Daredevil
As a young boy living in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood of New York, Matt Murdock was injured trying to save a blind man from oncoming traffic. A radioactive substance fell off the vehicle, causing Matt to ironically become blind himself. However, Matt soon found that his remaining senses were heightened to a superhuman state. Shortly after the accident, Matt’s father, a boxer trying to contribute to Matt’s college funding, was killed when he refused to throw a fight. Matt, with his newly augmented sense of perception, vowed revenge and became the masked vigilante Daredevil.
The man without fear has had substantial influence of the Marvel universe, remaining one of their biggest names to date. Daredevil debuted in the self titled Daredevil #1.The debut propelled the character into a series lasting over 30 years. Daredevil has since appeared in an array of media including a feature length film and various animated series.
Daredevil’s principles ride heavily on his upbringing; living in Hell’s Kitchen for the majority of his life has seen the Guardian Devil familiarise himself with a profound sense of justice. Approaching the unjust as an attorney as well as a vigilante makes for interestingly dynamic individual; his double life creates an influx of dramatic circumstance and emotion. Tragedy has surrounded the hero in a constant wave of anguish from his debut; he was raised alone by his loving but somewhat dysfunctional father who was murdered. And although the character has been subject to change over the years, it is the emotional integrity of the character which makes his original swashbuckling incarnation display itself in small bursts, even with his darker more recent adaptations. I find it likely that Netflix will choose to stay true to Frank Miller’s adaptation of Daredevil, where he is an anti-hero of sorts and protruding themes of guilt and sacrifice are most common.
Which of the four characters are you looking forward to seeing most? Do you think they’ll work well together as the Defenders? Sound off below or send us your thoughts on Twitter!
