Marvel’s Daredevil Review: An Insight Into The Darker And Bloodier Marvel Universe

First of all this review of Marvel’s Daredevil or just Daredevil is ‘spoiler free’.

If you are looking for a new series which delivers a darker, grittier and serious approach towards the comic characters then Daredevil it is, and it does justice to the darker part quite literally. Marvel’s Daredevil is unhurried yet the pace is dictated by continuous bursts of violence. The series is almost completely in shadow, with a pervading darkness. With this series Netflix took its baby steps towards the first real entry into genre storytelling, and for Marvel, Daredevil is a smooth, stylish, and distinct entry to its TV properties.

For the audience who is new to this character, Marvel’s Daredevil is the story of a blind lawyer, Murdock (Charlie Cox), who fights crime in Hell’s Kitchen as a masked vigilante known as (so far in the series) “the man in black.” The Murdock we see is just opening up his first practice with his close friend and law partner Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), but the show also reflects his past. Unlike the ill-fated 2003 Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Daredevil allows the audience to explore compelling subplots like Murdock’s relationship with his boxer father, Jack (John Patrick Hayden), and its impact on him.

The experience of Marvel’s Daredevil is precisely like what Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), the law duo’s first client, expresses: “I look around and I don’t see the city anymore. All I see are its dark corners.” And this experience is enhanced with great style, some really great lighting and visual effects and moody atmosphere that also puts us on par with Murdock’s blindness as well as with the mindset of Daredevil. We can hear, but we can’t see, and the effect is entirely mesmerizing and captivating.

Cox’s Murdock is charming and in control, even though he’s not invincible. He doesn’t have superpowers, but neither do the villains. His acute hearing and other senses do help, but there’s a sense of a lifetime of hard work, and sometimes a weariness in Murdock (Episode 2). But when the Daredevil chooses to get bloody, which is often, it does so in spectacularly brutal fashion.

Daredevil might not be a natural choice for the binge watchers. There’s a lot to take in when it comes to Murdock’s world, and to fully appreciate its immersive darkness, one needs to occasionally return to the light.

On boiling meter I will rate it as very good – damn fine television 4.4/5.