You see, Disney/Marvel have had quite a few shows from 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier', 'Loki', WandaVision', 'Hawkeye', 'Moon Knight', but these were all developed in troubled times. Not only did we have the pandemic and the writers' strike, but during the reign of Bob Chapek, who wanted everything to come out quick and fast, Disney pushed out a lot of shows with a drive to get people onto Disney+. The show 'Echo', which ultimately comes before this show, I personally feel that Echo was stuck between the "Netflix-level" grit and the family-oriented Disney brand. I also think the 'Blade' film has been here for several years, too, but now that 'Deadpool and Wolverine' have come out and done well, we should be in a good place with that. We got what we got with Echo, but Disney not only decided to cut and dissect this 18-episode show to rebuild, despite its flaws in places, but this was a very good show in the end. It does not quite match the Netflix energy, but it does come close and in some places surpass it.
Let me break it all down for you.
The first episode sets you up with the main characters from the original series and the new side characters that have been introduced in this new show. We get a bit of drama to set up the story going forward, and we also get our first "hallway" fight that is seemingly a one-shot, which is amazing to see.
Some time has passed, and the second episode is slightly slower and more dialogue-driven, but the stakes are high. Matt is representing a vigilante, but going forward through episodes 2, 3 and 4, we have the courtroom drama where Matt is doing what he can, but the Law is failing the people he is representing. With Hector Ayala, it is crooked cops; with the shoplifter, it is the system. Along with important and meaningful conversations with other characters in the show, these are the things that ultimately push Matt to make his decision in episode 5.
In episodes 2 to 7, Wilson Fisk is also dealing with his issues of trying to be Mayor, but ultimately, things are not going the way he thinks they should and being Kingpin may be the better option. His relationship is in tatters, and his new circles do not respect him, but whilst trying to make the city of New York a better place, he is also trying to clamp down on vigilanteism and all the episodes until episode 7 is a slow transformation for him as he gives into who he really is.
The last 3 episodes 7, 8 and 9 is where the shows picks up in regards to action andif you only came to a Daredevil show just for action, although he is a lawyer, these three episodes are for you as Daredevil battles and fights a villain named Muse and another villain comes back to cause havok. It is full steam ahead, and by the finale, we are looking at an all-out war on the streets of New York, ready for season 2.
So in the end, the making, scrapping and remaking of the show to appease the viewers who loved the Netflix show, in my opinion, has worked.. The fact that this show was brought on by the fans petitioning for Charlie Cox to come back and said, "Nah, we want Vincent back too!" is a testament to how great these actors were in the original show and how much the show and they were loved. You can feel the acting between the two when they share the screen; it is excellent, but the show does come with a few negatives because of this.
I personally feel that the Daredevil show is about Matt Murdock being a lawyer and a hero. Wilson Fisk IS a villain in the background and in the Netflix show, the main villain, but the show was never about him, persay and there was never this yin and yang between them. Although I loved what they did and it was very interesting how they did it and how it played into the story, I felt it was very heavy-handed in places, and it took me out of the show sometimes. I just felt it was not necessary throughout the entire season, although I understood what they were trying to do. Matt is battling himself, thinking he can give up being Daredevil when that is who he is, and Wilson is battling himself, thinking he can simply be Mayor and not The Kingpin, when that is exactly who he is. I got it, understood it, but felt it was very heavy-handed in trying to push that across to the viewers. With that said, I am sure there are people who didn't quite get that, nor did they want it.
Another negative about the show (for me anyway and due to the nature of my job here), knowing before going into the show that they planned out, shot, then scrapped, then restructured, rebuilt, reshot, and this is what we got, helps to paint a picture in my head whilst I amwatching and construct a narrative around what is, what was and what may have been. It gave context to the White Tiger story and context to the Muse story, both of which were very short-lived. Granted, the actor passed away in real life, but hearing this was going to be a lawyer show for like 6 episodes until Matt dons the suit explains why Muse's storyline was ultimately never fleshed out well enough and felt rushed.
With the negatives aside, Vincent and Charlie are Wilson and Matthew, respectively. They were born to play these characters as they have embodied them for years now, and they do such a great job at it. The acting is stellar. Vincent and what he does with his voice is remarkable and Matt, during the conversation with Jon Burnthal as Frank Castle, damn near made me weep. I said once before, 'An all-seeing actor, playing a character who cannot see, acting as a person who can see, is simply an actor doing the Lord's work at this point. That was in season 3, the prison break scene, and Charlie has not lost a beat. The supporting cast is great, Jon and Debra. The tiny scenes they have, they bring their A-game, and if anything, Jon steals the scenes effortlessly. They are batting for 6 and knocking it out of the park, so it will be great to see more of them if they come back in season 2.
There isn't much more I can say regarding this show, that, although it had its flaws in places, Kevin Feige did what he needed to do, and I cannot see many original Netflix watchers being mad at this effort. Chances are, they know exactly what I know or even more and understand the challenges and pressures they had to do this season. Episodes 1, 7 and 8 give us exactly what we should expect going forward, especially with the touching up on episodes 2 to 6. Episodes 2 to 6 were not terrible or bad, but once you understood what was done in the restructuring, place these episodes in a different light, and you can tell the pacing is different, albeit still very good.
They worked with the skeleton of what they had, and if I am honest, another negative this show has is the lack of fleshing out the other side characters. They served a small purpose in this show, but I feel the Netflix series would have gone deeper with the side characters or major characters such as Muse. Netflix would have had half or a whole episode dedicated to him and his backstory. They did that with Wilson, they did that with Benjamin, they had great flashbacks with Elektra fleshing out Matt's relationship with her, even with Stick. It's all good that the dialogue was great in places and one of the episodes I'd shed a tear, but they initially had 18 episodes planned and halved it to 9, so maybe if they had 13 episodes instead, like the Netflix series, it would help with character development and building up the dynamics between characters better for the audience to care about them. For example, that episode that made me tear up, was great written dialogue but the characters have a history, and it shows, so in the finale, the dynamic is there and it is great to see the back and forth between them because it was previous built up in an earlier episode but even more in the previous series.
They worked with the skeleton of what they had, and if I am honest, another negative this show has is the lack of fleshing out the other side characters. They served a small purpose in this show, but I feel the Netflix series would have gone deeper with the side characters or major characters such as Muse. Netflix would have had half or a whole episode dedicated to him and his backstory. They did that with Wilson, they did that with Benjamin, they had great flashbacks with Elektra fleshing out Matt's relationship with her, even with Stick. It's all good that the dialogue was great in places and one of the episodes I'd shed a tear, but they initially had 18 episodes planned and halved it to 9, so maybe if they had 13 episodes instead, like the Netflix series, it would help with character development and building up the dynamics between characters better for the audience to care about them. For example, that episode that made me tear up, was great written dialogue but the characters have a history, and it shows, so in the finale, the dynamic is there and it is great to see the back and forth between them because it was previous built up in an earlier episode but even more in the previous series.
Going forward, I think we are in great hands. I am hoping that we get to see the rest of 'The Defenders' appear (hopefully Spider-Man too), and we just get the gang back. With better planning, more time, more money and the connection to the MCU, we should be able to get a great show centered around Daredevil and maybe, if they can get the cobwebs away from the gears and lever, maybe continue with sequels to the Netflix shows too or introduce more characters because maybe we can have a street level thing going on including 'Moon Knight' and even 'Ms. Marvel'.
Disney have the money and the potential, and we CAN love it all if done well.
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