By
Phantom Troublemaker
Since
I started the Needless
Things Podcast
the frequency of my commentary and speculation pieces has been
dwindling. I enjoy talking a lot more than I enjoy writing and I
enjoy conversation more than I enjoy tossing lengthy essays out into
an unresponsive void.
Plus,
now that I have paying supporters on SupportPhantom.com
(few though they may be) I feel a little more obligated to post stuff
there when I am taken with the desire to write.
But
every once in a while I still get the itch to post something here
that’s a little broader and more interesting than a toy review.
Which is why I’m here today.
I’ve
already written about Marvel
Comics,
the Marvel
Cinematic Universe,
and Agents
of SHIELD
(which surprised me by getting its own post).
Today
I’m going to write about Marvel’s Netflix shows. Originally this
was going to be a post that encompassed all of Marvel’s television
projects, but that proved to be too much for just one entry. As I’m
writing this introduction, I’m curious to see if I can squeeze all
of Netflix into one post or if I’ll end up breaking them off into
individual pieces.
Let’s
find out! (I
did – this one is just about Daredevil)
My
main concern was the budget’s effect on the superhero element. And
I’m not even talking about powers. I was worried that we would
basically be getting another Law
& Order
type show with familiar character names slapped on, with the end
result being a bunch of people standing around talking about dire
situations and moaning about their feelings with only the occasional
instance of actually taking action.
You
know, like The
Walking Dead.
Fortunately
for all of us, things turned out better than that. Mostly. There was
still a good bit of talking.
Daredevil
We’re
two seasons into the original Marvel Netflix show and I am satisfied.
Matt
Murdock probably falls into the middle ground of my superhero fandom.
I haven’t read as many comics about Daredevil as I have Batman or
the X-Men or Spider-Man, but I’ve read more stories about the Man
With No Fear than I have about the Avengers or the Teen Titans. I’ve
always felt like Daredevil was the working man’s Batman. Matt, as a
defense attorney, sort of works twice as hard as Bruce Wayne. And he
certainly doesn’t have Wayne’s resources, so there’s something
slightly more admirable about his crusade, if less fantastically
entertaining.
The
Netflix show portrayed that, and in addition managed to capture the
more contentious aspect of Murdock’s personality. While I, as an
audience member, was able to get behind Matt’s crimefighting and
the decisions he made, I also sympathized with Foggy and Karen and
the effects his decisions were having on them. The show walked this
amazingly fine line of Matt Murdock being a selfless hero and a
selfish asshole. It depicted the realities of being a “superhero”
and the effects it would have on a person’s life and relationships.
The
show didn’t, however, portray this drama to such an extent that
everything ground to a halt and became a chore to endure. No matter
how dark Daredevil
got, it always maintained a spark of fun. Most of that is due to the
amazing chemistry between Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil),
Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson).
Woll
and Henson were fantastic and honestly kept me invested in the show
far more than Cox. I’m not saying Cox was bad by any means – he
was excellent – but Murdock is a tough character to actually like.
You root for him because you know he’s doing good, but the guy is
pretty much a prick. That’s why you have to have strong supporting
characters like Karen and Foggy.
I
mentioned above that there were, indeed, talking scenes. But I
actually looked forward to scenes with Karen and Foggy delivering
dialogue – particularly to each other. If Netflix wanted to do a
spinoff Karen
and Foggy Show
I would totally binge that.
Side
Note: I wasn’t familiar with Woll, but Elden Henson is a favorite
of mine going back to the oft-overlooked horror-comedy gem Idle
Hands.
If you haven’t seen it, you need to. It’s the rare perfect movie.
Also
Rosario Dawson was fantastic as Claire Temple, but that hardly needed
to be said.
As
fascinating as our protagonists were, the really neat trick that
Daredevil
pulled off and the thing that people are still talking about is its
portrayal of the Kingpin Wilson Fisk as played by Vincent D’Onofrio.
Fisk’s
story was told parallel to Murdock’s in an amazingly effective
manner. We saw two men that both loved their city and who had very
different visions of how to serve and protect it. Fisk and Murdock
both wanted to have lives outside of their more extraordinary
activities and both discovered the inherent difficulties of balancing
them. It was a fascinating way of bringing these characters to life,
and while the story didn’t necessarily make Fisk a sympathetic
character – he is still shown to be a terrifying and powerful
monster – it gave me a glimpse into his mindset and enabled me to
understand him. The show took great care in making him the villain
that truly believed not only that what he was doing was right, but
that he was the good guy of his story. All of the best villains
believe that they
are the protagonist.
Daredevil
excelled
at building these wonderful characters, but it also gave us some of
the most memorable fight scenes television has ever seen. Taking
inspiration from Asian cinema and avoiding ugly modern film habits
like quick cuts, shaky camera work, and tight shots, each instance of
violent conflict was lovingly orchestrated and captured so that every
punch, kick, and impact could be seen and felt by the viewer.
Each
fight scene had a story and an ebb and flow that could be followed
and that furthered the overall narrative. These encounters weren’t
just flashy stunt shows done for the sake of violence – they were
an organic part of the stories of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk.
The
first season set up not only these new characters, but a whole new
level of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some are bemoaning the fact
that there isn’t more connectivity between the Netflix shows, the
network shows, and the movies, but I’m finding the little bits and
pieces they throw out to be perfectly satisfying.
In
my opinion the comics really started falling apart when Marvel
started weaving everything together too tightly. I grew up reading
Spider-Man and the X-Men and barely ever saw an Avenger show up. When
Spidey and the mutants crossed paths it was a huge deal. There were
always references that all of these heroes shared a universe, but it
was rare that they shared a comic.
Now
every fucking person in the MU has been an Avenger, even some of the
X-Men.
Nothing is special anymore because everyone has done it. No team feels unique because there are no longer any defining traits as to what a team is or which individuals belong.
Nothing is special anymore because everyone has done it. No team feels unique because there are no longer any defining traits as to what a team is or which individuals belong.
Homogeny has killed
Marvel’s comics for me. There aren’t very many special corners of
the MUJ anymore because they’re all just the same thing.
I
don’t want that for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I like Agents
of SHIELD
and the Netflix shows and the movies each being their own thing.
There’s no way to include the Netflix heroes in the movies without
lessening them. The same goes for all of the fantastic characters on
SHIELD
that we’ve grown to love so much. Coulson might be an exception
since he came from the movies, but I’d still like to keep him on TV
because when you’ve got forty super powered “name brand”
characters running around, what is Phil going to do, really?
That
was a bit of a tangent that I didn’t foresee. I’m gonna head on
to season 2 now.
Daredevil’s
second season flowed naturally out of the first. There was no reset
or new beginning as we got to know everyone again. It hit the ground
running.
The
sophomore season was broken up into sub-stories a little more
noticeably, which I think was a very smart decision. We had Frank
Castle, Elektra, and the Hand each with their own intermingled but
defined arcs. Stick and Madame Gao were introduced and were each
awesome in their own ways.
Jon
Bernthal had a bit of a rocky start as Frank Castle. I like him a
lot as
an actor, though, so waiting for him to click into the role wasn’t
a big deal. His accent took a little while to settle out, but once he
really got into being the Punisher doing Punisher things I was on
board. I’m not gonna lie – Ray Stephenson is still my favorite
Frank, but I am thrilled that Bernthal is going to have the
opportunity to tell a longer form and more impactful Punisher story.
Daredevil’s
Elektra was played by Élodie Yung, an actor I was not previously
familiar with. She was charming and likeable and played the character
well (at this stage of Natchios’s life, anyway), but I didn’t
feel like she had the same easy chemistry with Charlie Cox that
Deborah Woll had. I suppose that was the point, but failing to see a
deep emotional connection between the two threw the story off a bit
for me.
It
was still a good story, though – the bad girl appealing to Matt’s
dark side and his latent desire to just give up on the law and doing
things “the right way” (as he sees it).
It
seemed to me that the second season moved along at a much better pace
and handled a ton of narrative elements in a very satisfying manner.
There are still questions to be answered, but that’s the nature of
ongoing episodic drama. The hook for the next season/show has to be
baited.
Consider
me hooked. Daredevil
has successfully introduced me to a whole new slew of characters that
I am fascinated by and invested in. While I don’t know the comics
intimately, I feel like everything has been true to the spirit
of what Matt Murdock and his friends and foes are, and isn’t that
what’s most important?
I
can’t wait to see these people again in Defenders
and eventually season 3 of Daredevil.
Speaking
of the next season/show, it’s time to wrap this thing up and start
working on the next Marvel Netflix series, Jessica
Jones.
Damn... It's been so long since I watched it that I'd forgotten that Henson was in Idle Hands. And I own the DVD.
ReplyDeleteYou can throw something heavy at me the next con we're both at.
I am shocked, Jerry. SHOCKED.
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