New DAREDEVIL Series Details - Bullseye, The Kingpin, and MCU Connection
If you're a Marvel fan hankering for some new details on the Daredevil Netflix series, we've got some for you! The following information comes from an Entertainment Weekly interview with Marvel’s TV head Jeph Loeb, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, and series star Charlie Cox. Some of the things discussed in the interview include Daredevil, Bullseye, The Kingpin, the show's connection with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more.
When talking about the setting of Daredevil, Loeb offered up the following info:
“Within the Marvel universe there are thousands of heroes of all shapes and sizes, but The Avengers are here to save the universe and Daredevil is here to save the neighborhood. It’s a very unique look at Hell’s Kitchen in New York, where Matt Murdoch grew up and continues to defend it from people who would harm the people that live there.”
As for the vibe of the show, its going to feel more like a crime thriller and not a superhero story. There won't be any superheroes flying through the sky in this show. DeKnight says,
“We really wanted to take our cue from [films like] The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, and make it very, very grounded, very gritty, very real. We always say we would rather lean toward The Wire than what’s considered a classic superhero television show.”
This is one of the main reasons why I think that I'm going to love this show. The fact that it's patterned after these amazing productions is very promising. It does take place in the MCU though! Loeb adds,
“It does take place in the Marvel cinematic universe. It’s all connected. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we would look up in the sky and see [Iron Man]. It’s just a different part of New York that we have not yet seen in the Marvel movies.”
When talking about Daredevil in general, it's explained that he's not "the man without fear" in this first season. Cox had this to say:
“Someone who does not have fear — literally does not experience fear — is not that interesting. The way I like to think about it is that he is a man with fear, but he on a daily basis decides to confront that fear and to overcome it. So the title of ‘the man without fear’ is almost a title that the public in his world gives him just because of what he does. But inside himself, he’s very afraid at times. And he finds a way to confront those fears and punch through it.”
I really like that outlook on the character. It does make him more interesting. You'll also be happy to hear that the series is going to be more gritty and edgy than some of the other Marvel projects we've seen. DeKnight offers up the following comment on that:
“When I came onto this there was no way I wanted to make this hard-R or NC-17. I don’t think the material warrants that. It is a little grittier and edgier than Marvel has gone before, but we’re not looking to push it to extreme graphic violence, gratuitous nudity or anything like that. The story does not require that and I think would suffer if you pushed it that far.”
When it comes to The Kingpin, a.k.a. Wilson Fisk, this first season will give us the rise of a hero as well as a villain. DeKnight says,
“Fisk has very many different aspects so it’s not all, ‘I want to conquer the city and make a lot of money.’ In our story, we tell the story of how he met his wife Vanessa and how they fell in love — our antagonist actually has a love story. That’s the love story you’re following, the one you’re invested in, and seeing how that affects him and changes him. I think Vincent just brings such depth to it, his performance is just astounding.”
Then of course there's there's the classic Daredevil villain Bullseye. He won't be included in the first season, but he could eventually pop up somewhere down the road. In regards to the character, DeKnight says:
“I wouldn’t say there’s no plans to include the character in the series. It’s not not to say he wouldn’t be in the series at some point. But I think if you try to jam in too many characters, it just becomes a mess. And [Bullseye’s] story was told in the last iteration of Daredevil that anybody saw. My feeling was, ‘Why repeat it?’ And honestly, if you’re looking for a juicy, multi-faceted crime drama, Wilson Fisk was the obvious choice to play the antagonist. Bullseye is a little more cut and dry. Not to say you couldn’t make him fantastic over 13 hours, but Fisk really felt like the right yin to the yang for Matt, and for what we wanted to do this season.”
So far I'm completely on board with the direction Marvel is taking this series, and I'm looking forward to the day we get to see our first footage from the show. The full series will be released on Netflix in May of 2015. What are your thoughts on what was said about the show in this interview?