Now that Marvel has aired the last of the four series build-up, we are all eagerly awaiting the grand finale, The Defenders. Filming for The Defenders started in October and apparently it’s a wrap.
There wasn’t a grand announcement that the film had gone to edit, just a few quiet photos of the wrap party. All we really know now is that we can expect to see it before the end of the year.
Now we sit back and wait for them to give us a trailer. I expect we will see one before the end of April.
I was 15 when I saw Frank Miller’s Daredevil on the rack for the first time in 1980 – so when I say I’ve waited decades to see it put to film properly, you know I’m telling the truth. For me to say Marvel’s Daredevil, Season Two met all my expectations, would be dishonest but to say I am disappointed in what I just saw would be an epic lie.
“You’re not supposed to give people what they want. You’re supposed to give them what they don’t know they want yet. ” – Diana Vreeland
Again we are brought into NYC’s historic Hell’s Kitchen to watch a blind vigilante practice law by day and beat up bad guys at night. With the return of Foggy and Karen and Josie and Turk and the introduction of the Punisher and Elektra in episodic format, we are treated to the right kind of on-screen limited series Daredevil needs. We get a baker’s dozen of 13 episodes in one sitting, and like that mixed bakery of chocolate-covered, sprinkled and cream-filled donuts, we get some we love and some we just like.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to break down my review of Marvel’s Daredevil, Season Two one donut at a time.
S2, Ep. 1 “Bang”
Director: Phil Abraham
Writers: Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez
This episode starts off with Daredevil [“DD”, of course] chasing diamond thieves down the street, through a Chinese restaurant’s kitchen and ends up cornering the last one in one of those hole-in-the-wall street churches. This is less of an art director’s choice than a location scout’s find. Hell’s Kitchen has a history and it is in the buildings as well as the people. Unfortunately, the historic gritty neighborhood has mostly disappeared. While Marvel’s “Event” of the alien attack on NYC has nicely justified its return, it still remains to be filmed, and our location scouts have, in large part, given us back the feel of the original neighborhood.
DD’s in fine form, beats up a bad guy, tells an almost victim to call 911, saves a cop from being shot, rescues a hostage and smiles while standing on the roof of a church. We rejoice with him and his victories, easily following his justification for his vigilante actions to Foggy Nelson in the morning on his way to work. Matt Murdock has found a semblance of purpose and peace: he helps victims by day with the Law, and serves justice at night with his fists.
The problem is someone else has figured out a more permanent solution, and in a surprisingly brief appearance, the Irish mob, the original thugs of Hell’s Kitchen from decades gone, discovers this too. The set-up is so pat, the surprise is not that the leader of the mob is about to bash in the head of his unaware lieutenant, the surprise is he is stopped in mid-swing by high-powered armor-piercing bullets.
Enter the “Unknown Army”
The choice to make the bad guys think it is an “army” or “crew” out to blow them away was brilliant. When Grotto escapes to seek help from our happy trio of Nelson, Murdock and Page, we get just enough tension in the situation to leave us guessing. Then our team does each what it does best: Karen comforts and covers the wounded, Foggy compassionately confronts and charms his way into information and Matthew?
He goes to beat the information out of Turk.
Turk was Frank Miller’s creation, the low-life anyone would enjoy beating up. But he’s also the guy on the street who knows everything. Like Peter Lorre’s Ugarte in Casablanca, Rob Morgan’s Turk Barrett is a scene-stealer every time he shows up. You despise his ways, but you don’t hate him. He’s a fool and you know – you know – if he’d just made a better choice as a kid, he’d be someone you’d like. Wilson Fisk is a truly evil man. Turk is just a bad one.
After some enjoyable abuse is heaped on Turk, DD follows the lead of military grade weapons to meat packing plant, only to members of the Cartel just hanging around…
… with the other slabs of slaughtered animals. This scene is nothing new for organized crime drama. What makes it special is the pace, the horror movie framing, with everything on DD and the slow reveals of the carnage.
Then we hear a heartbeat, and for once it is not a cheesy trick to amp the tension. DD hears one goon is alive, and as he hears his last words, the man bleeds out, the camera staying on his face as we catch a glimpse of all the life draining from his body. This visceral choice is what makes Marvel’s Daredevil work as a gritty superhero crime drama. You understand why he’s in red – it’s the color of blood and he’s going to be neck deep in it. It ain’t pretty; it is practical.
The final story reveal that it is not “an army” taking out biker gangs and the cartel, but rather the work of one man is well-done. It is earned. We see the black legs striding down a hospital corridor and hear the explosive power of this one hunter, this one-man squad who is an irresistible force. We hear all the screams and Karen escaping with Grotto, the last survivor who wants a second chance, who wants to live. We see how close his face is in cross-hairs of a sniper’s rifle when DD once again rushes in to save the day, punching and kicking and chasing across rooftops this merciless killer only to lose by being shot in the head.
If there is a more classic way to keep an audience and make them come back for more, I do not know it. This first episode of Marvel’s Daredevil: Season Two did not skimp in action, in thrills or in showcasing the characters we know and love. It has been said there really are no new stories, just old ones we tell well. This is precisely that: a well-done tale.
Rating [Out of 4 Donuts/ Flavor for Enjoyment]: 4 Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Icing Donuts. [The Yummy Best]
This past Friday saw the debut of season two of the Netflix original series Marvel’s Daredevil. There was a mad scramble from many fans on social media to binge watch the 13-episode follow-up to last year’s successful run. Plus, introducing popular characters from Matt Murdock’s past like The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) only added to the interest.
The folks over at The Warp Zone have done it again. Known for giving their take on pop culture, the team’s You Tube channel features a number of theme songs performed a capella. The five singers dress in song-appropriate attire and sing in unison theme songs from popular shows like The Walking Dead, The X-Files, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men and The Fresh Prince (and more!). In honor of Netflix releasing the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s second season, they collaborated on an a capella version of the opening theme. What is even more fun is that they are all dressed as characters from the show: Matt Murdock, Daredevil, The Punisher, Elektra and Wilson Fisk (Kingpin). Sit back and enjoy this fun tribute to Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix…
Not a Monday person? Look on the bright side… we are only four days from the second season of the highly acclaimed Netflix original series Marvel’s Daredevil. To get you just that more excited before the binge-watching can begin, a promo clip is out showing off the trio of characters around which this season will be based: Daredevil (surprise), elite martial arts assassin Elektra, and gun-toting, vigilante anti-hero The Punisher, seen is his widely recognizable skull t-shirt. Give it a look:
Season two of Marvel’s Daredevil premiere Friday, March 18th on Netflix. It stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchios, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher, and reprising their roles from season one are Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson) and Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple).
Also, the title and plot summary for the first episode has already been added to IMDB.com:
S2:E1 – “Bang”
Hell’s Kitchen has calmed, but it’s not out of the fire yet. When an unknown vigilante begins to take the fight to the streets in a big and bloody way, Matt Murdock must don the mask of Daredevil to stop him before innocent people end up in the crossfire. A battle of full measure versus half, a conflict of morality and justice, Daredevil vs The Punisher.
Marvel’s Daredevil, a Netflix original series, returns on March 18th and one Canadian city got a reveal at new costumes for the series characters. Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil, Jon Bernthal‘s anti-hero Frank Castle/The Punisher, and Elodie Yung as the ninja assassin Elektra Natchios were plastered on some billboards in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in their new gear and the results are fabulous.
Daredevil season 2 showrunners Marco Ramirez and Doug Petrie told Collider a little bit about how these two new characters will impact this season…
“Because we knew, early on, that we had The Punisher and Elektra, we knew we didn’t want to repeat Season 1. It was Daredevil: Year One and Wilson Fisk: Year One. By the end of the season, he was a completely different person than he was at the beginning.”
“We knew we had 13 episodes [for season 2], so we wanted to find the coolest story we could do with these three characters and make the story feel really vibrant and alive in ways that are exciting to us. Most importantly, we wanted to make sure everything runs through Matt because it could easily become The Punisher story or the Elektra story that Matt cameos in, and not vice versa.”
“So, we built it like a Matt story, in terms of what we wanted to put him through, where we wanted to get him, by the end of the season, and what we wanted to have him learn about himself, and we used an Elektra and Frank story throughout, to get him there. We’re really proud of that and we really think it works.”
S All 13 episodes of Season 2 debuts on Friday, March 18 on Netflix.
The newest Season 2 trailer of Netflix original series Marvel’s Daredevil! Available on March 18
Just when Matt thinks he is bringing order back to the city, new forces are rising in Hell’s Kitchen. Now the Man Without Fear must take on a new adversary in Frank Castle and face an old flame – Elektra Natchios.
Bigger problems emerge when Frank Castle, a man looking for vengeance, is reborn as The Punisher, a man who takes justice into his own hands in Matt’s neighborhood. Meanwhile, Matt must balance his duty to his community as a lawyer and his dangerous life as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, facing a life-altering choice that forces him to truly understand what it means to be a hero.
Season two of “Daredevil” looks to outshine the surprising hit of the first. Recently, we heard the news of Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) taking on the role of Frank Castle, otherwise known as the Punisher . That alone will make for good television.
But it looks like the Netflix and Marvel teams decided on also introducing a character synonymous with the Man Without Fear… Elektra . It has been announced that Elodie Yung has won the role of the sai-wielding badass. The character is described by Marvel as, “a mysterious woman from Matt Murdock’s past whose dangerous and exotic ways may be more than he can handle.”
Don’t miss out on the Netflix-only exclusive show “Marvel’s Daredevil” which is Executive Produced by Doug Petrie (“American Horror Story,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), Marco Ramirez (“Marvel’s Daredevil,” “DaVinci’s Demons”) and Drew Goddard (“Cabin in the Woods,” “Lost”), along with Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.”)
Below is the first official poster for season 2 of Marvel’s Daredevil show only available on Netflix. Daredevil artwork is provided by Joe Quesada who also did the season 1 poster. Are you ready for the newest season of Daredevil? I sure as HELL am!!
The Mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions is already receiving a bit of a makeover thanks to the upcoming Ant-Man movie by Marvel. Kabam announced that the new film will be integrated into the game with the addition of the title character and the villain Yellowjacket.
The in-game storyline to explain the ingratiation of Scott Lang includes a tiny world called Battlerealm where tiny adaptoids are known to be carrying small amounts of ISO-8. Ant-Man is there to investigate.
This latest update has also brought us Elektra and War Machine. You can read the full press release below.
Take a quick sneak peek at Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman as she will also be included in the hit mobile game from Kabam!
MARVEL CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS UNVEILS NEW GAME UPDATE IN ANTICIPATION OF MARVEL’S ANT-MAN FEATURE FILM
Popular Mobile Game Crosses 40 Million Installs Since its December 2014 Debut
San Francisco – July 9, 2015 – Kabam, a world leader in developing AAA high quality mobile games, announced today the release of new game content for its global hit Marvel Contest of Champions, inspired by the highly anticipated Marvel’s Ant-Man film hitting theaters on July 17. The Marvel Contest of Champions Ant-Man update feature includes new summoner masteries, new alliance quest game modes, special in-game Ant-Man story quest, events and more. New characters including Ant-Man, Yellowjacket, Elektra, War Machine and more will make their debut in-game throughout the upcoming weeks.
“Kabam continues to update Marvel Contest of Champions to new and exciting places,” said Cuz Parry, Creative Director for Kabam’s Vancouver Studio. “The Ant-Man update was created for our loyal fans who love the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in anticipation of Marvel’s Ant-Man feature film coming later this month.”
As part of the update, Kabam has added a brand new Alliance feature called Alliance Quests, where Summoners can strategize and quest through an all-new map in real time with their Alliance.
In the Marvel Contest of Champions Ant-Man update, Ant-Man has discovered something odd happening in the ant-sized world of the Battlerealm. While he was ant-sized, Ant-Man notices a battalion of tiny Adaptoids carrying tiny fragments of ISO-8 to a mysterious location. Unravel the mystery of what’s going on in the Battlerealm in the brand new Ant-Man Event Quests.
More on the latest update for Marvel Contest of Champions:
Alliance Quests:
● Brand new game mode providing a new challenge for competitive alliances
● Alliance Quests will pit your alliance against a map of challenging champions and bosses
● Summoners will be able to play alongside their teammates on the quest-board synchronously completing objectives
● Alliance members work together to defeat the quest’s boss
● The first Alliance Quest will have and upgraded Ultron Prime as the main boss, urging Summoners to get Ant-Man to help defeat him
● Quests will be driven by Live Operations, with new challenges for Alliances coming out regularly
Event Quests:
● Expect to see a new Ant-Man quest every four to five days, expanding the storyline and introducing new content
● Ant-Man joins the contest, alerting the Summoner to shrunken Adaptoids mining ISO-8 in the Battlerealm
● Summoners progress through the quest to learn that Yellowjacket is heading up the mysterious Adaptoid worker army
Arenas:
● Summoners can complete on their own in the Player vs. Player Arenas or team up with their Alliance in the Alliance Arenas for both Ant-Man and Yellowjacket
● To participate in the Alliance Arenas, alliance members must acquire Pym Canisters through the event quests and redeem them to access the arenas.
Marvel Contest of Champions is the only arcade-style fighting mobile game that goes beyond the films and dives deep into the Marvel Universe. Heroes and villains from Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers, Thunderbolts, X-Men, Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy and more battle it out in iconic Marvel locations, in an epic storyline that stays true to classic Marvel storytelling. Marvel Contest of Champions was immediately named Editors’ Choice Award on the App Store following launch in December 2014.
With the release of Daredevil the Netflix original series from Marvel Studios, there is a flood of new fans who must know all there is to know about the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante. Thanks to Marvel digital comics here is a very easy inexpensive way to catch up in a real hurry with a plethora of Daredevil comic book greatness! But you better act fast, this sale is only going on until April 26th!
At the same time the Daredevil Netflix series debuted, Marvel digital comics simultaneously launched a spectacular collected editions DD comic book sale! Found using Marvel digital comics apps, Comixoligy comic book app or at Marvel Digital Comics Website you will quickly find the featured sale to begin buying your very own Daredevil comic collection. For those that use Marvel Unlimited this won’t matter much and if you don’t know what digital comics are all info can be found at any apps store or Marvel’s website.
The collected edition books available are some of the grandest Daredevil tales ever created. From the great Frank Miller who basically redefined DD into the heart and soul-broken character taken to the depths of a dark brutal life in Hell’s Kitchen’s for the tough-as-nails street fighting vigilante. Than we have the game changing storyline from the mind of Brian M. Bendis who took Matt Murdock and Kingpin to even darker paths of their legend as Bendis changed both rival foes forever.
For only $4.99 each collected series this is a STEAL in my opinion! I already own most of the comics AND the trade paperback editions of these series, but even I will not pass up buying most of these for my digital comic book collection. Here is a quick rundown of what to buy if you really want to catch up on some real classic dark Daredevil tales.
Daredevil Collected Editions Sales link
Daredevil: Born Again
Written by
Frank Miller
Art by
David Mazzucchelli
Cover by
David Mazzucchelli
Collects Daredevil #226-233.
“And I — I have shown him… that a man without hope is a man without fear.” The definitive Daredevil tale! Karen Page, Matt Murdock’s former lover, has traded away the Man Without Fear’s secret identity for a drug fix. Now, Daredevil must find strength as the Kingpin of Crime wastes no time taking him down as low as a human can get.
PopcultHQ Rating: 5 out of 5 Devil Horns – Born Again is NOT TO BE MISSED!! N’uff Said!!
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Vol. 1
Written by
Bill Mantlo
Roger McKenzie
David Michelinie
Frank Miller
Marv Wolfman
Art by
Klaus Janson
Frank Miller
Cover by
Frank Miller
Collects Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, and Daredevil #158-161 and #163-172.
Daredevil got a new lease on life in a landmark 1979-1983 run by writer-penciler Frank Miller and inker-penciler Klaus Janson, whose daring reinvention of the character quickly made Miller one of the biggest and most influential stars in the comic-book industry. Miller put his own stamp on established cast members such as reporter Ben Urich, femme fatale Black Widow, mad assassin Bullseye, the saw-fisted Gladiator, and monstrous crime boss Kingpin. Miller also introduced Daredevil’s mysterious mentor Stick, deadly ninja foes the Hand, and Matt’s long-lost love Elektra, a beautiful assassin who would become one of Marvel’s most memorable characters
PopcultHQ Rating: 5 out of 5 Devils Horns – Another grand collection of some great Daredevil comic book lore! If you want to know who Daredevil really is, this series is not to be missed!
Daredevil by Bendis and Maleev Ultimate Collection Vol. 1
Written by
Brian Michael Bendis
Art by
Alex Maleev
Collects Daredevil #16-19 & #26-40.
During a character-defining run, Brian Michael Bendis crafted a pulp-fiction narrative that exploited DD’s rich tapestry of characters and psychodrama, and resolved them in a nuanced, modern approach. Witness the Kingpin’s downfall and see how a down-on-his-luck FBI agent can change Matt’s life forever.
PopcultHQ Rating: 5 out of 5 Devils Horns – Brian M. Bendis takes Daredevil, Kingpin and all of Hells Kitchen on one of the most life changing events of everyone’s life. Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk will never be the same again.
Daredevil: Guardian Devil
Written by
Kevin Smith
Pencils
Joe Quesada
Collects Daredevil (1998) #1-8.
A scared teenager on the run. An infant child some say is humanity’s savior. A former lover whose life is now hobbled by a terrible secret. A law partner accused of a horrible crime. A city being overcome by an inscrutable menace. They need a guardian. Someone to protect them. Someone with faith in them. They need Daredevil.
PopcultHQ Rating: 4 out of 5 Devils Horns – Written by movie director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, Clerks 2) and drawn by Joe Quesada this is a great story to read and look at but does tend to get lost in the over writing and sometimes very long-winded dialog.
Daredevil By Mark Waid Vol. 1
Written by
Mark Waid
Art by
Marcos Martin
Paolo Rivera
Collects Daredevil #1-6.
Matt Murdock is back and hoping to resuscitate his law practice, he takes on a police-brutality case, but someone is trying to silence the victim. Then, Klaw, master of sound, makes his deadly return! And the blind literally lead the blind as a visually impaired client targeted for assassination holds the key to a global conspiracy.
PopcultHQ Rating: 3 out of 5 Devils Horns
Daredevil Vol. 1: Devil At Bay
Written by
Mark Waid
Art by
Peter Krause
Javier Rodriguez
Chris Samnee
Cover by
Chris Samnee
Collects Daredevil (2014) #0.1, 1-5.
Marvel’s fearless hero begins his most awe-inspiring adventure yet in sunny San Francisco! Daredevil has headed west, and now protects the Golden City’s streets from evil – both as a costumed hero and as blind lawyer Matt Murdock! But big changes are in store for Matt , as old haunts and familiar faces rise to give the devil his due. The Owl is back, and he isn’t working alone…but old enemies are small potatoes compared to Matt ‘s new “friend”: the would-be hero known as the Shroud! As one of DD’s oldest enemies is permanently redefined, deadlier than ever, Kirsten and Matt find themselves sharing a volatile secret. But who will crack first? Plus: what killed Foggy Nelson?
PopcultHQ Rating: 3 out of 5 Devils Horns
All synopsis and photos provided my Marvel.com
