Daredevil season two review

Most people (myself included) thoroughly enjoyed the first season of Daredevil. It wasn't perfect by any means, hampered by an increasingly meandering story as it went on and a finale that dropped the ball in a multitude of ways, but as an introduction to this new part of the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe? It did a good job of setting the tone for the rest of the Netflix shows, something followed up by and capitalised on by the significantly better Jessica Jones.

Although the second season of Daredevil fails to reach the heights set by Jessica Jones, it's still an improvement over the first season in nearly every way - primarily thanks to the way that show-runners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez seem to have listened to and acted on criticisms of the first season. The most obvious strength that the second season has over the first is also the most simple - the second season of Daredevil has enough going on to actually justify it's length.

There are two fairly distinct stories at play in the second season of Daredevil. The first sees the introduction of fan-favourite character Frank Castle (also known as The Punisher) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a murderous vigilante who is terrorising Hell's Kitchen as he seeks revenge for the death of his family at the hands of criminals. The other sees Matt reunite with Elektra Natchios, an old girlfriend from Matt's time in college who is significantly more dangerous than she may appear at first glance.

Daredevil season one review

If The Dark Knight can be held responsible for anything, it's the sudden pop culture obsession with "grit" as short hand for maturity. Audiences have an in built belief that the more serious something is, the more worthy it must be, which after the success of The Dark Knight has resulted in multiple films and TV shows desperately reaching for grit as an easy way to fool audiences into thinking that their property is intelligent and important. Take Man of Steel, for example - the joyless tone and aesthetic combined with the faux-philosophical dialogue could easily trick you into thinking that it has something important to say, but ultimately Man of Steel is about as deep and meaningful as an episode of Britains Got Talent.

So when Marvel Studios announced that Daredevil would be "gritty", I was worried. Up until now, Marvel Studios had made a name for themselves by proving time after time that a film can be great in every way without relying on a particular aesthetic, and that family friendly doesn't have to mean childish.

After watching Daredevil, it's safe to say that my fears have been put to rest. Yes, Daredevil is significantly "grittier" than anything Marvel Studios has produced before now, but it is also one of the most well written comic book related pieces of entertainment that I've ever seen, one that certainly isn't using its aesthetic to mask (pun intended) deficiencies in other areas.