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MURDOCK QUESTIONS WHETHER HE OR GOD ARE GOOD AND WHETHER IT MATTERS
What
Daredevil Season 3
Why
To restore your faith in Netflix’s ability to deliver compelling superhero series
Where
Netflix
In Marvel’s movie universe failure is like Pastafarianism, a kooky concept that may exist but in all likelihood is just a crazy idea cooked up by some stoner. Their Netflix series however live in a universe where failure is as real as the fact that filling a petrol tank is so expensive that it now requires a credit check. Back in 2015 the idea of building a miniaturised version of the
Avengers featuring Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and The Punisher seemed like a foolproof idea. The recent failure and subsequent cancellation of both Luke Cage and
Iron Fist has shown that Netflix’s Marvel universe may have more cracks than a pair of chapped lips but the recent release of the third season of Daredevil may just be the Zambuk Netflix has been looking for.
Three seasons in and the story of Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, has become complicated. Events in the
Defenders (think of it as the series version of the Avengers) had seen the blind but all-seeing lawyer’s body and sense of self shattered by the building that fell on top of him. Stripped of his other senses Murdock finds himself questioning whether or not he or God are actually good and, more importantly, whether any of it even matters. Meanwhile his season 1 nemesis Wilson Fisk has struck a deal with the FBI and is being moved from his usual prison digs into a gilded $20m cage. What follows is the reason
Luke Cage and Iron Fist were cancelled while Daredevil looks set to be renewed for another two seasons.
Netflix started their little dance with Marvel in 2015 with the first season of Daredevil and its success was the foundation of the subsequent Netflix/Marvel universe. Unlike superhero series before it, Daredevil is gritty, vicious and dark. By day Matt Murdock may have been a goody-twoshoes idealist but when the sun went down he turned into a bloodthirsty catholic sadist with rage issues. His character was relatable, honest and felt like a real person. Season 3’s version of Matt Murdock still feels like that. What would you do if your ability to do the thing that defined you was suddenly taken from you? Like Matt Murdock the answer is probably curse God, your friends and everything that moved. Even if you got that ability back, chances are that the experience would leave a dark stain on your psyche.
Season 1’s version of Wilson Fisk is a lot more brutal than season 3’s but what he lacks in barely contained ferocity is made up for with cunning. Fisk’s machinations are Machiavellian enough to earn him the moniker “Kingpin”.
Where Netflix went wrong with Luke Cage and Iron Fist is that both are caricatures of more successful shows. Where Daredevil, The Punisher and Jessica Jones feel grubby and original those shows feel like K-pop — manufactured by a bunch of marketers and an algorithm. As a genre K-pop is hugely popular and even worth a listen at times but few people take it seriously.
Luke Cage and Iron Fist suffer from the same thing. They’re a fun distraction but there is better out there.
The other thing Daredevil and its renewed compatriots have over Iron
Fist and Luke Cage is better lead actors. Bless his soul but Mike Colter (Luke Cage) has all of the charisma of Henry Cavill reading a thesaurus and Finn Jones (Iron Fist) seems perpetually confused and incapable of rendering serious emotions believably. Whereas Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Jon Bernthal (The Punisher) and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) all could not have been cast better.
Season 3 of Daredevil isn’t perfect nor is it as good as the first one. Success has sanitised it a little. That said it is still a very good effort from one of Netflix’s star players and a deeply entertaining continuation of the story. We may not be seeing Luke Cage or Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, again but it’s clear Matt Murdock will be back.