Saturday night at New York Comic-Con saw the premiere of the very first footage from Netflix and Marvel's forthcoming "Daredevil" series, along with a panel featuring all of the show's stars and key producers. The series marks the first in five such endeavors for the studio, which is obviously in the process of dominating TV screens in addition to big screens.
Not long after the panel wrapped up, Marvel debuted the first images of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, plus a cool concept poster by the legendary Joe Quesada. You can see them below.
The panel was moderated by Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel television and "Daredevil" producer. On the panel were showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Vondie Curtis-Hall (Ben Yurich), Bob Gunton (Leland Owlsley), Elden Hensen ("Foggy" Nelson), Ayelet Zurer (Vanessa Marianna) and Tobey Leonard Moore (Wesley).
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Here are a few notable quotes and observations from the panel, followed by some footage description:
– First of all, Loeb wanted to clear up some confusion: Neither Jessica Jones or Luke Cage – the lead characters in two future Netflix/Marvel shows – have been cast; all internet rumors regarding those two roles are false.
– Rosario Dawson, who could not attend the panel, will be playing a character named Claire Temple. A "nurse who works at night." This would seem to indicated she's playing famed Marvel character "Night Nurse," but no one went as far as saying that.
– The show's cinematographer also shot two episodes of the "Fargo" TV series.
– Two years ago, Marvel chief Joe Quesada called Loeb and said he found Matt Murdock: Charlie Cox. Turns out, he was right, as Cox ultimately did end up playing the character.
– Jeph and Steven met when they were both writers on “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.” They were apparently talking about making “Daredevil” into a live-action project even then.
– Steven referenced the Frank Miller "Man Without Fear" run of "Daredevil" comics as a big inspiration. “Gritty, realistic," he said of the show. Meanwhile, Charlie Cox name-dropped the Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev run.
– Vincent D’Onofrio on Wilson Fisk: “He’s a child, and he’s a monster.” “Every move he makes comes from his foundation of morality inside himself.” It’s the origin of Wilson, and you get to see how he becomes this iconic character. He said they’re playing it “real and emotional.”
– Intriguingly, both Loeb and DeKnight talked about how morally gray the storyline is; Matt often crosses the line in drastic ways. “He’s one bad day from becoming Frank Castle,” DeKnight said. Sometimes you’ll be wondering if you should be rooting for him at all. In fact, sometimes we’ll find ourselves rooting for Wilson, according to the producers. With Wilson, when you hear why he’s doing what he’s doing, you’ll say to yourself, “That’s not a bad idea.” They explore the ambiguity of who the hero and who the villain is.
– Deborah Ann Woll left the set of "True Blood” at 4am in the morning, went directly to New York and began shooting. “Karen is trouble,” Woll says about the character. She said jumping right into this show made the pain of leaving "True Blood" behind much more bearable.
– Cox said it’s difficult playing Matt/Daredevil. He has to play blind, he has to be very physical, etc.
– Cox also referred to “Daredevil” as "a 13-hour movie." They were able to get away with a much darker tone because it's on Netflix as opposed to a network.
– An audience member asked Loeb if there will there be a crossover between “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Daredevil” – Loeb says “it’s all connected, man,” to loud applause, but he didn't exactly confirm any kind of crossover.
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We were treated to four brief clips from the show, which does indeed look "real" and "gritty."
– First clip: Karen enters her gloomy apartment, which has seemingly been broken into. After she walks around in the dark a bit, an intruder attacks her, knocking her out cold and grabbing a knife. Suddenly, Daredevil shows up at the front door – not in costume yet, he has a black bandana around the top half of his face, "Man Without Fear" style. After some fighting, they both fall out of the window, onto the sidewalk. Murdock looks out of the count. He then has a flashback of a conversation he had with his father when he was a child. This motivates him to rise and finish off the attacker, who he beats up with no problem in the pouring rain. A lot of cool slow-mo used here; it looked very stylish and cinematic.
– Second clip: Murdock wakes up on Rosario Dawson’s couch after being unconscious. She apparently found him in a dumpster outside of her building. She diagnoses him, but he doesn’t tell her his name or how he got injured. She reveals she's a night nurse.
– Third clip: Wilson meets Vanessa – his future girlfriend – in an art gallery. She asks him how the painting he is looking at – which is just a giant white canvas – makes him feel. He says it makes him feel alone. She obviously is drawn to the clearly disturbed man.
– Fourth clip: Karen has dinner with Matt and Foggy. She thanks them for “getting her out of that cell.” She offers to work for them for free, and they hire her on the spot. Some sexual tension between her and Matt, while Foggy provides a few humorous lines.
Overall the show appears to be quite promising. The clips were a little too brief to get a real good feel for them, but the fight scene clicked pretty well. (And no, we never got a look at the classic costume.) Everyone said the right things about the show – it's dark and real – and the cast is a colorful one. We'll see if it actually holds up to the promise when it premieres next year.
