- Fabulous acting. There’s not an actor in the bunch that I haven’t enjoyed, but Charlie Cox is a standout. Knowing him only from movies like Stardust and a brief appearance in Downton Abbey I was dubious when I heard the casting choice. I am eating every word of doubt because he’s stand out as Matt Murdock.
- Complex and compelling villains. From street level Russian thugs all the way up to Wilson Fisk himself, I couldn’t help but feel for them.
- Badass ladies. We have in Karen Paige and Claire Temple two ace leading ladies and a supporting cast featuring all sorts of sharp women on both sides. My favorite has to be the chilling Triad leader working with Fisk. She may be a little old lady with a cane, but watching her banter Fisk is delightful.
- Predominant characters of color. Not only is Fisk dealing with a refreshingly international crime syndicate, Claire Temple, a black nurse in the comics and Ben Urich, who gets an incredibly effective racebend, feature heavily in the main plot. Plus Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer is fabulous as Vanessa, Fisk’s romantic flame.
- Subtle connections to the wider MCU. I was worried it was going to be over the top, but if you miss a few ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ references to rebuilding after the battle of New York and jokes about billionaire superheroes, you could almost forget.
- Great action. It’s gritty and violent and very bloody, but it’s avoidance of high wire stunts in favor of focusing on Matt’s boxing and martial arts training is a great grounding in a universe often dealing with over-the-top superpowers and aliens.
- The writing is incredibly tight. With the exception of a couple of episodes in the middle that are a bit flashback heavy (one for Matt, one for Fisk), the pace hurtles along. Let’s just say I’m glad this show isn’t airing weekly because there are some doozies at the end of a few episodes.
- Levity among the seriousness. This is very much a gritty realism approach to Daredevil, but with his character it’s really effective. The show allows for lighter moments, especially between Foggy and Matt and it cuts through a lot of the oppressiveness without feeling heavy handed.
- The cinematography is stunning. The combat is great, the atmosphere is great, and it’s really just arresting to look at.
- It is an effective homage to some of the best Daredevil writing while requiring no previous knowledge from it’s viewers. It so obvious to me as a long-time Daredevil fan that the creators and cast, but it also does a very good job of not being super referential. Sometimes adaptations rely far too heavily on knowing the source material, but this is not guilty of it. It’s exciting to think that such a good show is going to be many people’s first exposure to one of my favorite heroes.
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