Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

By virtue of being a part-reboot, part-continuation, old story beats are bound to be retread. Season 3 saw Kingpin taken out of the picture, but this season brings him back. I feel like the universe has much more to offer than just the Kingpin - as much as it makes sense to keep falling back on one of your most successful characters.

I like how Kingpin was handled in the second season of the Netflix show. He was still present, but biding his time in prison while other villains took centre stage. If BA s2 follows the Devil's Reign arc, as I'm confident it will, then it should end with a decisive defeat of Kingpin. That will leave room at the top for a new villain to take the crown. In the comics Byron 'Butch' Fisk became the next Kingpin, and I've a suspicion Daniel Blake might be in line for a similar role in the MCU.

There are still plenty of classic Daredevil comic villains they've yet to adapt in live action. One of the worst myths about DD is that he has a weak gallery of rogues. That was true in the Silver Age, but nowadays I'd argue he has the second best roster of enemies of any Marvel hero after Spider-Man. He's got Kingpin, Elektra, the Hand, the Owl, Jester, Bullseye, Muse, the Punisher, Echo, Mister Fear, Gladiator, Typhoid Mary and Purple Man, to name but a few.

The proof of this is the way Marvel Studios keeps taking Daredevil's enemies – and in some cases his stories – and using them in other heroes' TV shows. I don't begrudge Jessica Jones for using Purple Man, as he was the main antagonist in the original Alias comic, but I'm less tolerant of them using Nuke as well. Iron Fist made prominent use of the Hand in both seasons, and the second season adapted elements from Ann Nocenti's Typhoid Mary arc, including the title villain herself. Kingpin and Echo were used in the Hawkeye series, which also adapted plot points from David Mack's Parts of a Hole. Mister Hyde was used in the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Leap-Frog was used in She-Hulk.

Despite all this, there are still plenty of classic villains the makers of BA could use in future seasons. The two villains I'd most like to see Cox's Daredevil face would be Mister Fear and Typhoid Mary. The Larry Cranston Mister Fear would be a good fit for the 'Out' storyline, which I think the next season of BA might lead into. As for Typhoid, I'm happy for Alice Eve to reprise the role provided they bring her characterisation more in line with the comics. Give her the twin samurai swords, the face paint and the multiple personalities, not to mention her powers of pyrokinesis and telekinesis. Mary Walker was Kingpin's bodyguard during the Mayor Fisk and Devil's Reign arcs, so BA s2 offers a good place to bring her back.

and Matt flippantly tried to kill a guy with no real buildup or repercussons. He had no idea Bullseye would be fine after pushing him off a building. That was sure lucky.

That scene was yet another example of BA repeating something they'd already done in the Netflix show. Season three ended with Kingpin breaking Bullseye's spine and Dex undergoing some kind of reconstructive surgery. Comic fans assumed his skeleton was being laced with Adamantium, as that's what happened in the comics after Daredevil dropped him off a roof in Frank Miller's 'Last Hand' (DD V1 #181).

If Bethel's Bullseye now has Adamantium like his comic book counterpart, that would explain how he survived being pushed off the roof. The question is did Matt know Bullseye would survive? The comic book Daredevil could detect the Adamantium in Bullseye's body using his super senses, and the MCU version should be able to sense it too. Or did Matt momentarily lose control and try to kill Bullseye? Was that breaking of his moral code the reason he retired?

The show wasn't terribly clear on this point. I'd like to see the writers revisit Matt's actions in BA season two and confront what happened in more depth. For other heroes this might not seem particularly important, but for Matt Murdock it's a significant enough moral issue to warrant addressing.

The Punisher subplot also comes off like it's chasing a trend from five years ago with the social media "controversy" of cops using the Punisher skull. To be fair, there was precedent for a heavy-handed paramilitary force appropriating the Punisher's image (from the first Punisher miniseries), but that's an example of a series that would have been better adapted on its own rather than portions added into a Daredevil series as an afterthought.

I would have liked the corrupt police storyline to have been more nuanced. Aside from the old commissioner, the cops in the BA were depicted as plain evil and psychotic. It's one thing to have them stepping outside the law because they think it's the only way to help the city. Getting their hands dirty to get the job done, like Malone in The Untouchables. But a lot of what they did was just torture and murder. And the way they stood around watching as Kingpin crushed the skull of their old boss undermined any sense of moral righteousness motivating their actions. The Netflix show also featured corrupt cops, but handled the subject in a more subtle and believable manner.

[thecolorsblend]

Did Killgrave survive Jessica Jones's first season? Off-hand, I can't remember. But he was definitely in that season for sure.

[Silver Nemesis]

No, Jess snapped his neck in the season one finale. Which really annoyed me at the time, as I was hoping he'd live long enough to face Cox's Daredevil.

I vaguely remember Killgrave appearing in the second season as some kind of hallucination haunting Jess. The IMDb lists David Tennant as appearing in season 3 as well, but I assume that was in a similar hallucinatory capacity. I don't think I ever watched season three. If I did, I've forgotten it entirely.

[The Joker]

Thought this was pretty cool.