What does a Man Without Fear look like? According to Marvel Entertainment, like a blind man wearing a red leather onesie while fighting crime in Manhattan. Daredevil, or Matthew Murdock, attorney at law as his friends know him, is a highly trained martial artist who puts his skills to work battling to defend the innocent and to clear organized crime from Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood on the West side of Manhattan and Murdock’s childhood home. Charlie Cox, the leading man of the 2007 fantasy epic Stardust portrays Murdock in Marvel’s Daredevil, which premiers on Netflix April 10th.
Matt was not born blind. As a child his eyes were burned with a radioactive substance, which took his vision. The radiation also incredibly enhanced his other senses, giving him a great gift. Trained as a child by fellow blind man, the ninja master Stick, he mastered the art of combat. Trained as a lawyer, he understood the criminal element and the finer points of detective work.
Marvel’s Daredevil follows Murdock as he begins his crusade to right the wrongs being done in his city. He proclaims himself the defender of Hell’s Kitchen and starts at the bottom, fighting gangsters and drug runners before tackling the bigger picture. The criminal sect in Hell’s Kitchen is led by the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, who is literally the bigger picture. Fisk is a massive man with a massive temper and an excellent criminal and strategic mind. Vincent D’Onofrio, who will be portraying him, meets the size and needs of the Kingpin, and exudes power in his role.
Both characters share a common goal; Fisk believes that Hell’s Kitchen is sick, and must be cleansed. Unfortunately Fisk is adhering to a Brendan Shanahan style “Scorched Earth” policy. To try to stop this Murdock plunges fist first in to the grey area of brutal vigilantism. And thus our story really begins.
This isn’t the first time that Marvel has tried to bring Daredevil to viewers. Ben Affleck portrayed the vigilante in the underwhelming 2003 rendition of the hero. Despite strong performances by the film’s leading actors, a subpar script and the need to cut out an integral sub plot for the theatrical version led to a critical flop. Twelve years later viewers will be treated to a new and hopefully better experience.
The first looks that we’ve been given at Daredevil suggests that it possesses a gritty tone, akin to the Dark Knight Trilogy, while retaining the humour that today rings synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oh yeah, Daredevil exists within the MCU. While this presents the exciting possibility of seeing Captain America or Iron Man suiting up alongside Murdock, chances are unlikely. The moral codes of these heroes just don’t align. A more likely outcome is seeing Daredevil, as well as the rest of his Defenders (see last issue), entering the big screen alongside the Avengers. Pity I have an exam on April 11th.
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