With the new season of Marvel’s “Daredevil” upon us, we’re taking a quick look at the final trailer to see what more can be pulled from the footage we’ve seen so far. Overall, the amount of footage indicates that the showrunners are looking to really broaden the scope of the story being told through Matt Murdock. Not only have we see that Punisher and Elektra are only part of the problems plaguing Daredevil, but the Hand, a group of ninja warriors that have quite an impressive group of individuals on their team. More on that later, but first let’s go through some of the cool images that we pulled from the trailer.
Just in case you haven’t seen it, here’s the trailer that released earlier this week.
Expect more close combat environments
From the jump, the trailer does a great job at showing off some impressive visuals. The sight of Daredevil dropping through a manhole is pretty cool and offers a unique set piece that seems like it will play into his powerset. Later in the trailer there are some quick cuts of Murdock jumping away from swords and fighters in confined areas, and if the sewers play a big role in the season we can guarantee there will be some incredible visuals for those fights. One thing to keep an eye on is the potential for the Hand to become too similar to the League of Shadows from Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. The concept is already close enough, and the addition of the sewers feels very similar to Bane’s hideout in “Dark Knight Rises.” It’s something to watch for moving forward.
This season is going to be bloodier than last
Without a doubt “Jessica Jones” found ways to amp up the dark and bloody violence from the first season of “Daredevil.” It was shocking a surprising, especially some of the acts of violence were more in line with “Hannibal” than Marvel TV. When “The Punisher” was added on to the show, there was little doubt that the already violent “Daredevil” would definitely get more intense than its first season. The image of Frank Castle walking out of the fog and covered in blood only reinforces that. I can’t image the show will be much more violent than “Jessica Jones,” but I do expect it to showcase the violence in unique ways. This is not going to be standard Marvel violence, so be ready as the show begins.
The Hand is coming for Matt
It seems as thought Matt is going to have his hands full with the Hand coming to Hell’s Kitchen along with the Punisher and Elektra. The arrival of Elektra could coincide with the Hand in some way, as Elektra has been their leader on several occasions. I think its more likely that the two will begin on separate missions before converging at some point during the season. There are also links between the Hand and Stick, who has found his way back to town.
Another thing that could be in play is a misdirect from Elektra. Anyone who has read the Elektra based comics knows that she will use deception to get what she wants in many circumstances, and perhaps the individual who is deceived the most is none other than Matt Murdock. Her costume is not too different than the Hand’s, and with their penchant for magic and borderline sorcery, her personal life may be rife for exploitation. Even a simple promise to bring back her father from the dead, something the Hand has done with other characters in the past (including Elektra) sets up the possibility that they could entice her to join her side.
Stick will play a larger role this season
Like the Hand, Stick is back under slightly mysterious circumstances. It seems like he’s in town to stop the Hand, but Stick usually has more motives at play. It’ll be interesting to see if Stick is going to use Matt to fulfill this deed, or if he wants to build a stronger force to fight back against the Hand. That could potentially involve other heroes for the future (fingers crossed we see an Iron Fist premiere), but I think even Stick would acknowledge that Matt’s talents can only help him go so far. Considering his extremely limited screentime last season, anything would be more this time around, but with multiple trailers focusing on this mysterious organization, it seems like the Hand might be even more important to this story than even the Punisher.
Matt and Elektra, or Matt and Karen?
Well, surprise surprise, Matt Murdock’s caught in a love triangle. It’s not entirely unexpected with the introduction of Elektra, and there are definitely parts of the trailer that are NSFW. However, the trailer also builds the potential for Karen and Matt to have a relationship at some point. Both of the women have dated Murdock in the comics, and with the series adding so many new characters, they’re clearly planting seeds for the long haul. If “Daredevil” does turn into a once a year show, I anticipate that they’ll put off the Karen romance until next season, and focus instead on the greatly internal problems that will arise for Matt from a relationship with Elektra. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out, but for now I’m guessing that Matt and Karen will not be together much, if at all, in this season.
Foggy still the MVP?
One of the extremely underrated performances of last season was that of Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson. Henson was excellent last season as Matt’s BFF, but more importantly he was able to humanize the struggle that having a best friend super hero would create. While there are other characters who have dealt with these issues on film, almost all of them became superpowered at some point (Rhodey & Bucky). On the other hand, Nelson never becomes a super hero, yet remains an integral character in the Earth 616 Universe. It’ll be interesting to see how much Henson is utilized in Season 2, and while he’s giving his performance 110% of what you would expect out of the character, he’s likely to be buried by the hype surrounding the emergence of the Punisher and Elektra.
Could it potentially pull an Iron Man 2?
It’s something to consider here. I can’t wait for this season because of all the characters it will introduce, but at the same time it’s a lot to bring in for a singular story. Still, with 13 episodes to tell the story, there should be enough time, but I’m starting to wonder if this season is more for setting up the future of the Marvel Netflix Universe, as opposed to telling its own story to advance Matt Murdock’s story. Hopefully my reservations are unfounded, but it’s something to be cautious about. That said, I’m extremely excited for Season 2, and will try to review the first few episodes by tomorrow afternoon. Keep an eye out for more “Daredevil” news as the show releases.
Marvel’s “Daredevil” Season 2 debuts on March 18th, 2016. It stars Charlie Cox, Jon Bernthal, Elodie Yung, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Stephen Rider.