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Netflix鈥檚 TV series about the Marvel superhero Daredevil has reportedly been renewed for a second season.聽

鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Daredevil鈥� debuted its first 13-episode season online on April 10 and stars Charlie Cox of 鈥淭he Theory of Everything鈥� as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights crime. The show co-stars actors Deborah Ann Woll as Matt鈥檚 secretary Karen Page, Elden Henson as Matt鈥檚 law partner Foggy Nelson, and Vincent D鈥橭nofrio as the villain the Kingpin.

The character of Daredevil was brought to the big screen with a movie of the same name that was released in 2003 and starred 鈥淕one Girl鈥� actor Ben Affleck as Matt as well as Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, and Michael Clarke Duncan. The movie was not well-received critically, though a sequel based on Garner鈥檚 character, titled 鈥淓lektra,鈥� came out in 2005. It didn鈥檛 do very well with reviewers, either.聽

By contrast, the 鈥淒aredevil鈥� Netflix series has gotten good reviews and has done so during a time when a superhero TV series is by no means a sure success. The CW鈥檚 superhero TV show pairing, 鈥淎rrow鈥� and 鈥淭he Flash,鈥� have been successes, while ABC鈥檚 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥� got off to a rocky start, though IGN writer Eric Goldman wrote that a recent episode of the show demonstrated 鈥渉ow much this series has grown and evolved in the past year.鈥� Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly writer Darren Orf called the first season of the Fox Batman origin drama 鈥淕otham鈥� 鈥渢roubled鈥� Gotham is struggling," and NBC's "Constantine" has not been well-received critically.

So what has 鈥淒aredevil鈥� done right? Hitfix writer Alan Sepinwall wrote that 鈥減roducers Drew Goddard and Steven DeKnight do something very smart鈥� in not devoting themselves entirely to telling a superhero origin story鈥� the 鈥楧aredevil鈥� stunt team does an excellent job of conveying how a single man, even one with enhanced senses, could be such a threat to the underworld鈥� Cox deftly balances the lightness of Matt the lawyer with the steeliness and Catholic guilt that defines him as Daredevil鈥� Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll are incredibly likeable鈥� D鈥橭nofrio is everything the show could ask for in an arch villain鈥� this feels in every way a series committed to and unapologetic about its comic book origins, [while] some comic book adaptations struggle to appeal to the widest possible audience.鈥�

Jack Hamilton of Slate wrote that the show 鈥渢akes itself and its audience seriously while avoiding either pretentious brooding or fanboy pandering鈥� it鈥檚 the first modern small-screen comic adaptation that doesn鈥檛 seem to be lustily glancing at the multiplex鈥� This is most certainly the 'Marvel Universe' but with none of the hackish cross-promotion of ABC鈥檚 鈥楢gents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥欌�� 聽All of this is helped along by unusually strong acting.鈥�

Meanwhile, Washington Post critic Hank Stuever noted that 鈥溾�橠aredevil鈥� smartly contains its story to a neighborhood, rather than a planet.鈥�

Stuever found that the dialogue is 鈥渉ammy鈥� but wrote that 鈥淒aredevil鈥� 鈥渟hows some impressive instinct for elevating the [superhero] form鈥� Cox winds up being just another guy in a TV show [but] Vincent D鈥橭nofrio is a convincingly sinister presence.鈥�