If you’ve never seen a Marvel movie, but wanted to check out the show, you wouldn’t be lost at all.Įspecially because - prepare for the obligatory singing of praises of the cast - there’s not a member of this ensemble who feels out of place. One of the most impressive things about “Daredevil,” overall, is how well it commits to building its own universe within an already pretty-well-established one.

After all, Matt and Foggy are lawyers, and there’s no shortage of that component. (See our upcoming interview with him for more details.) While the show doesn’t have that level of subtlety, it is fully committed to exploring the elements of the “Daredevil” world that lend itself to a crime procedural place. DeKnight, who previously served as creator of Starz’s “Spartacus” empire, is running the show here and is on the record as saying “The Wire” was an inspiration. (If you disagree, then you clearly weren’t watching the end of Episode 2 with your glasses on.) All of them stack up as some of the best-realized fight scenes I’ve seen in a television context. Oh, and also, what kind of violence? “Daredevil” easily exists in the grey space between PG-13 and R, and though most of its truly grotesque moments occur off-screen (and thus, in the audience’s imagination) young kids should be aware that “Daredevil” has a lot more in common with “Oldboy” than “Agents of SHIELD” by design. What kind of corruption and grift might occur as a result?

You know what happens when the Hulk smashes his way through mid-town Manhattan? Even years later, people are still cleaning up the damage, and the writers behind “Daredevil” use it not just as an opportunity to connect their show with a billion-dollar franchise, but to bring a fascinating real-world component to the show. There’s no denying that a previous softness for the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes a long way toward warming the heart for this show, but what makes it so compelling is that the events of things like the first “Avengers” film are treated as backdrop for ordinary lives. But “Daredevil” makes the smart choice to dole it out slowly over the course of the season, while also drawing us further and further into the same New York City where Iron Man and Captain America live. Despite the extrasensory talents developed after his loss of sight, that’s a tough battle given that Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is looking to take over the criminal underworld of New York one bomb or brutal murder at a time.Īnyone who’s passionate about superhero tales, at this point, has a certain level of exhaustion with origin stories. Catch Matt at night, and you’ll learn that he’s also a masked vigilante looking for justice on his own terms. The basics: Matt Murdock ( Charlie Cox) is on the surface a young, blind lawyer working with his partner Foggy Nelson (Elder Henson) to defend the underdogs of Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.

Daredevil season 1 mask