Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

I loved both seasons of Daredevil with an unhealthy passion. The first season is as close to perfect as an origin story can get, and I really dug the heightened comic book sensibility of the second season. Seeing Daredevil and Elektra battle the Hand in live action was awesome, though I realise that a lot of people – including my older brother, who has never read a DD comic in his life – were confused by the more esoteric plot mechanics in the last three or four episodes. That didn't bother me, since I equated the more obscure plot points with comic storylines. But viewers shouldn't have to read the comics in order to understand the plot, and if the show's writers failed to clearly communicate what was happening (and evidently they did) then that's a valid criticism. I also thought the second season dragged a little in the middle and suffered from a disjointed structure that focused a bit too much on the Punisher and Elektra over Matt. But I still loved it overall. And I'm highly optimistic about season 3.

I watched season 1 of Jessica Jones when it first came out and didn't like it much. The cinematography and acting were of the same high quality as Daredevil, and I liked that it had its own distinct tone and visual identity. But I felt the plot was repetitive and kept recycling the same beats over and over: Jessica captures Killgrave, a third party interferes, Killgrave escapes, Jessica captures Killgrave, a third party interferes, Killgrave escapes, over and over. I also didn't like how they removed the Jewel phase from Jessica's back story. In the original Alias comics, Jess was formerly a superhero fangirl and was thrilled to don a costume and fight crime. She actually enjoyed it.

She only relinquished her superhero identity and became a cynic after she'd been abused by Killgrave. The before-and-after contrast between her idealistic younger self and her older cynical self was a powerful indicator of the emotional damage Killgrave had inflicted on her. But in the TV show she was always a cynic from the get go, and she's portrayed as outright contemptuous of the Jewel costume during one of the pre-Killgrave flashback scenes. I thought that undercut her character arc, eliminated the before-and-after dynamic and made her less sympathetic. I also didn't like the revelation that she was raped by Killgrave (she wasn't in the comic) and I hated what they did with Nuke. Oh, and Purple Man should have been Purple. I haven't watched season 2 yet, but most of what I've heard about it has been negative. So I'm not sure I'll bother.

I thought Luke Cage season 1 was ok. Like you, colors, I got bored half way through. I actually gave up the first time I tried watching it, but I went back just before Iron Fist s1 was released and managed to finish it. I don't have too much to say about it really. The show had a nice look and the acting was good. But the meandering plot was painfully slow, there wasn't enough action and it just didn't engage my interest on a meaningful level. But it was ok. It had its moments. I haven't watched season 2 yet, but I might check out a few episodes next time I reactivate my Netflix account. I've heard good things about it.

Iron Fist... I didn't hate it. It has a lot of obvious flaws, but I still think the potential is there for a good show. I will be giving season 2 a chance.

I enjoyed The Defenders, mainly due to the Daredevil content. But remove Daredevil and replace him with any other character and I probably wouldn't have liked it. It offered a disappointing climax to the first phase of the Netflix saga, and the payoff for what the Hand were up to in New York was quite frankly pathetic. But I still enjoyed it.

The Punisher season 1 was good, but not great. I'd rank it as the best solo series after Daredevil. The first half of the season was too slow and retrod too much ground from DD s2. We already watched Frank's journey to becoming the Punisher in DD, but in his solo series he regressed so far that we basically had to re-watch that same journey all over again. Things picked up steam in the second half of the season, and the last few episodes in particular were very intense and showcased some excellent action sequences. It's nowhere near as good as Daredevil, but it's still a decent show. More than any other Netflix character, I think Frank would benefit from a more episodic storytelling approach over the standard serialised narrative. He'd be better off with standalone mission-based stories, rather than a single continuous plot. I'm looking forward to season 2.

Generally speaking, I think the Marvel Netflix shows are on a much higher level than DC's CW shows, but most of them still haven't reached their full potential. They need to improve their pacing problems and embrace the iconography of the source material. Until they do, the only really great one amongst them will be Daredevil. But since Daredevil's the only one I really care about anyway, I'm cool with that.

[thecolorsblend]

I dig comic book Jessica but the full disclosure bit is that I'm not overly attached to her. I suspect that's why I rolled with the stuff you mentioned. Still, I do think season 02 kind of mitigates some of those things. Not everything and not entirely. But there's a different spin put on the character that makes you sympathize with her... and still like her even when she does bitchy things.

I don't think watching season 02 would be a complete waste of your time... especially since nothing new is coming for at least another month or two.

[Silver Nemesis]

If you say JJ s2 is worth watching then I might give it a look after all. My Netflix account is inactive for most of the year and I only reactivate it when there's something I specifically want to see. But I'll be switching it on again for IF s2, so I may as well check out the second seasons of JJ and LC while I'm at it. I don't follow any of the non-Netflix Marvel shows anymore, but I do try to keep abreast with the Netflixverse. I've always thought of it as the MCU's prestige imprint, much like the Marvel Knights line was for the Earth-616 comics back in the late nineties. If Kevin Feige remains steadfast in his refusal to acknowledge any of the Netflix heroes in the Marvel movies, then he's just depriving the fans of something potentially awesome.

Anyway, getting back to Daredevil – Fisk himself has been teasing the new season on Twitter.

[thecolorsblend]

Mmm, the Marvel Knights corner of the MCU. I like that.

And what gives with Feige ignoring the Netflix shows? Both JJ seasons, both Daredevil seasons, Defenders and, yes, Iron Fist are more enjoyable to me than anything the MCU has done lately.

[Silver Nemesis]

And what gives with Feige ignoring the Netflix shows? Both JJ seasons, both Daredevil seasons, Defenders and, yes, Iron Fist are more enjoyable to me than anything the MCU has done lately.

It's rumoured that Feige really hates the Netflix TV side of the MCU. There's even a joke about it in the latest Honest Trailers vid, at the 3:30 mark.

They can keep feeding us these same excuses about scheduling and whatnot, but I'm 95% certain they could make it happen if they really wanted to. As far as I'm aware, there's been no reference to 'The Snap' in any of the MCU Netflix shows so far. They've referenced the Battle of New York from The Avengers (2012), but they haven't referenced the more recent assault on the Big Apple from Infinity War. The excuse Jeph Loeb has given is that all of these shows occur before the events of Infinity War and are thus unaffected by it.

"For the most part our stories will take place BEFORE Thanos clicked his fingers. A lot of that has to do with production and when we are telling our stories vs. when the movies come out. So hang in there. I remember in the comics, one of my favorite stories was the KREE-SKRULL war... which was universal, but in X-Men, no mention. Huh. And it all worked out in the end!"

https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/8pbxyk/im_jeph_loeb_head_of_marvel_tv_ama/e0a5ju5/?st=jin7vwvo&sh=20db4551

If that's the case, then why would scheduling issues preclude The Defenders from making a cameo in the next Avengers film? If the movie is taking place in the future, then it won't affect the current storylines in the TV shows – just have the characters show up in the movie, then let the TV writers address the fallout in the next season of each series. Problem solved. If you can get these actors together for a week at Comic-Con, then you can get them together for a week to shoot a cameo in the next Avengers movie.

Unless someone high up doesn't want it to happen.

[Silver Nemesis]

A season 3 image has leaked online which seems to show Matt stalking a Daredevil imposter at the offices of The New York Bulletin. Matt's wearing the black 'vigilante' costume, while the imposter is wearing the classic red suit.

Some people are claiming the image is a fake, while others are certain it's real. I hope it is real, because it would appear to depict the Daredevil: Born Again scene where Kingpin sends the psycho Daredevil imposter to kill Karen.

I always thought that if they combined Bullseye and Born Again into a single season, it would make sense to have Bullseye himself fill this role in the narrative. Doing so would also echo the classic Ann Nocenti story 'Bullseye!' (Daredevil Vol 1 #290, March 1991) – which happens to have been the very first Daredevil comic I ever read back when I was a kid – in which Bullseye dons Daredevil's costume and goes around stealing, raping and killing in order to destroy Matt's reputation.

Notice in the leaked image how the Daredevil imposter is standing next to a pot of pens and pencils.

This could be our first glimpse of the MCU Bullseye!

Or the image could just be a fake.

[Silver Nemesis]

The first reaction to season 3 is in.

That sounds like a mid-October release date. Two months.

A staff member at spoilertv.com has shared further info to support the mid-October release date theory.

October 12th happens to be a Friday, which is when the Netflix shows are typically released.

A teaser GIF has been posted on the Marvel Twitter page:

https://twitter.com/Marvel/status/1037701996109811713

I'm expecting a more substantial teaser tomorrow with the release of Iron Fist season 2. Meanwhile Deadline has confirmed the Daredevil panel for New York Comic Con next month:

https://deadline.com/2018/09/marvel-daredevil-new-york-comic-con-runaways-the-gifted-1202457426/

[thecolorsblend]

FINALLY! This enterprise has been far too slow.

It makes me wonder that there's been some behind the scenes baloney going on. Even these "small" Netflix shows are "franchises" in a certain sense. It's hard to conceive of circumstances for why Daredevil, the cornerstone of the Netflixverse, has been dormant for so long. Office politics might account for that though.

Either way, this is long overdue.

[Silver Nemesis]

There might well have been some turmoil behind the scenes. When a Netflix VP describes the latest season as "a return to form" then that indicates they're not entirely thrilled with the way Marvel's been handling their more recent output. Daredevil started the Marvel Netflixverse on solid footing, and now it's time for Daredevil to right the ship.

Meanwhile here's the teaser clip that was included after the final episode of Iron Fist.

This 30-second sneak peak is more interesting to me than Black Panther and Infinity War combined. Forget those movies – THIS is the live action superhero event of 2018.

Matt's "darkness only responds to darkness" line makes me think he might finally break his moral code this season, or at least he'll try to. I'm guessing the priest's side of the confessional is empty during this sequence, which would make this the TV show's version of the scene from the 'Purgatory' chapter of Born Again where Matt appears to be talking to Foggy on the phone, when in reality he's talking to himself.

The teaser also reminds me of a scene from 'Cremains' (Daredevil Vol 1 #267, June 1989) where Matt goes to confession wearing his costume.

I am so ready for this. Bring on the trailer!

[Silver Nemesis]

Netflix have released a better quality version of the teaser on YouTube.