Daredevil is not The Avengers. Marvel’s Daredevil pushes the limits of what fans have come to know from superhero stories; this is a destructive, violent and dynamic story of a grounded blinded superhero defending his city from organized crime and criminal masterminds.

Daredevil which was created for Netflix by Drew Goddard uses a different medium to tell the story of Matt Murdock/Daredevil and his struggle to defend his hometown of Hell’s Kitchen in New York. The Netflix medium, releasing every episode at one time, allows the story to play out and be told over a longer period of time. The audience gets to connect with these new characters and see them develop. The storytellers aren’t rushed into telling a story in under three hours, this is a medium that works for this type of story because it allows for character development and plot lines to play out over multiple episodes.

From the opening episode, the tone is set for this series and it’s not the normal tone for Marvel. Marvel is known for their ability to combine, action, humor and superheroes into their cinematic and television universe but this is a new direction and the change is refreshing.

Daredevil is not for the younger fans that pack theaters to see The Avengers or Iron Man. This series is intense and at times deeply disturbing (one scene in episode four is particularly shocking) but the show delivers. It focuses on the humanitarian elements behind what would drive someone to become a vigilante. This is the telling of Daredevil that the movie version should have shown. This isn’t a campy super-hero story; it is gritty, real, extremely violent and shocking look into the character and Hell’s Kitchen.

Daredevil stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson and Rosario Dawson. Charlie Cox is playing the lead role of Matt Murdock and embodies the character. From the small details of playing a blind man to being an action star on screen, Cox’s performance is memorizing and pulls the audience in from the start.

The supporting characters also add a level of complexity and compassion to the story. Deborah Ann Woll, known for her role as Jessica on True Blood, is remarkable as Karen Page. She brings a lightness and passion to the show that is rooted in such darkness and violence, she has chemistry with both Cox and Henson and is a pleasure to watch develop on screen.

Both Cox and Woll deliver stand out performances but the breakout performance of this series goes to Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin. Marvel’s weak point when it comes to their universe has been the development of their villains, Loki excluded. This villain is not only memorable but is disturbing, terrifying and a huge success for Marvel.

D’Onofrio manages to bring a level of humanity to his villainous role. The best villains often believe that what they are doing is for the best, in this case, Kingpin thinks his way of fixing the city, will lead to a better tomorrow. That is the most terrifying aspect of his character, that in order to save the city of Hell’s Kitchen, it must burn first. D’Onofrio steals every scene and is one of the most menacing villain’s that is currently in the Marvel Universe.

Daredevil is a series that was designed to be binge watched, complete with cliff hangers and storylines that take twist and turns. Even if audience members are new to the Marvel Universe or the comic book world in general, they can jump right in from the start and follow along. This is a completely new story.

With this new series fans can finally put the Ben Affleck version behind them. After all fans have to start preparing for Affleck as Batman in, Batman v. Superman, which is set to hit the big screen on March 25, 2016.

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