Marvel Netflix: Ranking all seasons of Marvel’s Netflix dramas

Photo Credit: The Netflix Original Series “Marvel’s Daredevil”

Photo: Barry Wetcher

© 2014 Netflix, Inc. All rights reserved. Image Acquired from Netflix Media Center

1. Daredevil Season 1

The first Marvel Netflix season set a bar so high that it has yet to be surpassed. Daredevil pushed the envelope of superhero television by infusing comic book concepts with hard boiled street level crime drama.

The second episode revolved around a kidnapping and Matt Murdock aimed to get the boy back to safety. This led him to a floor in an apartment building where he fought the kidnappers hand to hand. The long take was so gritty, violent, and realistic. It was the best hallway fight scene since Park Chan-wook’s shocking Korean flick Oldboy. By the end of the first couple of chapters, fans knew that this show was the real deal.

The season didn’t have another fight to top the one in “Cut Man”, however a regal villain emerged in following episodes. Vincent D’Onofrio was excellent as Kingpin, bringing a genuine crime-boss threat that could not have matched the mood of Daredevil any better. He had a dominant presence that made Matt seem legitimately outmatched. D’Onofrio also exposed Kingpin’s sentimental side to maximum effect as well as conveying his subtle insecurities; the result of an abusive father.

Premier quality filled every episode of Season 1. The man without fear encountered multiple branches of the Manhattan crime syndicate, pitting him against an assortment of villains with different “specialties” for him to overcome. He also reunited with his mentor – a complicated partnership where Matt’s humane heroism contradicted Stick’s brutal tactics.

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Primarily through the character of Ben Urich, the first Season illustrated the important role that media and investigative reporting can play in representing one’s image and swaying public opinion. Karen Page gravitated toward this profession and was just one of several characters to have comprehensive arcs in the show. Page went from frightened victim to woman of action but hit many bumps in the road as she lost a few friends along the way.

Daredevil Season 1 is the most accomplished of all precisely because every one of these multi-faceted components were synchronized flawlessly. Most of all, this first season presented a superb adaptation of both the blind fearless superhero and his remarkably complex nemesis.