Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

This figurine offers an awesome template for what the season 3 costume ought to look like. There's been no official word on whether or not Matt is getting a new outfit this year, but I'm assuming he will receive an upgrade based on what happened in The Defenders finale. And if he does, it should look something like this.

It wouldn't be too big a leap from Matt's season 2/Defenders suit. The mask and gloves are already similar.

[Silver Nemesis]

Production on season 3 has been noticeably more secretive than on the first two seasons. But with filming nearly complete, some interesting info has surfaced. Firstly there are rumours circulating that Wilson Bethel, who was previously reported to be playing an FBI agent named Steve, is in fact portraying Bullseye.
http://thathashtagshow.com/2018/05/exclusive-wilson-bethel-to-portray-bullseye-in-daredevil-season-3/

There was a report on Reddit a while back claiming that Bullseye would indeed feature in the new season; and that while he wouldn't be wearing his traditional costume, his portrayal was said to be 'legit scary'. Right now these are just rumours, so take them with a pinch of salt.
https://mcuexchange.com/rumor-bullseye-daredevil-season-3/

Secondly there are reports that Matt will revert to his black vigilante suit, at least for the first few episodes of season 3. New location pics appear to confirm this, unless of course they're filming a flashback scene.

I hope he'll also wear the red suit again at some point. It'd be lame if Daredevil, the one Marvel show which has embraced its comic book imagery, ends up ditching it in the third season. Quesada's teaser art included the red suit, so I'm assuming it will eventually return.

Thirdly – and this is pure conjecture on my part – but I noticed the IMDb cast list for episode 11 includes several characters named 'Panicked Parishioner', suggesting a violent sequence taking place in or around a church. Could this be a nod to the church massacre from Guardian Devil?

[thecolorsblend]

I rather like how Bullseye has been built up to. He's really one of the last of the Miller All-Stars who hasn't gotten any screen time in the show yet. I could've handled one more season before seeing Elektra, tbh.

Speaking of... yeah, I guess that Miller issue is out of the question now since, y'know, Elektra has already died and stuff on the show.

*sigh*

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't have an issue with Elektra's death in the TV series. One problem with the Daredevil comics is that they tend to repeat the same storylines over and over:

•   Matt suffers an identity crisis or mental breakdown
•   A villain launches an ongoing campaign to break Daredevil's spirit (the earliest variation of this plotline appeared in the late Silver Age, though Born Again is the most famous example)
•   Matt fakes his own death (I can think of at least 3 or 4 examples of this off the top of my head) and/or adopts a new persona as a sighted person (Mike Murdock, Jack Batlin)
•   Bullseye kills Daredevil's love interest (Elektra, Karen, his hypothetical future wife Stana Morgan from Daredevil Vol 4 1.50)
•   Foggy and Matt have a falling out and dissolve their partnership
•   Daredevil's girlfriend turns out to be his latest enemy (Elektra, Typhoid Mary, Echo)

I've always felt that if they use any of these storylines in the TV show, they should only use them once – meaning Bullseye should only kill one of Matt's love interests. And Karen is the logical choice. From the perspective of Elektra's character arc, I don't think it really matters if it was Bullseye or Nobu who killed her. The important part is that she was stabbed to death with her own sai and resurrected by the Hand for use in one of their rituals. Her death in the comics had an intense but ephemeral  impact which was undermined by her subsequent resurrection anyway. By contrast, Karen's death was permanent and had a long-lasting effect on Matt that's still in evidence to this day. Bullseye killing Karen in season 3 would be far more dramatic than if he'd killed Elektra in season 2. And it can still serve the same function in intensifying the hatred between Daredevil and Bullseye as Elektra's death did in Daredevil Vol 1 #181.

I also appreciate how the makers of the TV series are trying to avoid retreading ground from the 2003 film. I'd argue Elektra's character arc in that movie was closer to Echo's storyline from David Mack's Parts of a Hole (Daredevil Vol 2 #9-15, July 1999-April 2001) than Miller's original 'Elektra Saga', but the depiction of her death scene was straight out of DD #181. If they'd had Bullseye and Elektra in the same season, anyone who'd seen the movie would have known exactly how it was going to end. To be fair, you could also make that argument about Daredevil season 3 – that Bullseye's inclusion portends Karen's death. But I wouldn't be surprised if they had Bullseye kill another major character instead as a way of subverting the expectations of diehard comic fans. Maybe he'll kill Marci, Lantom, Maggie or even Foggy.

[Silver Nemesis]

D'Onofrio recently posted the following image on Twitter after he completed filming on season 3:

That same week, Ayelet Zurer posted this image on her Instagram page:

And someone in the costume department posted this pic, showing the season 3 logo embellished with a Bullseye symbol:

Unless this is deliberate misdirection, it looks like those Bullseye rumours are true.

[thecolorsblend]

With that jacket as a tease, it would seem a bit dishonest to me if they don't go all the way and showcase Bullseye in some way or another.

One thing I like about how things are shaping up with this show is that D'Onofrio is being used as a recurring villain rather than a one-off. The relative lack of Kingpin in season 2 kind of primes the pump for whatever's coming in season 3.

If they're going in a Born Again'ish type of direction for this season (A) it's a fairly logical time to do so (B) the return of the Kingpin plays perfectly with that and (C) as you say above, there's an opportunity for Bullseye to pick off one of the core cast members as the Kingpin dismantles Matt's entire life.

Then again, an argument can be made that Matt has basically already lost almost everything by the end of Defenders anyway. So hmm.

[Silver Nemesis]

Even though he doesn't appear onscreen until the end of episode 3, I'd say Fisk was as much the lead character in the first season as Murdock. That was one of the season's main strengths. The marketing was heavily focused on the complementarity between hero and villain, with the first trailer focussing more on Daredevil...

...while the second focused more on Kingpin.

The trailer song, 'Beautiful Crime', was the perfect lyrical commentary on the two characters and their antagonistic relationship. The words could be expressing Matt's feelings towards Karen, or Fisk's emotional dependence on Vanessa. Or maybe the song is expressing Matt and Fisk's identification with one another.

Hopefully they can replicate that wonderful hero/villain dynamic in season 3. And I can't wait to see how Bullseye fits into the equation.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's Charlie Cox's recent appearance at Comicpalooza. No spoilers, but he drops some interesting hints about season 3.

A few highlights:

•   This convention took place back in May, and Cox says they'd already finished filming on season 3. Seasons 1 and 2 were released about 3-4 months after filming concluded, which would put season 3 in a September-October release window. That means we should be getting a teaser trailer very soon.

•   Cox says he thought Ben Affleck gave a great performance as Daredevil, but he didn't like the 2003 film as a whole.

•   He tells a funny story about how he donated his red glasses from season 1 to a charity auction to benefit the blind. When he saw how low the bids were, he entered his own bid and ended up buying back his glasses for $500. He then had to awkwardly cue up to collect them in front of the entire auction.

•   When asked which fight scene was the most challenging to film, Cox cites an upcoming fight from season 3 as the one he's most proud of. He says most of the hallway fight in season 1 was performed by his stunt double, while he did at least 50% of the stairwell fight in season 2 himself. He also states that he's performed a higher percentage of his own fight scenes in season 3 than in the previous seasons, having now spent around 4 years training in martial arts.

•   Joe Quesada gave Cox the original art work from page 1 of Daredevil: Father as a gift on his first day of filming season 1.

•   When asked which DC Comics character he'd like to play, he reluctantly answers Wonder Woman.

•   He hasn't seen Infinity War.

I'm assuming the fight scene Cox refers to as his favourite will be season 3's answer to the one-shot hallway and stairwell fights from the first two seasons. I can't wait to see how they top those two. On the subject of fight scenes, it looks as though Philip J. Silvera will not be returning as choreographer on season 3. That's a shame. But the good news is Chris Brewster has been chosen to replace him. For those who don't know, Brewster is Charlie Cox's fight double and also performed Cap's fight scenes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He previously choreographed the martial arts scenes in the DD season 1 episode 'World on Fire', which included this excellent sequence.

I'm sorry to see Silvera leave, but I'm glad to see the fight choreography pass to the capable hands of Brewster. I'm looking forward to seeing what he and the stunt team can deliver.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Bullseye should be depicted in this series. My fear is that they might screw him up the way they botched Nuke in Jessica Jones season 1. I'm also afraid that with a new showrunner at the helm, Daredevil might succumb to the same bland visual identity as the other Netflix shows. The first two seasons of DD struck the perfect balance between realism and comic book fantasy, utilising visuals that were grounded while still preserving the important iconography from the source material. The other Marvel Netflix shows have generally failed in this regard and none have been anywhere near as visually impressive as DD. I'm worried the new showrunner might take DD in a similar direction, though this might just be paranoia stemming from my disappointment with the other MCU Netflix shows. Hopefully Daredevil will stick to its own established identity, both visually and tonally.

Getting back to Bullseye, I think he really ought to wear a costume of some kind. He's a narcissist. A showman. He wants the world to see him and know how great he is. He designed his own target emblem to attract attention. He wants a high profile. He wants notoriety. At the very least, he needs some version of the target emblem on his forehead. It could be a mask, it could be a scar, it could be a tattoo. One idea I had was that if he does wear a mask, he could get shot in the forehead and the bullet could crack the faceplate to create concentric fractures resembling his classic target emblem. Alternatively, if they didn't want him to wear a mask, they could have him sport black and grey urban camouflage applied in a pattern approximating the shape of his mask.

This would also be a neat way of foreshadowing the makeup worn by Lady Bullseye.

Bullseye's appearance has changed quite a bit over the years, which offers some leeway in how they might portray him. Firstly there's his classic blue/black and white costume which he's worn throughout the majority of his appearances.

Originally he sported short blonde hair beneath his costume. Actor Wilson Bethel is a good physical match for how the unmasked Bullseye looked during the Bronze Age.

Then there's his bearded, shaven-headed trench coat look with the target branded on his forehead. This was created for the 2003 movie but also featured in the comics for a time back in the noughties. However in the comics he remained clean-shaven, and the target on his forehead was painted/tattooed rather than branded. That is until Daredevil carved it into his forehead in Daredevil Vol 2 #49 (September 2003), after which it became a scar.

Occasionally artists have combined his classic outfit with his noughties look, incorporating his old costume, minus the mask, with his bald head and target-shaped scar.

I'd love it if he wore his classic outfit in the TV show, but I don't think it'll happen. Apparently it was Joe Quesada who suggested Bullseye's revised look in the 2003 movie. And since Quesada has been instrumental in reimagining the other comic book costumes for the TV show, I expect he'll come up with something new for Bullseye. Ideally I'd like him to wear some kind of body armour, even if it's just the black SWAT uniform the sniper wore in season 1.

And as I've already said, they need to reference the target emblem on his forehead at some point. Get those two things right, and I'll be happy.

With Luke Cage season 2 coming out tomorrow, there should be a preview clip or trailer for DD season 3 after the final episode. We might even get a release date. If not, I'm sure we'll get some info at Comic-Con next month.

[Silver Nemesis]

Marvel has announced its line-up of panels for Comic-Con and Daredevil is nowhere to be seen:
https://news.marvel.com/tv/90497/marvel-television-animation-san-diego-comic-con-sdcc-2018/

[Silver Nemesis]

Rant time.

Ok, so Marvel originally announced their 2018 TV line-up would proceed in the following order: Jessica Jones s2, Luke Cage s2, Daredevil s3, The Punisher s2, followed by Iron Fist s2 in early 2019. They've now announced that Iron Fist s2 is coming out next, on September 7th. That's more or less when I was expecting Daredevil season 3 to come out. Which means DD s3 has been delayed.

So when is DD s3 coming out now? There's still no official word. But since Marvel is keen to maintain the 2-3 month gap between each of their shows, it's a safe bet it won't be out any earlier than November. That's assuming they push The Punisher season 2 back to Iron Fist's original slot in early 2019 and give DD s3 the slot that was originally planned for The Punisher. But I'm wondering if they might simply delay DD until 2019 and let The Punisher keep its November-December release window. That way The Punisher's second season would be released at the same time of year as the first one was. And they could delay DD so it comes out at Easter, like the first two seasons did. But that would mean the gap between seasons 2 and 3 would be literally three years!

It's one thing for a show to be cancelled, or put on hiatus, and then return three years later. But for a show that's meant to be in continual production to take this long is just absurd. Tomorrow, July 21st, will mark the two-year anniversary of the first (and only) DD s3 teaser.

"SEASON 3 COMING SOON." And here we are, two years later, and we still don't even have a release date, a trailer or any official photographs. After this long a wait, Daredevil season 3 had better be a game-changing masterpiece that sets a new gold standard for the genre, like the first season did back in 2015.

On top of this, Marvel has also announced that Alice Eve is playing Typhoid Mary in Iron Fist season 2. Typhoid is one of Daredevil's greatest enemies in the comics, and I was hoping she might be the main antagonist in DD season 4. I don't mind too much if they introduce her in IF and then have her show up to face DD in his own series. But if they kill her off before she meets Fisk or Matt, it'll be a terrible waste. I'm getting tired of these other Marvel TV shows stealing villains from the Daredevil comics and then concluding their storylines before they get a chance to face Matt. First they did this with Mister Hyde in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, then with Purple Man and Nuke in Jessica Jones season 1, and now it looks like it might happen again with Typhoid Mary in Iron Fist season 2. Next thing you know, they'll announced Bullseye is the villain in Punisher season 2 and Frank will kill him before he even meets Daredevil. Can't these other heroes get their own villains?