Marvel’s Daredevil: What We Learned From the Trailer

This article contains potential spoilers for Marvel’s Daredevil Netflix series.

Marvel finally let fans have a look at the Daredevil series coming to Netflix. It’s safe to say…this looks nothing at all like anything we’ve seen from Marvel Studios so far. Despite the fact that Daredevil is a TV production, it looks far more cinematic than Agents of SHIELD or even Agent Carter which, even on their best days, still look like ABC TV shows.

Daredevil, on the other hand, looks like it has a little more in the tank than Marvel’s other TV efforts. So, aside from the numerous nods to the character’s Marvel Comics history, we took a look to see what else sets Daredevil apart from the rest of its Marvel Studios brothers and sisters.

Here goes…

Matt is very Catholic…

Matt Murdock is one of the few practicing Catholics I can think of in the superhero community. It’s an aspect of his character that has played heavily throughout his career. There have been numerous jokes made in the comics about why a good Irish Catholic boy like Matt spends his nights dressed like the devil, although this series has less to do with the devil imagery.

At least…so far. That may change. We’ll get to that in a minute.

While we’re on the subject of Matt’s Catholicism, this poor, put-upon priest has to listen to Matt’s confessions. Considering that this is the NYC of the Marvel Universe, imagine the kinds of confessions he has to hear? This isn’t your local Father NiceGuy telling you to say a couple of Hail Marys and an Act of Contrition because you confessed to having some naughty thoughts about your neighbor’s wife. Think about the insane, reality warping stuff this poor guy has to listen to on a weekly basis. 

Also, this slightly recalls the opening scenes of Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada’s Daredevil: Guardian Devil story, but that may just be a coincidence.

Anyway, that wasn’t my point. My real point is…in the comics, Matt’s Mom vanishes at an early age. She ultimately becomes a nun. I wonder if there’s a chance that we’ll see her in this series. I also wonder if this priest might already know who Matt is, and that he has a connection to someone else in his church. All speculation, of course, but I would be surprised if Daredevil doesn’t pursue this at some point. I’ve yet to see any Sister Maggie listed in the credits, though.

Matt is also very ripped…

Jesus Christ, Cox…do some situps or something you lazy bastard. God, what are you, just eating Doritos all day? 

I am, of course, joking. The tried and true Marvel Fitness Program (which most recently showed such wonderful results for Paul Rudd in Ant-Man) has done Charlie right, and has successfully shamed me into going to the gym today.

The Costume Will Evolve…

It’s been hinted that Daredevil will rock the more traditional crimson suit before the season ends. That being said, it even looks like the basic black costume is going to evolve. The above picture looks like just Matt in a hoodie and sweats. But then…

…this one is more streamlined. This next image may be the same suit, but it’s the first that I’ve noticed the red piping in the seams. I wonder if that’s yet another evolution of the costume, or just the first time we’ve spotted it from the back. Either way, I’m more on board with the minimalist all-black Daredevil costume than I’ve ever been. Check out the highlights…

Now, for a few supporting characters…

Meet the Kingpin. Sorta.

They sure are being coy about showing us Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, aren’t they? We’ve been told that this show is as much the story of Wilson Fisk’s origin as it is Daredevil’s. They’re making us wait, though. Here he is staring at a piece of monochrome modern art, probably done by his future wife, Vanessa (played by Ayelet Zurer, who we don’t see in the trailer). This could be where his love of white begins…who knows? When Matt finally gets his red suit, will Fisk don his white one? This image also has a nice “comic panel” feel to it, without being too overt.

And here’s another blurry picture of Kingpin, just for the hell of it.

Before I get into the Karen Page thing, I have to just note the sequence of shots in this trailer, because I’m not sure it’s coincidental. First, look at all of these delicious, delicious narcotics…

which brings us right to…

Meet Karen Page…

Then we get Karen Page (True Blood‘s Deborah Ann Woll) looking plenty sketchy. She doesn’t exactly look like she’s here for a job interview at Nelson and Murdock, does she? Instead, she looks like she’s here because, well, she needs a lawyer.

They’re clearly going to set up Karen Page’s troubles with narcotics and other things for a later payoff. The greatest Daredevil story remains Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Born Again, and while that certainly isn’t suitable first season fodder, there are still a few things that can be laid out ahead of time.

Speaking of lawyers…

Meet Foggy Nelson!

Our first look at Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, Matt’s law partner and best pal, played by Elden Henson. Is that Matt’s cane on the left?

And now…

Meet Night Nurse! No, seriously.

Rosario Dawson is Claire Temple. Interestingly enough, in the comics her character is Luke Cage’s ex-wife, which will probably set up a cameo from Mike Colter as Cage and Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones if they go that route with her here.

She isn’t the only supporting badass, though…

Daredevil’s Sensei

That’s Scott Glenn as “Stick,” the blind martial artist who shows Matt how to use his enhanced senses after he goes blind. He also teaches him how to fight. Stick isn’t a very nice guy. But my next question is…

…are these individuals supposed to be Stick’s other master warriors, the Chaste? If so, that’s a nice surprise.

Matt’s Origin

They don’t show much of Matt Murdock’s origin here, but I’m willing to bet that the above shot is part of it. For starters, from the uniforms, the cop car, and the loud shirt in the foreground, this is probably the New York City of a few decades back. It looks like a young boy, probably Matt, is huddled over a body in the alley. Probably his Dad after he gets rubbed out by gangsters for refusing to throw a fight.

If I were a betting man (note…I am not, and if you ever get the chance to play poker with me, you will win and I will be poor), I’d say we’re only going to get Daredevil’s origin story in flashbacks, scattered over the course of a few episodes. Just a hunch, though.

The Unanswered Questions

Pretty sure we’ve never seen this much blood in every Marvel Studios production combined. But this also looks like it could be a flashback. The fashions and decor seem to place it in the past, but that might just be the look of the show. But who is this? Is that Karen Page and Matt Murdock? If so, this is probably less a flashback than a hallucination of some kind.

Unless that’s Karen and not Matt Murdock, in which case she’s possibly been framed for murder, or killed some jerk in self-defense, hence her need for a lawyer at Nelson & Murdock.

I gave this a careful look but got nowehere. I thought I spotted a HYDRA logo on one pair of cufflinks or earrings (I was wrong), but this is probably just Wilson Fisk’s drawer of ridiculous cufflinks or something.

I only included this above shot because it’s another scene that looks kind of like a flashback to me. I’ve had some idle daydreams that Daredevil is actually set in the past, but I can’t imagine they’re going to go that route, especially with four other Netflix series coming. Unless, of course, the whole Defenders Netflix arc really is just about filling in gaps in the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity.

After all, we have Captain America in WWII, Howard Stark and Peggy Carter in the late ’40s and early ’50s, and we’re going to meet Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym in Ant-Man, who was probably active in the ’60s and ’70s. Could these Netflix series fill in more blanks? I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s terribly likely.

But damn, it would be cool if they did that.

The Violence. Oh, the Violence…

Marvel Studios has plenty of whizz-bang action, and lots of explosions and rayguns, but surprisingly little cruelty, blood, or violence with consequences. Often, not as many in camera stunts as I’d like, either (although Captain America: The Winter Soldier helped on that front). But there’s no super soldier serum or suit of armor, or magic hammer for Daredevil, which means he has to kick ass the old-fashioned way. Behold…

A fine bit of stuntwork here…

A genuine defenestration here…

The outcome of said defenestration…

Daredevil looking entirely too pleased with himself after doing the defenestrating…

And I’m going to end it on this shot, because the trailer did…

To me, this is one of the most perfect examples of translating comic book style imagery to the screen that we’ve seen Marvel do, but without going into over-the-top Dick Tracy style live-action cartooning. This could have been drawn by Frank Miller, but it also doesn’t resort to the headache-y gimmickry (look! COMICS!) of the Sin City films.

Daredevil drops on April 10th. As you might imagine, I’m looking forward to it.