The new teaser trailer for Marvel’s Daredevil television series has been released and it looks incredibly dark and gritty, a tone unlike anything Marvel has done before within its current superhero universe.
Marvel’s Daredevil is a reboot and a large departure from the 2003 Daredevil film starring Ben Affleck.
This Netflix-exclusive television series follows Matt Murdock. Blinded as a boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt fights injustice by day as a respected lawyer and by night as the masked vigilante known as Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. He’ll do anything to make his city a better place, but at what price?
This trailer makes every comic book movie and TV series look like a kids cartoon and is Marvel’s most mature step to date.
Marvel’s Daredevil stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll and Rosario Dawson.
All episodes available on Netflix April 10 2015.
You can get the inside knowledge on the Marvel’s Daredevil with a detailed breakdown of the trailer that I’ve included below.
Gritty City
The trailer opens up in present-day New York City, where Marvel’s Daredevil is set in the gritty neighbourhood of Hell’s Kitchen.
Bless Me Father
We hear our blind hero ask for forgiveness as he enters the church. In the comic books, Matt Murdock is a “devout” Catholic who struggles between his religion, his brutality of being a vigilante, and his duty as a lawyer. We see Murdock in the confessional with the priest, admitting his inner conflict, “I’ve been preoccupied as of late with questions of morality, of right and wrong, good and evil”. The priest says “Perhaps this will be easier if you tell me what you’ve done?” to which Murdock replies, “I’m not seeking forgiveness for what I’ve done, father. I’m asking forgiveness for what I’m about to do.”
Dem Daredevil Abs Tho
Keeping up with Marvel’s tradition of having a male lead with abs we see a shot of Charlie Cox shirtless as Matt Murdock, looking like he has woken after a rough night in the streets as Daredevil.
Powers
Blinded as a boy when he was hit by a truck carrying toxic chemicals, Matt survived the accident but lost his sight and in return receiving incredibly powerful senses that enhanced all of his natural senses but also empowered him with a “radar sense” that allows him to detect objects and movement so he can “see”, much like how a dolphin uses echolocation. Daredevil’s senses are so enhanced that he can track an enemy by scent, listen to their heartbeat to detect lies, and maybe even have earth-shattering orgasms by being touched ever so slightly.
We see a point-of-view shot of Daredevil’s enhanced senses zeroing in on someone.
Gangs of New York
This scene looks like a gang deal is taking place in the back streets of New York somewhere, with a gun being handed over to someone and a following shot of what looks like a lab with drugs being packaged. We see now that the bad guys in this TV series aren’t aliens or powerful Norse Gods. Although Marvel’s Daredevil exists in the same world as The Avengers, we get the idea that this will have a very different feel. Saving the world from aliens is a job for The Avengers, Daredevil just wants to save his streets.
Karen Page
Deborah Ann Woll plays Karen Page who in the comic books is a struggling actress that becomes a secretary in Murdock’s firm and also his lover. Karen looks like she is distressed and being questioned by Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (Elden Henson) who is Murdock’s law partner and best friend. The next shot shows Karen Page at the scene of a murder, clutching a bloody knife next to a dead body, implicating that Karen is caught up in a crime. The amount of blood shown is a key indicator that this will not be a light hearted watch.
Stick
We see a shot of the mysterious man named ‘Stick’ (Scott Glenn). In the comic books, Stick is the blind martial arts master with enhances senses just like Matt Murdock. He teaches Murdock how to develop his senses and also how to fight. Stick is the leader of an ancient clan of Ninja known as The Chaste, who are questionably “good” when compared to their nemesis, a Ninja clan known as The Hand. The two clans have been long at war with each other across centuries. Stick’s intentions may be enigmatic but he is, in every meaning of the word, an asshole. He’s brutal and lacks kindness and mercy in his approach to everything. Seeing how Scott Glenn approaches this character will be most interesting.
Kingpin
We are introduced to an ominous shot of Vincent D’Onofrio who plays our arch-nemesis of the series who is Wilson Fisk, also known as the ‘Kingpin’. Fisk is the most powerful man in New York City and essentially runs the town. Powerfully connected, it is as if there is no single person in the city except Daredevil who is not under Fisk’s influence as New York’s biggest crime boss. In the comic books, Daredevil makes it his life to stop the Kingpin, which sees Matt Murdock both as himself and as Daredevil come head-to-head with Fisk.
Claire Temple
Rosario Dawson plays Claire Temple. Not much has been revealed about the character in this series but Marvel Studios said she is a nurse that works at night, which is a big clue to what incarnation of her character she will be. In the comics, “Night Nurse” is someone who has been known to treat the wounds of heroes, which could explain her connection to Daredevil.
Daredevil
We get our hero shot of Daredevil dressed in black clad as he uses his enhanced senses, reaching out with his super hearing into the city for the next signal of trouble. We see him stalking a hallway quietly which then breaks into a montage of action scenes where we see Daredevil quite literally kicking ass.
Face to Face
This blurred shot in the montage shows Matt Murdock facing an approaching individual who is blurred out who looks to be bald. Quite possibly our hero comes face to face with his nemesis Wilson Fisk.
Punished
A brutal scene shows someone being thrown out a window and onto a car below with Daredevil standing, looking out the broken window, breathing heavily in a crazed rage. Series creator Steven S. DeKnight says Matt Murdock is “literally one bad day away from becoming ‘The Punisher’,” who in Marvel comics is a vigilante that slaughters gangs and criminals in the most brutal fashion. This means that while Daredevil wouldn’t easily murder someone in cold blood, he is very close to tipping over that edge.
“I’m just trying to make my city a better place.”
The final shot ends with Daredevil slowing getting up from a puddle with a stream of blood pouring from his mouth, once again cementing Marvel’s darkest departure from its otherwise “lighter” pieces within its franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Defenders
Once Daredevil concludes, Netflix will work on launching other Marvel TV series including single seasons of A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. All title characters including Daredevil will be brought together into an 8 episode series titled The Defenders, which in Marvel Comics is a street-level crime fighting team.
From A Fan Perspective
As I’ve been a long time fan and reader of Daredevil and Elektra, I was hugely let down by both movie incarnations. From what I can see by this trailer, Marvel’s Daredevil is being very loyal to comic book and fans by sticking to the source material closely and doing its best to give the show the dark feel that is so present in the books.
This excites me in every way and I can’t wait to see this series!
