I know everyone I here is currently losing their minds over the new GoT episodes, but has anyone taken some time out to check out the new DareDevil series on Netflix?
Firstly, that horrible, God-awful, Ben Affleck train wreck of a movie that came out in the early 2000s (when marvel hadn't quite figured out the formula).... Yeah, completely erase that from your memory. This is better. Way better. Astoundingly better.
After a couple of friends suggested I watch, I figured 'what the hell, why not' and took a chance. I was completely blown away. Let me warn you, this is definitely NOT for kids. This series is dark, there is quite a bit of violence.
But man, this series is really well done. They really take the time to flesh out the characters in a way that no 90 minute movie could do. The Wilson Fisk/King Pin backstory/coming of is just superb. The action feels legit, ...DareDevil takes quite the beating tbh.
If you haven't, check it out! If you have, what are your thoughts??
Comments
Sidenote: I didn't grow up a DareDevil fan, ...and I've also been partial to DC comics.
So in terms of how this goes into the MCU, I have no idea. I'm sure I missed almost all Easter eggs that there may have been.
Just finished the series myself. It was so good.
The fight scene with the Russians in the hallway was done in the first take. I finished it last week and the entire season was great. I love that Daredevil seemed to get winded and still had the energy to keep going. I can't wait for the second season!!
That's also what I loved about the fight scenes, nothing felt easy. Every victory earned, even on simple hench-men.
There are so many shows that people say are great I don't know how people keep up with all of them, I am still working House of Cards and catching up on GoT.
I found House of Cards S3 kind of disappointing.
Welcome to the club. Our membership consists of pretty much everyone
Yes House of Cards has become completely ridiculous at this point. I will give the next season a shot just because I do really like the Frank Underwood character, but Season 3 was not so great.
Was it worse than Season 2? I struggle to think of a single story line that wasn't completely absurd or farcical.
President Underwood and the Russian President have a face to face meeting without anyone else around in a bunker, in the Jordan Valley, on about 12 hours notice....
Which was way more believable than using FEMA to force a jobs program. Or giving his wife a job (which has been illegal since Bobby Kennedy got AG).
I haven't even finished the season but I already think it might be my favorite Marvel related production. I really dig on the gritty, more realistic super hero stuff.
Definitely more violent than I thought it'd be (not really complaining).
Definitely my favorite Marvel...well, anything. Up until the second Captain America movie, I was less than impressed with most of what they offered (well, except maybe all of the Spiderman movies..minus the third)
It's my current go to show at the gym, but I've barely scratched the surface of the season. I'm hooked though. Such a great production all around.
Go-to show at the gym? You watch Netflix while you're on the ellipticals?
I've been using an arc trainer instead of an elliptical for cardio, but yeah.
Only gotten through 3 episodes so far, but I have found it really really good so far.
My one quibble (and I haven't read the comics, so don't listen to me) is that it may be a little too dark. I want more of the charming ladies man Murdock that was in the pilot. That made it a touch lighter and less brooding than the episodes I've seen that follow.
I can see how that would be a negative for some people, as the tone for Marvel's TV & film offerings has been pretty fun & light-hearted most of the time. So this is a complete 180 from their typical fare.
For Daredevil though, this tone is pretty much in line with his most well-known stories. At one point in time, Daredevil was a lot like the light-hearted heroes Marvel is known for but that more or less changed in the late 70s when Frank Miller started on the comic. Ever since then, Daredevil has been a pretty tragic figure, so the show isn't too far off from the tone of the comics that the character now.
Will have to start it up after I finish my current Netflix watch (Bloodline). My wife wasn't feeling well over the weekend so we watched the run of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which I thought was fantastic.
Then we started watching Bloodline. Through 4 episodes and really enjoying it, although it is very much a slow burn, so if you like faster pace it may not be for you.
Netflix is really killing it right now with their series. I can't wait for "Chef's Table" to come out, which was made by the filmmaker that did "Hiro Dreams of Sushi", which was an amazing documentary.
I blazed through The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidy a couple weeks ago, took me a little while to adjust to the humor (I was not a fan of 30 Rock, tbh) but overall I really enjoyed the show. Titus definitely makes the show, ...and well, Ellie Kemper is a 10/10.
Netflix is definitely killing it - Orange is the new black, House of Cards (I haven't watched any of this one honestly), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, DareDevil, and so many others that I haven't checked out.
Releasing an entire season is all a gift...and a curse. On one hand I don't have to wait to see what's next, on the other...I have to wait almost a year for the next season after binge watching and completing the season in less than 3 days.
You are right about the blessing and a curse. One thing that I find to be very neat though, and I am really seeing this with Bloodline, is that the "release all at once" really lets the people producing the shows to tell the story they want to tell. They don't have to worry about the ratings week to week, so they just produce their vision and hope its compelling.
And yes, Ellie Kemper is sneaky hot. Very good comedic timing and talent, she just seems to oddball at first and then a few episodes in you are like "Hey now..."
Really enjoyed Kimmy Schmidt.
Pretty much finished it in like 2 days. The whole time watching it, I was like "I'm probably not the target audience here (females), but it's awesome!"
Burned through the whole season this past weekend with my wife. I'd say the middle episodes were my favorite.
I enjoyed the actress much better than I did during her turn in The Office.
I liked Kimmy Schmidt and I'm excited for the next season. You could really feel it starting to click in the second half of the season, plus I'll watch basically anything Tina Fey's involved with (30 Rock is definitely a must watch).
Does anybody else watch BoJack Horseman? I watched it when it first came out and I love it. Not as much as my roommate who quotes it at me regularly.
Okay, so, spoiler alert, but, what the hell is Black Sky? Ideas?
Only mentioned through out the first season twice and one was just a reference to how rare they are. After some research there is no real connection with Marvel on this and the show seems to want to play this close to the chest. Theory is they may be developing Black Sky as a way to introduce Electra into the show. We shall see
There are a couple of Easter eggs that tire hell's kitchen in with the rest of the marvel universe.
**spoiler alert**
In the first few episodes they vaguely reference some kind of incident in New York, talking about the first Avengers movie.
And there are a few newspaper clippings found throughout offices in the series too.
Connection to Nobu, the Hand, Stick, the Chaste, etc., makes me think it's something that will be taken up in Iron Fist, but...damn, that show is late next year at the earliest, and that's really optimistic since Marvel is already dropping Luke Cage and season two of Daredevil next year. That would basically mean developing three Marvel series simultaneously.
I'm guessing we get some sort of Black Sky reference in A.K.A. Jessica Jones later this year, continuing into Luke Cage and Daredevil s.2, Iron Fist and then finally Black Sky is the storyline that drives the Defenders series.
None of that even broaches the topic of what the hell Black Sky actually is. Bravo, Marvel. You've given us something in one episode of your first Netflix series that is way more entertaining and engaging than the entire plotline of Age of Ultron.
Oh, also, those blueprints that Nobu had been holding on to since the start, the two pictograms stamped on the building in the center of the page literally reads "Black Sky."
For those who havent given it a try or were turned off originally. Agents of SHIELD got 100000% better in season 2. Dealing with the aftermath of Capt America: The Winter Soldier, so Coulson trying to piece what is left of SHIELD together while still fighting Hydra, still comedy, but a noticeable shift to some darker tones, and less slapstick stuff.
Also introduced the concept of the Inhumans, who the MCU is using as their catch all for the comic Inhumans and Mutants since the MCU cant use the X-Men.
The most recent episode was a direct tie in to the start of Age of Ultron and explains how The Avengers got the intel on Strucker and the Scepter's location.
I haven't seen Age of Ultron yet, but I know the Scarlett Witch and Quick Silver are in it.
...Are these not originally x-men characters? Perhaps the gap could be closing?
Or maybe fox didn't have the rights for those two.
I read an article about the amount if savage litigious bullshit Marvel had to do to use those two characters. The Quicksilver from Age of Ultron is officially not the same Quicksilver from Days of Future Past. Alternate versions of the character in two different universes and Marvel was legally forbidden to even hint about the existence of the X-Men through teasers/easter eggs.
Damn, that sucks. That really sucks.
Agreed, but it's where Marvel is. At one point, what Fox was doing with the X-Men was the pinnacle of comic book filmmaking, and Marvel jumped on their wagon hard and fast. It would still be years before anyone at Marvel thought they could do it better themselves, in a fully established cross-title universe, and years before they got bought by a parent company with the financials and know-how to make it happen. So now you've got your rights all jacked up across various studios as a hangover from the early days of the non-shitty comic book movie, and the effects suck. But at the same time, you can't fault Marvel. They fought tooth and nail for film adaptations by major studios, and like all book to movie adaptations they had to give up too many rights at first. But they'll eventually get them back. They're fucking Disney. It's like going against the mob.
The one thing that makes me hopeful about the DC cinematic universe is that they specifically have not made the same mistake, being content to adapt their platforms for television with agreements that say, yes, you have the right to do this, but you don't have the sole and exclusive right to do it. I think DC has better lawyers. The problem is, now DC has to play catch up. So it's like, hey, we're DC, we still have movie rights to all our characters, and HERE ARE ALL OF THEM IN TWO MOVIES!!!
Yea everyone forgets that at the same time X2 was coming out and being pretty damn good, Hulk was out and just destroying what momentum Marvel had with their other characters.
One addendum:
The reason that Fox holds the rights to the X-Men and Sony holds the rights to Spider-Man (less of an issue now that they're collaborating with Marvel) is not only because they were trying to get film adaptations made, but another motivating factor... saving the company from bankruptcy.
After filing for bankruptcy in 1996, many of the film deals were made in the immediate aftermath to help prop up the company. And what they got in return for giving the rights to those studios was embarrassing:
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_pivot/2012/09/marvel_comics_and_the_movies_the_business_story_behind_the_avengers_.html
The whole article is worth a read, if it's something that interests you. But basically, the TL;DR of it is that Marvel needed quick cash and found it by selling the rights to its properties to various film studios (and with it, creative control over those characters).
And, if we're honest, it's because the comics Marvel was shitting out during that era, late 80s and early 90s, were just simply awful. Meanwhile DC was doing fourth runs of their Death of Superman and Knightfall issues and making just obscene amounts of money. Marvel is decidedly the big dog on the porch for the moment, but people forget we were a gnat's eyelash from the comic wars being DC vs Image.
So because they have been Avengers for so long and were well before they were revealed to be mutants they sort of belong to both franchises.
The MCU gets to use them as Avengers, but cant say they are mutants, or that Magneto is their father.
While Fox cant talk about what their day jobs are. Which is a shame because Scarlet Witch basically fucks over all of mutant kind in what could have been a great cross over movie.
Also why you wont see Wolverine as an Avenger despite his long standing role.
Though Sony has given in and is working to get Spider Man into the MCU, o coming soon will be Spider Man 5: The Financial Frontier.
First Episode was good enough to convince me too keep going, we shall see...
Yeah dude, binge watched the series in a week or so. I thought it was really well done. I like how the fight scenes aren't just whooping up on someone and walking away, you can see how much of a toll they take and how he still takes a beating. I didn't grow up a fan of Daredevil so it's something new, which I like. Can't wait to see what they do with the other 3 Marvel shows coming up!
I will say I really could care less about the MCU movies. I think they are all pretty dull to be honest. Same hackneyed plot, same cheesy lines, etc.
With that said, I am really enjoying Daredevil. I have watched 5 episodes so far and its got its hooks in me. The brutality of the fight scenes is just not something you see anymore. Doesn't really on any silly special effects. The main character is believable (as believable as a blind ass kicker in a mask can be), and I think D'onofrio as The Kingpin was a great casting job. As a previous poster said, I didn't know much about the Daredevil narrative beyond who he is and who Kingpin is, so I am going into this completely fresh.
I completely agree about DareDevil, but do you really think ALL of the marvel movies are bad? Personally I'd list them as:
Must See
-The Avengers
-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
-Guardians of the Galaxy
-Avengers 2
Very Good
-Iron Man
-Captain America: The First Avenger
-Thor: The Dark World
Worth Watching
-Thor
-Iron Man 2
Ehhh...
-The Incredible Hulk
-Iron Man 3
Obviously that is up for HUGE debate, but if you've only seen movies from the bottom half of the list, you might be doing yourself a disservice
I'd already put Age of Ultron squarely in the Ehh... category.
Wow that low? I guess I let my nerdgasm get to me when watching those movies because at the lowest I'd say its worth watching. The novelty of seeing everyone together has definitely worn off and you could tell they were borrowing from the formula of the first movie, but I'd still recommend anyone thinking about it to go see it. Not as good as Avengers but still good
I say there the whole time thinking, how does this advance the MCU? And honestly, beyond the obvious implications for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it actually regressed, because, hey, Tony Stark is suddenly a-ok with being Iron Man again. Unless they were saying something very different at the end of Iron Man 3 than I thought they were saying, that's character regression.
It's actually a particularly driving force for the creation of Ultron. He wanted to create something that would put an end to the need for the Avengers.
Yeah, I get that. But Stark has been doing philanthropic non-military research since the resolution of the first movie. I'm just saying it neuters the emotional climactic scene of Iron Man 3 to have him get right back in the suit to drive the next Avengers film.
I would make a case for it being progression. Stark made Iron man out of necessity to escape the terrorists that captured him. He gets thrust into the position of hero mainly to stop the unauthorized use of his weapons. He had absolutely no intention of fighting an otherworld army and literally saving the entire planet. We then see him dealing with the effects of the role he was thrust into in Iron Man 3 where he suffers from PTSD and wants to walk away from the suit. We then come to the events in Age of Ultron where he's willing to go as far as experimenting with AI to take on what is potentially lying in wait outside of the Earth to take the fight to them, not just defend. Again, I would call that progression
Yeah, I agree, that's where he was up through Iron Man 3. Then to me it felt like they contrived a way to dump him back into the suit to anchor the next Avengers movie. Felt very forced to me.
Oh trust me, I know the way I see it is a reach. If I remember correctly, the reason they dumped him back into the suit the way they did was because Robert Downy Jr. stated he wanted out of the films, but then pulled a 180 and was ok with being brought back
I wouldn't say they are all bad, but for the most part, outside of the the first Iron Man, I thought they were pretty dull and predictable.
I didn't even like the first Iron Man, to be honest. Marvel didn't do anything for me until Winter Soldier.
It was also the most human thing they've done until Daredevil. I hope Marvel sees the connection.
The movies are getting stale, as evidenced by the fact that Age of Ultron failed to beat The Avengers opening weekend. There's nothing really new here. The MCU is established; the geekgasm of OMFG I'M SEEING TONY STARK IN THE INCREDIBLE HULK MOVIE is over. Now if it's to continue, it will have to be driven by compelling storylines. Captain America seems to be doing very well at that. Iron Man and Thor not so much. The Hulk has basically been relegated to Black Widow/Hawkeye status, unable to anchor his own films.
Anyway, Age of Ultron was hackneyed and formulaic and, combined with the insane buzz around Daredevil, hopefully serves as a wakeup call to Marvel.
Except it was on par to beat it had Saturday not been a major sports day which is part of the same crowd for the Avengers.
There is some credibility to what you say, but it was also NBA and NHL playoffs season when the first movie opened. Mayweather/Pacquiao wasn't until 11 pm. And ultimately what matters is, if this movie was seen by consumers as something as "must see" as the first Avengers movie, it would have broken its record.
Not saying Age of Ultron is a failure, but there are reasons Marvel could (should) walk away from this rethinking their focus moving forward.
A little late here, but just started watching this series after finishing the first two seasons of Prison Break (spoiler alert for anyone who gives a flip: Scofield gets thrown back into prison again... LOL. After seeing the first episode of season 3 and Bellick walking around in tighty whities, I could tell I had seen all that I needed). Anyways, DareDevil is really, really good. I literally knew nothing about the character or the series going into it, other than word of mouth that it's a show worth watching. I'm usually not even into super hero stuff either, but this is about as believable as they come. Like everyone else said it's really, really dark. Graphically I'd put it up there with TWD. Nonetheless I'm hooked, and every episode feels like a movie rather than just a single episode in a series. I'm really impressed, and again this is coming from a guy who thought The Avengers and Captain America were meh.
Welcome to the club, lol.
Also, are you talking about both captain America movies?
Never saw the second one, which I actually heard was great, but I was referring to the first one.
Ah, ok. Id definitely recommend the second one. By far my favorite marvel movie. I thought the first one was horrible