Author: Joanna Robinson / Source: HWD
When Netflix took its first slice of the rich comic-book-adaptation pie back in 2015, it scored a palpable hit among genre fans with Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock a.k.a. the Man Without Fear a.k.a. the Daredevil. The streamer nabbed an even bigger victory with its second attempt, Jessica Jones, which proved a hit not only with fans, but also with critics who might otherwise turn up their noses at superhero stories.
Sadly, these Netflix shows have been in a decline ever since. The back half of Luke Cage’s first season was messy. Last summer’s crossover event, The Defenders, should have landed with an Infinity War–esque smash but, instead, managed barely a whimper. Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage all dropped in quality in their second seasons and Iron Fist, unpopular from the start, was recently canceled by Netflix.But good news, Daredevil fans, the third season—which drops in its entirety this week—is genuinely good again thanks in no small part to the return of Vincent D’Onofrio as the devilishly menacing Kingpin. If you’re daunted by all the Marvel Netflix content you might have missed since Daredevil Seasons 1 or 2, we have you covered. Whenever a franchise gets too crossover heavy it risks alienating viewers. Some Daredevil fans don’t want to be required to watch all of these other Defenders shows in order to be able to dive right back into the action of Hell’s Kitchen—though of course that’s exactly what Netflix is hoping you’ll do. The good news? There isn’t that much to catch up on. While Matt’s friends have dropped by other shows for little cameos, most of the players are in a similar place to where we left them in Season 1. (That might be part of the larger problem, actually.) But for a quick refresher on what you might have missed, here’s what Matt, Karen, Foggy, Wilson, et al. have been doing for the past three years.
What Matt Murdock’s Been Up To: Most superhero stories are, at their core, about balancing two worlds. This has been the case all along for Matt Murdock who is a compassionate, kind lawyer by day and a rough and tumble vigilante at night. He’s the angel of the courts and the devil of Hell’s Kitchen. In last year’s crossover event, The Defenders, Matt was dead-set on giving up his crime-fighting life and reconciled with the two figures from his day job that matter most: Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. But that was before his ex Elektra came back from the grave a little more evil than he left her and a massive fight involving the whole Defenders crew including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist ended with a building dropping on the dysfunctional couple.
Though he was presumed dead, the last seconds of the The Defenders showed Matt waking up in a convent as someone called out to fetch Sister Maggie. (More on her and the Born Again–comic story line at the bottom of this post.) The show Matt now vowing to go full Daredevil, leaving his lawyerly life behind him as he tries to recover from, you know, having a building dropped on him. When Season 3 opens he’s been presumed dead for months. Matt may need to focus all his energy on that vigilante lifestyle because his biggest (literally) enemy is back and fighting mad.
What the Kingpin Has Been Up To: One of the reasons the Netflix-Marvel series have gone downhill in quality is that the larger TV franchise suffers from a villain problem. Daredevil Season 1 came…
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