Netflix original Daredevil streaming today!

Netflix original Daredevil, a much darker portrayal than certain previous cinematic efforts, starts streaming tonight for all subscribers.

The early reviews of Daredevil have been extremely positive, talking about the action scenes sparing no directorial expense. The show’s executive producer Steve S. DeKnight commented that he followed the styles of The Bourne movies and Indonesian martial arts movie The Raid; certainly a promising sign.

Candidly, I’m pretty sure Netflix is doing it’s very best to draw attention to the fact that Daredevil is by no means a light-hearted and comedic outtake. Daredevil feels more like The Dark Knight than it does with other network superhero shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Arrow. Fans of those shows, which are still great shows for their own reasons, might be turned off by the dark nature of Netflix’s take on Daredevil. The show is extremely violent, truly bruised and bloody. In other words, perhaps put the kids to bed before firing up a binge watching session of Daredevil.

The Daredevil character himself isn’t some mystic with superpowers giving him a unique advantage over the standard criminals found in most superhero films, but instead relies heavily on his own senses, heightened after suffering an accident that left him blind as a child.

Unlike the early 00s film, this new Daredevil doesn’t feel like a blockbuster production in the same sense one might expect from a Marvel film. It feels raw, somewhat simplified, and localized. Daredevil isn’t trying to save the world, he’s trying to protect his neighborhood. Fans of the comic book character, who perhaps otherwise felt betrayed by the 2003 portrayal, should feel as if Netflix is doing the series justice, as the show focuses less on ridiculous gimmicks and draws its inspiration directly from the darker corners of the character.

There have been comments from early viewership that the series maintains not only a dark feel throughout the show, but that the director’s choice to keep the actual lighting of the show extremely dark, almost to a fault. Personally it feels like a good decision overall to give the show such an appearance to set the tone overall, but we’ll wait to hear from the masses before passing too much judgement here.

The show releases tonight, April 9th, ad Midnight pacific time (sorry East Coast, going to be an extremely late night for you folks hoping to get an early taste).

Will there be a second season of Daredevil?

While Netflix is always pretty hush hush about show’s success, the best way to tell as to whether or not Netflix views the show as having provided ROI is how quickly a second season is announced. In other words, take an example like Bloodline, which quickly became a fan favorite, being signed for a second season almost immediately after the first week of its release. If Netflix immediately renews Daredevil, you can count on it as being a big win for Netflix. If it takes a bit longer, or we don’t hear anything for a while, the fear might be that it’s a flop.

My guess? Daredevil ends up a hit in a big way. I would expect a second season pretty quickly. Netflix has made an agreement with Marvel to do several superhero movies, it will be interesting to see if they all follow a similar style or if they branch out in various directions.