By Chrissi DiMartino ‘18
Staff Writer
“You know, the only thing I remember from Sunday school is the martyrs, the saints, the saviors…they all end up the same way. Bloody and alone.”
It’s been said that a hero is an ordinary person who makes themselves extraordinary. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), the main character of the Netflix original series, Marvel’s Daredevil, did just that after he was blinded as a child after being splashed with a radioactive substance. His remaining senses grew stronger, to the point where he can hear people’s heartbeats and their injuries, smell a person’s cologne from a long distance away, or sense the smallest change in temperature. After his father died, he was trained by a man named Stick (Scott Glenn), who taught him how to defend himself and use his abilities. Matt put himself through law school, and is now starting his own firm with his best friend and college roommate, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), who provides comic relief and adds some light to what is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s darkest installment yet.
Nelson and Murdock’s first client is Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who is being framed for murder because of a work file she should not have seen. After helping Karen and taking her under their wing, the trio team up to bring down the company, Union Allied, and to track down everyone involved with the scandal and the recent spree of violence in Hell’s Kitchen. Despite Matt’s devout Catholicism and firm set of morals, it’s Karen who shines as the show’s moral compass, despite everything she goes through (and the tragic backstory that’s only been hinted at so far). She holds on to her convictions and every set back makes her stronger.
The main villain, Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D’Onofrio, this character is known in the comics as Kingpin, though he’s not called that in the series) operates from the shadows from the majority of the season. He is both childlike and monstrous; he is quick to violent bouts of anger, but is timid and shy around the woman he loves, an art dealer named Vanessa.
Cinematically, Daredevil is beautiful; the lighting makes it feel like an old school crime drama, with witty dialogue that will appeal to all audiences. The show also has numerous nods to other Marvel events (also known as Easter eggs) such as the Battle of New York from the first Avengers movie, and mentions of a magic hammer and iron suit. Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), a nurse who patches up Matt’s wounds occasionally, also makes a cameo appearance in another Marvel Netflix original: Jessica Jones. Season two of Daredevil will be released on Netflix in March.
Fun Fact: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was originally meant to be a parody of Daredevil and other comics from the early 1980s. The radioactive chemicals that cause Matt’s blindness gets into the sewers, creating the turtles. Their mentor’s name, Splinter, is a reference to Daredevil’s mentor Stick.
Photo courtetsy BamSmackPow
