Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

Great news about Cox returning, though I think most of us already suspected it was happening.

I haven't been watching the Hawkeye show, but apparently it's introduced the MCU version of Maya Lopez/Echo along with a mysterious character referred to as 'uncle'. The internet is convinced that uncle is D'Onofrio's Fisk. This theory would fit with Echo's back story in the comics, and his laugh certainly sounds like D'Onofrio's.

It's been announced that Echo's getting her own solo series on Disney+. Hopefully it'll be an adaptation of David Mack's Parts of a Hole. They already adapted elements from that comic in the 2003 Daredevil movie with Elektra's storyline, but a proper faithful adaption with Cox and D'Onofrio could be awseome. Obviously I'd still like to see Daredevil get his own new solo series or movie, ideally featuring Mister Fear and the return of Bullseye. But having Matt co-star in the Echo series would be a good way of tiding fans over while we wait for something more DD-centric.

[Silver Nemesis]

Tom Holland has ducked a question about Daredevil appearing in No Way Home, but he did at least sing some praise for Cox and D'Onofrio:

"I loved Daredevil. I really, really enjoyed it," Holland says. "I thought Charlie Cox was excellent. I thought Vincent D'Onofrio did a fantastic job as Wilson Fisk. It was really cool to see a darker side to a Marvel character. That fight scene in the hallway was spectacular. I know some of the stunt guys that built that sequence. I thought it was a great show."

Holland admits he hasn't seen all of Daredevil. "I don't think I saw the second season, but I definitely remember enjoying the first season," he says.

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/spider-man-no-way-home-tom-holland-mit-doctor-strange

[Silver Nemesis]

SPOILERS for Hawkeye.

The following photograph of the mysterious 'Big Man' appeared in episode 5.

With Cox and D'Onofrio returning, it looks as though the MCU is finally capitalising on its greatest assets.

[thecolorsblend]

Personally, my investment in the MCU is so low that incorporating the Netflixverse (or at least the Daredevil elements) is probably the only way to retain my interest.

So, kudos and kudos again to whoever is in charge for making this decision. I'm very interested to see what's coming.

[Silver Nemesis]

It looks like he's holding a cane in that picture like the comic book Fisk.

In the past some fans have complained that the Netflix Kingpin wouldn't be strong enough to go up against MCU heroes like Spider-Man, but I've always assumed that he and Daredevil would both get their power levels amped if they were fully integrated into the MCU. Even bound by the more grounded reality of the Netflix shows, D'Onofrio's Kingpin was already freakishly strong to begin with.

He was strong enough to pulverise a man's skull with a car door, break free of metal handcuffs, punch a hole in a solid brick wall and shatter Bullseye's spine. I reckon he could hold his own against the likes of Renner's Hawkeye.

[Silver Nemesis]

It's quite clever how Marvel timed it so that Cox's return (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and D'Onofrio's return (Hawkeye) occurred in the same week.

[Silver Nemesis]

I haven't seen Hawkeye, but I have been reading audience reactions to Fisk's appearance and watching some clips online. SPOILERS ahoy for those who care.

Most people seem to be saying that D'Onofrio's performance is good, but that Kingpin isn't as intimidating as he was in the Netflixverse. He does indeed have his cane, which is cool, and it looks like his strength and durability levels have increased, as I expected they would.

At the end of the episode he gets shot by Echo. This is adapted from the end of the Parts of a Hole storyline, where Echo shot and blinded Kingpin.

I'm a bit annoyed about this. I was hoping they'd save Parts of a Hole for a new Daredevil show or movie, or for when Daredevil could appear in Echo's solo series. But once again, Marvel has given one of Daredevil's classic stories to another hero. I don't resent them using Mister Hyde in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because he was never an exclusive Daredevil villain to begin with, and I don't resent Purple Man appearing in Jessica Jones because it would be impossible to adapt Alias without him. I do however resent Marvel wasting the Nuke storyline as a subplot in Jessica Jones season 1, and for wasting Ann Nocenti's classic Typhoid Mary arc as a subplot in Iron Fist season 2 (I liked Alice Eve in the role, but they really dropped the ball when it came to adapting her character and storyline). And I resent them squandering the Parts of a Hole storyline on Hawkeye.

That's three classic Daredevil stories that we won't get to see adapted with Cox's Daredevil, all because Marvel replaced Matt with other heroes in the adaptation. If those other heroes don't have strong storylines or villains of their own, then why adapt them for the screen in the first place? If Marvel wants to adapt those Daredevil storylines, then why not just adapt them as Daredevil stories in a Daredevil TV show? Imagine if DC adapted Knightfall but with Green Arrow in place of Batman, or if they made a film of 'What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?' with Captain Marvel in place of Superman.

Anyway, Charlie Cox's scene from No Way Home has been uploaded to YouTube numerous times. I won't bother posting it here, since any clip I link will be taken down in a matter of hours. But if you go on YouTube and search for it, you should find at least one version available.

A few rumours I've heard lately – and these are just rumours, totally unsubstantiated and quite possibly nonsense – include:

•   Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll are also set to return.

•   Cox and D'Onofrio have already filmed scenes for other MCU movies and TV shows, but their involvement in those projects is being kept under wraps.

•   Cox's new MCU Daredevil costume is based on the original yellow and red version from the Silver Age comics rather than the more common design.

That last rumour, if true, is pretty interesting. I'm very curious to see what the yellow Daredevil costume would look like in live action, since no one has ever attempted to adapt it before. It might actually look better than the red suit, especially if the yellow parts are more of a gold colour like Nite Owl II's costume in Snyder's Watchmen movie. Here are some manips (not mine) showing what it might look like.

I might have a go at creating my own manip at some point. If Marvel can get Daredevil's yellow and red costume right in live action, then they've no excuse not to use Wolverine's classic comic book costume in the next X-Men movie. Using the yellow costume would also offer fans a good way of separating the two different halves of Cox's tenure as Daredevil. Everything prior to No Way Home could be referred to as the Daredevil Red era, and everything subsequent as the Daredevil Yellow era.

[thecolorsblend]

I mean, I can kind of understand why villains get passed around like party favors. The fan consensus (i.e., not my opinion) is that Marvel has better heroes but DC has a virtual monopoly on villains. Quality villains are hard to come by in the Marvel Universe. So, I can overlook some things.

But as you say, it seems like it's Daredevil who routinely gets shafted out of storylines so that they can be badly applied to other characters.

Honestly, this is part of my MCU critique. Civil War was an epic story that provided two separate (but equally compelling) points of view about a totally believable conflict. The mutant characters had a sort of interesting position on the whole Superhero Registration Act thing as well. "Oh, NOW you understand why registering with the government isn't such a good thing, golly, if only someone had warned you about this years ago!" It was a great bit and I enjoyed that stuff.

Bottom line, the events of the story affected everyone, a lot of people made some very bad choices and there were consequences to what happened. In the comics, that is.

In the MCU, meh. Civil War was one movie. And yes, it did have some ramifications. But those mostly related to Iron Man and Cap. The other characters pretty much got over it easily enough. The registration bit itself was sort of toothless in the first place since most of the heroes were already public in some way or another.

Marvel Studios seems to want to adapt Diet Coke versions of some major storylines into live action. But they're brief, they're done in shorthand and, Infinity War aside, those gigantic events tend not to get dwelled upon for very long before it's off to whatever bs comes next.

I can somewhat exempt the Netflixverse from this since one season of a show typically reverberated in subsequent seasons. The Defenders hinged on that, in fact. So, even if Shadowland didn't have the full measure of justice that I think the story merited, eh, they did pretty well considering it was done for TV. Hardly perfect. But not awful either.

[Silver Nemesis]

Daredevil once again ranks among the top ten streamed shows thanks to renewed interest resulting from Hawkeye and No Way Home.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/daredevil-netflix-hawkeye-kingpin-nielsen-ratings-1235158812/

A deleted Kingpin scene from Hawkeye has appeared online which apparently takes place after the Battle of New York but before the events of Daredevil season 1. Fisk is wearing his black suit from DDs1.

https://twitter.com/MarcLeStrange1/status/1484041232955359234

[The Laughing Fish]

End of an era.

'Daredevil' Seasons 1-3 Leaving Netflix in March 2022

Seasons 1 to 3 of 'Daredevil' will be leaving Netflix on March 1st, 2022.

...

Not only is Daredevil scheduled to leave Netflix globally, but all of the series related to The Defenders including The Punisher, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage will all be leaving Netflix.

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/leaving-soon/daredevil-seasons-1-3-leaving-netflix-in-march-2022/

Now that Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio are officially in the MCU, I'm confident the original Daredevil show will be streaming on Disney Plus, but maybe with parental settings.

I heard rumours some of the other Defenders characters will get recast somewhere down the line. If that's the case then I won't be surprised if some of the original Netflix shows become hard to find and Disney won't stream them.