As much as I adore the magical MCU storytelling of Agatha All Along, or the space-faring action of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, I’m exceedingly excited for the street-level “realism” of Daredevil: Born Again when it arrives to bludgeon the eyeball areas of everyone with Disney+ subscriptions. And it’s indeed such willingness to bludgeon and kneecap and gouge that makes the Man Without Fear’s return to streaming so glorious.
Daredevil’s three seasons on Netflix, combined with the two Punisher seasons, resulted in more wildly violent, bone-snapping, and blood-soaked scenes than the entirety of the MCU, more or less. Now Charlie Cox & Co. are officially bringing those dark and brutal vibes into Phase Five, and showrunner Dario Scardapane has boasted about the upcoming Marvel TV series in a most promising way that reflects on his past as a writer/producer on Jon Bernthal’s The Punisher. As he put it to Empire:
The level of violence is way up there for a Marvel/Disney show. I don’t think there’s anything else even in the ballpark. There’s a moment in this that is just absolutely batshit, and way past anything Netflix ever did.
To be sure, neither Daredevil nor The Punisher (nor any of the Defenders-related titles) were on par with Damien Leone's Terrifier 3 when it came to gallons of gore gushing from one orifice or another at any given moment. But Kingpin and Frank Castle killed off people in ways that hearkened back to the heyday of '80s and early '90s action movies, where no one's elbows were safe from being snapped over others' shoulders.
True to Scardapone's claims, the first official trailer for Daredevil: Born Again was a masterclass in balance between calm — Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock having a public, sunlit chat with Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk — and ferocious — a dude being thrown into the floor so awkwardly that his neck breaks.
But one thing seemingly missing from the aforementioned trailer seen below is a moment where we see Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle in full berserker mode. I can understand why something like that would be held back from audiences for as long as possible, considering this technically isn't his show. But I really, really, really hope that Frank is at the direct center of the "absolutely batshit" scene that the showrunner mentioned.
Not that I'd have any big problems if that hyper-violent moment stemmed from the live-action debut of Marvel villain Muse, who looks as if he'll unleash a world of trauma on New York City that's mutually exclusive from whatever ills Wilson Fisk is putting into place as a city official. I mean, I fully expect a few Kingpin moments where he puts someone's head through a pasta roller, but will he end up being the first season's most brutal character?
My money remains on Frank Castle and his bushy beard.
Daredevil: Born Again will unpack some of those violent tendencies when it premieres on Disney+ on March 4.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
