Daredevil - Born Again

 I am just watching the first four episodes at present, though it's less of a comic book feel while still being true to the character. Charlie Cox is carrying things on his shoulders, as this show is largely without the comic book violence except for the fight scene against Bullseye which sets a somewhat false tone. This sets up the death of Foggy, causing Murdock to go into a depression of sorts causing him to give up his Daredevil identity, in the face of his arch-enemy Wilson Fisk becoming the Mayor of New York City. This does happen in the comic books, though the comics had more of Murdock suited up as well. 

Where the Netflix show was gritty, the Marvel show sends the kind of mixed political messages Disney has been encouraging. At this point, I am surprised they are letting the Punisher logo be shown.  Though most of this is done with a passive-aggressive undercurrent. When it comes to the hyperrealism they are trying to ground this in, I do like how the theme of the show is an exploration of what it means to be a vigilante. However, the courtroom drama tone of the first four episodes means looking into the Justice System, with failed attempts at trying to pull sympathy for petty thieves with 25-page rap sheets, it's just bad writing with mixed messages, as the subject they want you to empathize with is just an entitled dumbass, with nothing to make you like him.

 This plays into a mixed bag of writing as they did a better job of exploring the gray area with White Tiger. Frank Castle gets a good monologue but his appearance feels a little wasted, though we still have five more episodes. It is a very slow-burn build, with Murdock only getting physical in two of the episodes, In episode five things better start popping off. D'onofrio is not as earnest in his portrayal of Fisk, less imposing and leaning more into the voice than the kind of honesty that made Fisk likable as a villain in the Daredevil show. Also no Elektra yet, and only a wink that the mantle of White Tiger might be passed on.  If you are a fan of the character it is still worth watching to Daredevil is too Murdock heavy in the first four episodes. 

 

Jessica Jones Season 2

It is not only wishful thinking for the Comic Book Resources review to call the second season of Jessica Jones a gift to women , but warped thinking. While there is echoes of the #metoo phenomena in the story line the directors insist this was a coincidence and it had been made way before that. So that leaves us with a heavily female  cast who are addicts, alcoholics, whores, backstabbers, murderers  and the worst of humanity be it male or female. Jones herself was made less likable. He angst worked well in the first season and alright in the train wreck that was Defenders. The best thing about this season might have been Whizzer or the wink to the Ringleader, though both resembled their comic personas little. Aside from that even Foggy Nelson didn't make it feel that rooted in the Marvel Universe. The reason for this is also the main crux of this season's bad guy.

The first season stood out as it was the first time we had really seen a villain with this kind of power set. Not only was Killgrave charismatic in ways Micheal B Jordan's praised villain failed at , but aside from Loki, we had not seen one this devious. Here they pulled one out of their ass that doesn't even exist rather than pulling from the deep treasure trove of the comics. We got her mom. Whose powers were just amplified version of Jessica's falling back to the mirror image cliche the movies are stuck in. If they wanted to do that they could have at least used Titania. Speaking of a gift to women, having a mom with no qualms about beating the shit out of her daughter is certainly something for women to aspire to. But she was on the top of the worst humans list.  This is not a bad place to be for a villain, but , it would have been more interesting if Jessica had gone in to see a court ordered shrink and it turned out to be Moonstone.They could have stuck with the weapon x like we got our powers all the wrong way theme and worked in Jessica Drew. Drew getting her start as a villain could have worked.

Then there is still no Hell-Cat when this season would have made the most sense. Walker also became less likable this season. The story much like that of Luke Cage felt like it was stretched thin over the course of the 13 episodes and that they ran out of things to say midway into it. The ghost of Killgrave was a neat touch that disappeared . I think the fact Jessica Jones was never meant to be a headliner shows in this season as they milked the character for everything  she is worth when not in the Avengers or with Luke Cage. Black Panther's directors should take not of this going into a sequel as they blew their wad on the first movie as well. This season was still a little better than the first season of Luke Cage or Iron Fist, but then you are saying of all the rotten fruit this one is drawing the least flies.