Joseph Cardenas/Staff Writer
The second season of “Marvel’s Daredevil” saw the introduction of comic hero icons Elektra Natchios and Frank Castle’s “The Punisher” to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a hyped event for months since their appearances were first confirmed.
Now that “Daredevil” has passed and we know just how bad a female assassin and a vindictive vigilante can be, the question remains – where can the show go from here? From here on, there will be spoilers.
From where we left off, Frank Castle fully embraced his identity as the Punisher and leaves to continue his gorific vigilantism. He spent much of the season struggling with his mentality, silently questioning if he was insane. The best part of this is that he never truly verbally expresses this and greatly explored by Jon Bernthal’s performance.
What would be interesting to see is if Punisher would have a more recurring role in the series in the future. Based on what we were given this season, it could be likely as it isn’t stated where he went after the season finale. It’s also worth noting his possible chemistry with now investigative reporter Karen Page, acting as Matt Murdock’s blossoming love interest this season.
Where Elektra stands, now, her future in the series seems more paved. Elektra has a much more intimate comic book history with the devil of Hell’s Kitchen than Punisher does. Though she has a history of being killed (several times, I might add), the show’s approach was meant to mirror her first death to a degree.
The season saw Elektra being revealed as the secret weapon of the Hand – an ancient mythical organization working toward an unknown goal involving Hell’s Kitchen – called the Black Sky. This is a concept not expanded upon and not even mentioned in the comics. It is implied that Elektra has an almost insatiable sadism, despite her attempts to pursue a more civil form of battery Daredevil practices.
Still, Elektra died sacrificing herself for Matt, seemingly eliminating the Black Sky and creating a tragic hero out of her. That is until the season closed with the Hand taking her corpse, placing it an ominous stone coffin, unmistakably setting up Elektra’s eventual resurrection and return to the show.
Now we’ve gone through two of Daredevil’s most prevalent allies and it would be a shame to introduce such rich characters with now high stakes in the relationships made with the series regulars only to have them show for one season, especially Punisher; he’s supposed to be his own entity, separate from Daredevil and really only ever makes cameos and team-ups with various Marvel characters. Frank Castle would be an excellent addition to the series, especially as a consistent test on Matt’s spiritual journey throughout the series.
It was also a pleasant surprise to see Vincent D’Onofrio reprise his role as Kingpin Wilson Fisk, who we discover has invested money to ensure his comfort as the crime boss in charge of the prison he’s locked away in. It was also revealed that he is appealing for bail on payroll. It would be expected that if the next season doesn’t see Fisk become the central antagonist again, he’ll at least return to prominence by the end.
Aside from this what more could be explored? Possibly introduce Daredevil’s other arch rival, the crazed assassin and expert marksman Bullseye? Clearly he’s not done dealing with the Hand or its nemesis the Chaste, but perhaps Elektra’s resurrection will happen early and take up much more of the season’s arc. There’s still the matter of Matt admitting to Karen his super identity, as well as the confirmed move by Marvel to establish super street tea, The Defenders.
The Defenders are what the Avengers would be on a more local, urban level, with not as much advanced tech and alien powers. So far the only confirmed members of this Marvel and Netflix hybrid team are Daredevil, last November’s “Jessica Jones” supers Luke Cage – getting his own series this September – and the titular heroine, as well as American super ninja Iron Fist. Iron Fist has yet to be given his own Netflix series but he has been cast by Finn Jones of “Game of Thrones.”
“Daredevil” is out to binge now, but be prepared. Each episode is at minimum close to fifty-four minutes long, at most over an hour. Once you’re into the show, though, it’s difficult to get over the roller coaster of dark drama. Another word of warning, the first season was tame compared to exactly how violent and gory this one gets – thanks in part to a particularly ruthless vigilante. This is by far the deadliest the series has gone yet.
About Post Author
