peter Shinkado), it was more of a deflection so he wasn't actively trying to kill Nobu, he kind of brought it on himself... It was always the moral question of 'How far do I go to save this city?' He certainly tried to kill Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and realized his mistake and how his desire to kill Wilson Fisk really almost lead to his own death."Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) played a pivotal role in the first season of Daredevil and was the prominent female character. The show hinted at her dark past and showed what she is willing to due to survive when she killed Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore). Her back story is mysterious at this point but DeKnight says they have tentative plans for her.
"We got a pretty broad idea of what happened in the past and we really wanted to nod to the classic Miller run. I'm not saying we'll go as far as she falls into drugs and pornography and sells Matt out for a fix of dope, but there is obviously something going on with Karen and we really want to explore that dark side."Daredevil also included an appearance by Melvin Potter (Matt Gerald) as he helped create suits for Wilson Fisk and eventually the classic red Daredevil costume. Goddard originally came up with the idea for Potter to make the suit but DeKnight explained more about who he is and who he could become.
"Once we actually see him, I really wanted to go full on with the idea that there is something mentally unstable about him, a bit childlike. I wanted to bring in the reference to Betsy. Obviously, you see hints that he may become The Gladiator in the future. You see the pattern and you see his schematics for his saw blades and the big Easter Egg, the poster in the background."Leland Owlsley (Bob Gunton) was one of the major players in Hell's Kitchen working for Fisk. He had a crushing end his appearance but their were mentions that he has a son, which could possibly become the real Owl. DeKnight confirmed that Owlsley is indeed dead but as far as Leland's son becoming The Owl he said,
"If you know the mythology of The Owl, Leland Owlsley, The Owl had a father who was in high finance, so will his son, Lee, be The Owl? We'll have to wait and see."
DeKnight also confirms that the "Greek Girl" Matt knew in college was a reference to Elektra and that she may have a future should the show continue. As far as why she and Bullseye weren't introduced in season 1, he said,
"It just didn't feel right coming out of the gate. Wilson Fisk was the right protagonist to start us off with The Wire-esque world that we wanted to do but we did want to nod to the fact that Elektra is out there somewhere." And as far as Bullseye appearing, "Whether or not that was Bullseye, time will tell. But I loved Bullseye growing up... Hopefully sometime down the road we'll get there and earn that but definitely something I think had we started out with would have sent the slightly wrong tone for what we were going for."An emotional and surprising moment in the series came at the end of episode 12 when Wilson Fisk killed Ben Urich (Vondie-Curtis Hall). DeKnight explained the decision to kill Urich saying,
"I wish I could claim responsibility for that cause I thought it was very powerful decision. It was a Marvel idea."DeKnight also revealed there were discussions to add post credit scenes to some episodes,
"Originally in episode 7, the scene with Stick and his mysterious partner, we wanted that to be post credit but we discovered that we ran a foul with Netflix with their automatic starting the next episode. They don't do post credit stuff."As far as how long we will have to wait to see a second season of Daredevil thanks to the already scheduled Netflix lineup, DeKnight is keeping it close to the vest.
"The response has people thinking about the possibilities."Share your thoughts on Daredevil in the comments below!
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