Marvel's new Daredevil show breaks format by being actually good
New Marvel TV show Daredevil: Born Again is the surprising must-watch of the week.
Comic book fans are used to comic series they read being cancelled and relaunched with a new first issue. This usually comes with a new creative team writing/drawing the books, along with a new direction for the character. That’s exactly what is taking place in this TV show, which also makes it the first Marvel screen property to get a reboot mid-MCU continuity.
The show originated on Netflix with Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio as the titular hero and his nemesis, Wilson Fisk. Steven S. DeKnight was the showrunner (replacing Drew Goddard who left the show during development). The show was exceptionally dark and gritty - quite the departure from the louder, brighter, flashier Marvel TV shows and it developed a passionate fan base.
The real gimmick of the show was the violent action scenes which depicted Daredevil in fight scenes that resembled what an actual human being would look like when fighting henchman after henchman. They were violent as heck, but showed a man getting worn down and struggling to keep on going. The signature scene of the series was this hallway fight scene:
Great stuff.
This new version of the show, streaming now on Disney+, brings back Cox and D’Onofrio, but jettisons key original cast members (who get their send-off early in the new show). If you didn’t see the first version of the show (or the recently connected Disney+ show Echo, which barely anyone saw anyway), the show gives you more than enough information to let you brush those elements aside and jump into this relaunched show. An all new #1.
Episode one opens with an elaborately staged set piece that is a deliberate homage to that hallway fight scene - only bigger and more violent.
Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (they establish the look of the show in the first episode and return for the finale) bring to the show that same street level intensity, but infuse it all with a heightened comic book realism. This looks and feels different to the original Marvel-Netflix show, while certainly looking distinctive from the Marvel TV and big screen properties.
I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but I’m really into it.
I haven’t actually seen any of the other new releases this week. I was busy being disappointed by Bong Joon-ho’s new film Mickey 17 (it’s really muddled, loses a main character halfway into the film, doesn’t commit to what should be the most talked about sequence in the film - a threesome involving two clones, and is saddled with other-worldly creatures that never stop looking/feeling like puppets and/or CGI depending on the scene). I also found my way into seeing a sneak screening of a new Nicholas Cage film made for Australian streamer Stan that debuts in a few months time - The Surfer. Put this one onto your radar. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it is really memorable and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
Compelling viewing here in Australia the past 24 hours has been the cyclone coverage of the weather event in Queensland and Northern NSW. It makes landfall today and it is wet and wild up there right now. ABC News 24’s coverage has been pretty good (I’ve also found the Channel Nine coverage pretty good yesterday). I believe the ABC News YouTube stream is open to international viewers (correct me if I am wrong on that) and there are webcams on the ABC site that can be seen as well.
The first things I am hitting play on this weekend is Delicious on Netflix - a film about a German family who hire an au pair and everything goes south. Boy, do I love a good au pair gone wild story. Also Netflix’s The Leopard is reportedly also well worth watching.
Returning TV
Jellystone (s03), Beauty In Black (s01-B), Power Book III: Raising Kanan (s04)
New TV
Daredevil: Born Again - Disney+
Stars: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Michael Gandolfini
Matt Murdock finds himself on a collision course with Wilson Fisk when their past identities begin to emerge.
Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue - MGM+ (US) | Stan (AUS)
Stars: Eric McCormack, David Ajala
Nine strangers find themselves lost in a remote Mexican jungle after their small plane crashes; the plot thickens as members are murdered one by one and the remaining survivors must solve the mystery.
Fear - Prime Video
Stars: Martin Compston, Anjli Mohindra, Solly McLeod, James Cosmo
Couple Martyn and Rebecca relocate with kids from London to Glasgow. Neighbour Jan's unsettling remarks hint at a sinister situation unfolding around their new home.
The Leopard - Netflix
Stars: Kim Rossi Stuart, Benedetta Porcaroli, Deva Cassel, Saul Nanni
Amid the unification of 1860s Italy, a Sicilian prince grapples with the collision between his family's ancient privilege and revolutionary change.
When Life Gives You Tangerines - Netflix
Stars: IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon
In Jeju, a spirited girl and a steadfast boy's island story blossoms into a lifelong tale of setbacks and triumphs — proving love endures across time.
Deli Boys - Hulu
Stars: Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh
When their convenience store-magnate father suddenly dies, a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba's secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story - ITV1
Stars: Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones
Ruth Ellis's hidden story exposes British obsessions with class, sex, and death; in 1955 London's club-land, Ruth, 28, becomes the capital's youngest club manager; her success unravels due to an abusive relationship with racing driver David Blakely.
When No One Sees Us - Max
Stars: Mariela Garriga, Maribel VerdĂº
Set in MorĂ³n de la Frontera, follows LucĂa Gutierrez, a sergeant in the Spanish Civil Guard who investigates weird incidents at the first Holy Week float processions as well as the inexplicable suicide of a neighbor there.
Towards Zero - BBC One (UK)
Stars: Anjelica Huston, Mathew Rhys
A failed suicide, a false theft charge, and a tennis star's love life surprisingly connect, culminating in the revelation of a murder plot.
Lil Kev - BET+
Stars: Kevin Hart, Wanda Sykes
In 1993, North Philadelphia, 12-year-old Kevin Hart's vivid imagination and boundless optimism clash hilariously with the gritty realities of his neighborhood.
New Movies
Delicious - Netflix
Stars: Valerie Pachner, Fahri Yardim
The film follows a wealthy German family who hires a young woman as a domestic helper during their summer vacation in Provence, after which the entire family's life gradually changes, with dramatic consequences.
Picture This - Prime Video
Stars: Simone Ashley, Hero Fiennes Tiffin
Struggling photographer Pia is told she'll find true love and career success within the next five dates she goes on. With her sister's wedding looming and her family playing matchmaker, her ex soon reappears, throwing her life into chaos.
Plankton: The Movie - Netflix
Stars: Tom Kenny
Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand and decides to destroy the world without him.
Nadaaniyan - Netflix
Stars: Ibrahim Ali Khan, Khushi Kapoor
When a misunderstanding turns her friends against her, lovable rich girl Pia hires Arjun, a career-focused new student, to pretend to be her boyfriend.
That’s the TV listings newsletter for this week.
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