Netflix’s Daredevil Returns For Season 2

Less than a year after season 1, Netflix’s Daredevil has returned, joining the increasing frenzy for screen adaptations of Marvel comics.

Charlie Cox, the star of Daredevil, promises that the season takes an entirely different approach.

“What we’ve done this year with the show is we don’t really have so much a Big Bad, but we have a character that enter’s Matt’s life,” Cox told EW. “They force him to look at himself and look at his actions in a way that no one else has done in the past.”

The New York Times thinks this new approach is the main issue with the new season. The new villain creates less tension with the Daredevil’s problematic idealism, and the dynamic of a vigilante fighting a vigilante is less interesting, as they are doing the same things essentially with different methods. And while the last season had gentrification, a modern concern, on the forefront, this season focuses on more expected comic-book topics. The Times also cites the less energetic performances from the actors (along with generally uninspired writing) for the underwhelming season.

Cox seems to disagree, especially because of the inclusion of Elektra, Elodie Yung, the “Greek girl” from college who returns to New York and complicates his relationship with Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). He called his love triangle “one of the most enjoyable things for me to do as an actor this season.”

Others, seem to say that the show is falling behind its own league, which includes other Netflix adaption Jessica Jones and the successful Marvel film Deadpool. Fighting against the female-heavy cast and noirish appeal of the former and the nihilistic fourth-wall-breaking dry humor of the latter, this anti-hero comic, with its genuine sincerity and classic themes, does not seem to captivate in comparison.

Watch season 2 and judge for yourself.