This has been a long time coming. As a huge Daredevil fan, I've been waiting a while to watch this.
But it wasn't so long ago that Daredevil was thought of with amusement; where Bullseye was considered affectionately for his hilarious, over the top portrayal by Irish actor Colin Farrell. Simply put: the entire Daredevil character and his mythos was at one point the butt of many scathing jokes. It was hard back then to say, “I'm a huge Daredevil fan” and have one of your non comic book friends say “Who? Oh that guy played by Ben Affleck?”.
Oh, but those days are beautifully long gone and behind us. First of all, more than anything, I want to talk about the main man himself, actor Charlie Cox, and want to give him a standing ovation for his effortlessly charismatic and brilliant portrayal as Matthew Michael Murdock. Too many that talk about or review the show, focus so much on the incredible acting of others (Vincent D’Onofrio or Jon Bernthal) that they almost forget or neglect to mention Charlie Cox’s nuanced performance. I want to give him my thanks for bringing this character to life.
Looking at the character on screen, I know that there's no one else who could ever portray Daredevil because they would be stepping into the massive shoes of Charlie Cox. But enough about that for now, how was the season? How about if I say it's the best Marvel Netflix Marvel season to date? Without spoilers, this year starts out with Matt in a bad place. He is physically in a terrible state, had a building crushed on him (I.E. The Defenders), and is having a crisis of faith with God. Funny enough, he gets discovered by Catholic nuns and the returning character of Father Paul Lantom. We are also introduced to a wonderfully sarcastic Sister Maggie who is put in charge of bringing Matt back to his physical prime. You'll most likely love this character. Her wit and charm bounces off of Matt’s brooding arc effortlessly and helps to bring him back down to Earth.
What I enjoyed is that they didn't try to prolong Matt to being bedridden or overtly injured for too long. That would defeat the purpose of the show. We came here to see Daredevil. So luckily it's only about 2 episodes in and he's back on the street.
This season also introduces a few other characters. One being FBI agent Ray Nadeem, who turns out to be a down on his luck man with a good heart but must pay off an incredible debt to keep his family safe.
The other character is one that I and many other comic book fans have been looking forward to seeing for a long, long time. And that character is Bullseye. It's quite a common occurrence for comic book superheroes to have their perfect opposing villain, one that mirrors the hero. For Batman, this is the Joker. For The Flash, this is the Reverse Flash. And for Daredevil, this would be Bullseye. The two characters have one of the greatest and most hate filled rivalries in comics. It's to the point where Bullseye has driven Daredevil to two separate suicide attempts in the comics. No one has ever been so capable of torturing and mentally scarring our favorite horn-headed hero like this psychopath. So, it wasn't any surprise that Bullseye would be the most requested character to appear on the show.
And, boy oh boy, did the show deliver? Bullseye was awesome. Wilson Bethel’s portrayal was unhinged, dangerous, frightening, and at times, badass. Netflix/Marvel pulled that trick again, making you want to sympathize with the bad guy. And Bullseye is CLEARLY psychotic. Yet, you actually find yourself at times wanting him to achieve the normal life that his character is aching for. His incredible marksmanship skills, his deadly ability to make any object he touches a lethal weapon is super fascinating to watch, easily making Bullseye one of Marvel's best villains.
And ladies and gentlemen, that brings me to the other villain. Yes, the return of the mighty Kingpin. Season 3 is by far his best showing yet. Here we see the character fully embrace his identity. Where as season 1 was an origin for the character becoming the Kingpin, here we have him truly and utterly as the monster he should be. His intelligence in this season, his chess playing strategic thinking is on full display now more than ever. He is a cunning monster that climbs his way out from the abyss to form his empire.
We also have supporting characters Karen Page and Foggy Nelson returning as well. In Season 1 their arcs were relative to what ever Matt was doing. So in season 2 they sort of attempted to make these two characters more independent but here they are fully on their own with their own side plots and backstories until they coalesce with Murdock's culminating of course into the electrifying finale (which I will not spoil). So yes, I could not be more excited or happy with this excellent third season.
Marvel/Netflix has earned it. And before we wrap this up, let me just talk about the fight scenes. They topped the first and second season. The fight choreography is TREMENDOUS!! Unbelievable. And yes, there is a hallway fight scene. And yes, it will blow your mind.
-Charles Angelo Tosti
