I was given access to watch the first five episodes of the new Netflix show Marvel’s Daredevil. As someone who enjoys the superhero genre of movies and TV I was all over watching Daredevil. I watched all four episodes in two days. I heard that it was going to be gritty and dark. I didn’t realize how gritty and dark it would be. As my title suggests, this is a grown up show and not at all for kids.

There are many things that make this show different from the rest of the superhero shows on tv. This is much more realistic. While Daredevil has heightened senses because of his childhood accident with a chemical spill causing him to become blind, the whole thing is not played up like some sort of super power. For the most part you only hear what Daredevil is hearing. He is also a great fighter. As the son of a boxer and his years of training in many fighting styles he has almost superhuman reflexes. But they are still human reflexes.

I thought that shows like Arrow and Gotham were dark and gritty. Gotham more-so than Arrow but while those are dark they are still light compared to Daredevil. Both in the sense of the storytelling and also in the way that they shoot the show. It is almost always in darkness. Daredevil doesn’t have to have the lights on to see so many fights are in the dark. It is a bit frustrating to see but the fights are also so brutal that I’m not sure I want to see everything. Sometimes the sound effects are enough.

The casting is excellent. Each of the bad guys is more chillingly dangerous than the next. Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk is incredibly dangerous even when he is doing something as harmless as viewing a painting. Toby Leonard Moore’s Wesley in his sharp suit and constantly unfazed politeness has an underlying rage to it that makes him also dangerous.

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil is what makes the show. He is amazing. Matt Murdock has had to overcome a lot in his life, the loss of his sight as a young boy and then the loss of his father also when young dealt him two terrible blows. But as we learn through flashbacks the lessons that Matt’s father taught him have stuck with and motivated him as an adult. While he is charming as Matt Murdock the lawyer he is completely focused and sobering as daredevil or the man in the black mask as everyone is calling him early in the series.

Elden Henson plays Matt’s oldest friend, Foggy Nelson. Foggy and Matt open their own practice in defense law. Foggy has an optimism and simple approach to life. He loves Hell’s Kitchen and remains blissful despite all that he has seen, albeit, he has not seen as much as Matt.

I am looking forward to watching the remaining episodes in the series. I am enjoying what I have seen so far and it looks like this can only get better as we learn more about all of these characters and their individual motivations. The conspiracy grows with each episode and more and more forces amass against Daredevil.

The show does allude to the rest of the Marvel Universe especially the battle of New York from The Avengers. I don’t think that any of those characters would work on this show, not unless they could really cut loose. I am looking forward to many more of these Marvel series from Netflix.

I’ve already started watching the rest of the 13 episodes.