Over at Macmillan's Criminal Element, I begin recapping Daredevil season one. Here's the beginning:
Daredevil is the new gold standard in superhero television shows. Hell, it's even better than some of the bloated big-screen films (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Fantastic Four reboot) that are beginning to water down the Marvel universe.
Here’s the reason for its achievement: old fashion character development. Show creator Drew Goddard wisely knows that all that running around and punching amounts to nothing if we don’t care about the person behind the mask.So, through well-inserted flashbacks, we learn of Matthew “Matt” Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) early accident that led to his blindness, burgeoning mutant powers, and his relationship with his father who was a boxer in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s just enough to not bog down the show for old fans like me (because superhero origin fatigue is a real thing) and just the right amount for new recruits to introduce the man with no fear.