In Season 3 of “Marvel’s Daredevil,” we find the Hell’s Kitchen hero both physically and mentally broken, completely questioning his faith in, well, everything.
“What was really fun for me, was to play a superhero who suddenly is questioning everything that he is and everything that he’s done,” star Charlie Cox told TheWrap in an interview ahead of Season 3’s release on Netflix.
“Suddenly he becomes a man who’s very angry, and very unhinged, and therefore very dangerous,” Cox added. Season 3 picks up right where “The Defenders” left off, and fans will remember that Matt was crushed underneath Midland Circle when it collapsed, and assumed dead.
“To have a superhero who, in the past, has always kind of managed to pick himself up and put one foot in front of the other and ultimately do the right thing, we’re now presented with a man who’s capable of doing the wrong thing,” Cox continued. “And it almost feels like at times that he [is starting] to question whether he is a hero, or whether he himself is also a villain. I think he’s very loose and he’s capable of anything in those early episodes.”
New showrunner Erik Oleson took Matt’s “literal breaking” and added a mental and spiritual element to the physical, Cox said — which is right in line with what Oleson told TheWrap was the guiding principle for the entire season.
“On the writers room wall we posted the notion that ‘We can only be free if we confront our fears because our fears are what enslave us,'” Oleson said. “What every character is grappling with all season long is a fear.”
For Murdock, his fear is that nothing he did as The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen mattered. He believed that the heightened senses he gained as a result of the accident that blinded him were God’s way of telling him he had to use those abilities to make Hell’s Kitchen a better place. But at the beginning of Season 3, Murdock is embracing his inner demons, throwing away any notion he could have a normal life and also be The Devil.
“We talked a lot about how broken [Matt] was, from a mental standpoint and from a spiritual standpoint,” Cox said. “We talked about that and then we ran with it. So we find a man who’s kind of so broken, and so spiritually bankrupt and mentally, and confused about who he is and what he’s done… questioning everything and what that does to him, someone who has a religious background, is it makes him start to question the nature of God.”
Oleson added he wanted viewers to really feel what Murdock was going through this season. “I employed a host of tools to make the season experiential, as opposed to just telling the story from the outside,” he said. A physical representation of Matt’s questioning in Season 3 is in his choice of dress while Daredevil — or, The Devil. Instead of his red suit, he goes back to the black, homemade outfit he wore in Season 1.
“The main reason is that it was broken, you know, it was like ruined by the collapse of Midland Circle, but why he doesn’t go and get another one made was a really fascinating kind of character trait,” Cox said. “You know, what is it about Matt, what has changed in him that he doesn’t feel like he wants the suit anymore, or doesn’t feel like he deserves it?”
Cox said he enjoys exploring the narrative behind why Matt chooses or doesn’t choose to wear a superhero costume. Plus, it’s just plain more comfortable: “On a practical level, it’s a lot more comfy, it’s a lot more easy to put on, so I was thrilled for those reasons,” he said.
“And obviously, it’s no secret from the trailer now, that the benefit of having Matt in the old costume is that it allows someone else to kind of imitate him,” he added, hinting at the arrival of the iconic “Daredevil” adversary Bullseye.
Oleson credits Marvel TV for allowing him to take Murdock so deep into the depths of his own darkness.
“Marvel gave me a terrific amount of creative freedom and support,” he said. “I would go to them with ideas that I for sure thought that they were going to say ‘No Way Jose,’ but instead they turned around and said ‘Go for it.'” (This included an 11 and ½ minute prison breakout scene, which TheWrap will have more on later).
'The Defenders': Here's What We Learned, and Questions We Still Have
"The Defenders" answered a lot of questions about the evil organization known as "The Hand," we got some background on various supporting characters, and overall learned more about the world of the Marvel street heroes.
Scroll through for what we learned and questions we have that still need to be answered.
Spoilers ahead!
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Misty Knight's backstory
Misty Knight, the NYPD detective, is on her way to becoming a superhero herself in "The Defenders." In the finale, Misty follows the superheroes to Midland Circle, where they are trying to bring down The Hand. In saving Claire Temple, she gets her arm cut off--a moment readers of the comics will recognize as significant. In the comics, she goes on to get a bionic arm from--drum roll--Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. She also develops a closer relationship to Colleen Wing, who she eventually teams up with to form the Daughters of the Dragon.
The Hand isn't new, but in "The Defenders" we get some clarity on who exactly is in charge of the ancient organization. As Stick explains to the four Defenders, the leaders of The Hand are known as the "five fingers:" Alexandra, Madame Gao, Bakuto, Sowande and Murakami. The Hand is using Elektra--who they turned into the Black Sky--as a weapon in their mission to return to K'un L'un.
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Setting up Daredevil Season 3
Learning to accept help and work with the other three Defenders is a big step forward in Matt Murdoch's character. "From an emotional point of view, it’s a big deal for him,” said Charlie Cox, who plays Matt/Daredevil. “I think it’s a big step in the right direction and I hope that going forward he will carry that with him, he will have learned that lesson, and he won’t go back to the stubborn, lone-wolf kind of Daredevil that we’ve seen in the past.”
Additionally, the finale leads us to think Matt dies in the big battle under Midland Circle, but we see that he survived and was taken in by a convent. Undoubtedly we'll have to see that aftermath in the next season of "Daredevil."
Madame Gao has been a mysterious villain in several of the Marvel Netflix shows. She has a knack for appearing and disappearing at all the right moments--when it's beneficial to her.
At the end of "The Defenders," she and Murakami battle with the Defenders underneath Midland Circle, but she slinks away while Murakami continues, just before he falls to his inevitable death. As he dies, he asks her what is going on, to which she simply replies, "The end."
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? The end of the Hand, the end of New York, the end of The Defenders? Does she make it out alive, or did she mean she was ending, too?
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Wait, is K'un Lun destroyed or not?
When Elektra captures Danny and brings him to Alexandra, it becomes pretty clear that the Hand--who were cast out of the mystical city--want to return. Danny tells Alexandra that she can't return, Ku'n Lun is destroyed--he saw it with his own eyes--she tells him that he only saw what he wanted to see.
If Danny only thought he saw K'un Lun get destroyed, that could cast doubt on a lot of his character's identity. Does this mean that Danny will ever return there? Does he still have to protect the city? Is it possible the Hand will ever return without Danny, or do they really need him in order to do so?
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What is Frank Castle doing during "The Defenders?"
In the street-hero world of the MCU, there was one Hell's Kitchen fighter missing from "The Defenders:" Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. Netflix dropped the new trailer for the upcoming first season of "The Punisher" just after the "Defenders" debut. Is this a hint that Frank's story will be kept separate from "The Defenders?" That seems unlikely, as Frank is a central character in "Daredevil" Season 2. So where was Frank while the Defenders were fighting The Hand?
Netflix
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So, we’re ready for the next season of ”Daredevil“ on Netflix
"The Defenders" answered a lot of questions about the evil organization known as "The Hand," we got some background on various supporting characters, and overall learned more about the world of the Marvel street heroes.
Scroll through for what we learned and questions we have that still need to be answered.