After a brief teaser was released earlier this week, True Believers were able to lay their eyes on the first trailer for Marvel Studios and Netflix’s ‘Daredevil.’ Debuting in April, the Man Without Fear will star in the first of five series on the popular streaming service featuring the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And though fans are surely still talking about their first glimpse at Matt Murdock and his corner of the world, showrunner Steven DeKnight revealed some new details in a recent interview.
While speaking to IGN following the impressive first trailer for ‘Daredevil,’ DeKnight addressed a number of key moments from the trailer and expanded on them further. For instance, he touches on Murdock’s religion, which has always been a part of the character:
“I think it’s vital to the character. Matt Murdock is, I think, one of the most if not the most religious characters in the Marvel Universe, with the heroes. His Catholicism is so much part of his being and part of his conflict, I think it would be incredibly disingenuous to attempt to do the show where that’s not a big part of it.”
Next, the issue of Daredevil’s costume comes up. Since everything we’ve seen so far has featured the black, burglar-esque attire, many have wondered if we’d even see the classic red suit that we’ve all come to know and love. Well, DeKnight doesn’t come right out and says that we will, but it sure sounds like we might:
“Really, the reason we start with this version — which is hugely influenced by Man Without Fear — is for two reasons. One, this really is the beginning, the formation of Matt Murdock a Daredevil. On the flip side, it’s the formation of Wilson Fisk becoming Kingpin. It’s very much a parallel arc. We didn’t want to start him in the [red] suit. We wanted the early days of him figuring out what he was doing and making mistakes and getting the crap beat out of him on a regular basis. His suit, which we call his vigilante outfit, in the beginning – we tried practically everything, design-wise. We experimented with a lot of different head pieces. One version was a ski mask with the eyes sewn shut. We tried everything until we found something that just felt right. And also, really going back to that Man Without Fear, I can’t say where his costume ends up, where it goes, but there is definitely an evolution.”
Speaking of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, the showrunner goes into what makes the character and the actor behind him so special:
“When we first meet him, he’s a very mysterious figure, as you can gather from the teaser. Absolutely, a lynchpin of Season 1. I think there’s a no better way to start of the series than a formative Matt Murdock coming up against a formative Wilson Fisk. We were so incredibly lucky to get Vincent D’Onofrio, who is not only a phenomenal actor and an amazing person to be around, so very generous as an actor and performer, but I don’t know if there’s another human being on the planet that embodies Wilson Fisk, physically, like in the comics. I think, honestly, he is as close as you’re going to get, unless you’re doing an animated series. We just marveled. We were like holy shit, it is Wilson Fisk come to life! Even in the teaser, when you just see him from behind, standing in front of that painting, you just get the feeling that it’s Wilson Fisk, the future Kingpin. Fisk plays a crucial role in Season 1, as the adversary of Matt Murdock. Also, on the flip side, Matt Murdock is the fly in Fisk’s ointment. What I love about this show is we’re able to explore some gray areas of who is really good, who is really bad, and which person is really better for the city in the long run.”
Finally, many will notice that ‘Daredevil’ is much darker than any other Marvel Studios project that we’ve seen before. DeKnight talks about why that is and how it should appeal to a new audience:
“I always loved in the comics that also this is a guy that has heightened sense but no super powers. This is a guy who’s pushing himself to the limit who can get hurt and can get killed… I’m hugely influenced by the Frank Miller runs that I grew up with, where he was constantly getting the crap kicked out of him. Again, obviously there’s a bit of a heightened sense of reality that he can do what he can do and not end up in the hospital every other day. But we also touch upon why that is. Really, it’s like Batman without the money. He is just determined. It’s sheer force of will that keeps him going when a normal man would fall over and a lot of that I think, also in the Matt Murdock mythos, comes from his father and being a boxer and that kind of thing, where you just don’t quit.”
Obviously, this isn’t Ben Affleck’s Man Without Fear. We’re in a whole new ball game here and by the sounds of things, DeKnight and company are swinging for the fences. What do you think about his comments on the upcoming series? Is there anything that you’re most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.
‘Daredevil’ starring Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D’Onofrio premieres on Netflix on April 10, 2015.
