Marvel’s Daredevil Series Separates Itself From The Rest

The Marvel Comics Cinematic Universe has been on a roll for over 15 years with the films it’s released to the world. Year after year Marvel comics, and the various movie studios that own their rights, have tried to consistently out do each other in the comic book film genre. While Marvel has the movie business in a chokehold, DC Comics was beginning to monopolize the small screens within our homes.

With Shows like the Arrow, Flash, and Gotham, Marvel couldn’t compete on the small screen with its offerings of Agents of Shield and Agent Carter. Although I personally like Shield and Agent Carter, Arrow is so far ahead of both in terms of writing, directing, plot and just overall greatness, that Marvel’s shows couldn’t compete.

But Marvel threw a monkey wrench into the entire genre of comic book TV shows and put their latest work, Daredevil, on a platform that’s more reminiscent to their films. By taking Daredevil off of network TV and putting it on Netflix where anything goes, Marvel has unleashed a comic book TV series that’s like watching 13 episodes of a movie.

Daredevil pushes the envelope because it’s allowed to, and in part, that’s what makes the show so great. But there are more moving parts that allow Daredevil to be the best comic book show made for TV yet.

Kung Fu, Anyone?…

I grew up in an era where Kung Fu movies were some of the best actions films around. Through the years, the film business has seemed to forget about Kung Fu movies and how much fun they can be, but the one thing that can’t ever be forgotten about those films is the fight choreography.

Kung Fu movies were like a violent ballet taking place, which was equal parts brutal and beautiful. And the fight choreography in Daredevil is absolutely mesmerizing. Every single scene fight scene in Daredevil looks like something out of Five Deadly Venoms (greatest Kung Fu movie ever) and you never get tired of watching it.

Action sequences like the one’s in Daredevil are what keep viewers excited as much as the storyline keeps us intrigued. The one scene that has separated itself from all others in the show and all others in any comic book show period is this scene from episode 2 which takes place all in one straight never-ending camera shot. This is the epitome of what makes Daredevil a special show:

Between scenes like this, the fight scene with Daredevil’s mentor stick, the brutal fight with Nobu from the Hand, and countless other fights, Daredevil has taken this series to an entirely different level of action that TV show viewers have never seen. And that’s impressive.

Looking At Things In A Different Darker Light…

My favorite part of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was not only how dark the characters were, but also how dark the entire world was around the characters in Gotham City. The Marvel Universe takes place on regular Earth, so the backdrop of New York City is always regarded as a hard, rough place in real life.

But in a series like Daredevil with super-villains and criminals alike, it just adds to the grityness. There are certain episodes of Daredevil that look straight out of Nolan’s directorial playbook and I can’t express enough how much of an edge it gives to this series. All the comic book shows on TV now are happy-go-lucky joke cracking affairs.

You never expect madness to take place or for key characters to get axed. Daredevil doesn’t subscribe to that notion. People you love die, people you hate prosper, innocent folks get caught in the crossfire, and good doesn’t always triumph over evil in every episode. This is good theater ladies and gentlemen. Daredevil is great cinema broken up into 13 episodes of action packed darkness. The less light there is, the more the darkness consumes the inhabitants, the more enjoyable the series will be for everyone.

The Big Man Steals The Show…

The fight scenes are great, the heroes and heroines are awesome, the darkness and direction of the show is unique to TV, but the most vital facet of Daredevil is Vincent D’onofrio’s portrayal as Hell’s Kitchen resident Kingpin, Wilson Fisk. I was very excited before the series premiered to see how Marvel would portray Daredevil himself.

And as much as I’ve enjoyed Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdoch/Daredevil character, D’onofrios Wilson Fisk makes you forget which side you’re really on, and you find yourself enjoying the mayhem. Fisk comes off as a misunderstood philanthropist doing what’s right for his neighborhood.

D’onofrio’s character reminds me of Brian Cranston’s Walter White in Breaking Bad. Walter White was the bad guy; he was all that was wrong with the world. Even when white transformed into the infamous Heisenberg, we still rooted for him, the epitome of evil and greed; we even found ourselves making excuses for him.

And this is no different with Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. Daredevil as the hero doing good for Hell’s Kitchen, is supposed to make us loathe and despise the villain that Fisk is, but with Fisk’s background story, Daredevil’s murky intentions as the show progresses, we overlook the evilness that is the epitome of Kingpin.

I’ve seen a lot of villains in my day, but there aren’t not many who have made me root for them and look forward to every seen they’re in as much as I do Wilson Fisk. And with the events leading up to the season 1 finale, I expect to see an even more ruthless version of Fisk who is going to light Hell’s Kitchen and our television screens on fire.

Daredevil is already one of the best shows on TV and that’s with 13 episodes in the book. I can see the show getting better because all the recent Netflix titles have been homeruns. We are seeing the beginning of what may be an off-network TV comic series trend that will take then entire comic book world to unreal heights. And I’m glad Marvel and Daredevil were at the forefront.

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