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'Daredevil' season two 鈥 why Netflix is a good fit for the superhero show

The second season of the superhero show debuts on March 18. The streaming service seems to be a good place for the program because of the show's approach to storytelling.

By Molly Driscoll, Staff writer

The Netflix superhero TV show 鈥淒aredevil鈥 is returning for a second season following a fairly well-received first series of episodes in 2015.

鈥淒aredevil鈥 stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who also works as a superhero, fighting crime in the Hell鈥檚 Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. The show co-stars Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, and Jon Bernthal.

The second season will see the introduction of new characters such as the Punisher (Bernthal), another crime-fighter who embraces more violent methods than Daredevil, as well as Elektra (Elodie Yung), an expert fighter who was romantically involved with Daredevil in the past. The new episodes debut March 18.

Since the debut of 鈥淒aredevil鈥 in the spring of 2015, Netflix has also brought on another TV show about a Marvel character, 鈥淛essica Jones,鈥 which stars Krysten Ritter. 鈥淛essica鈥 was also well-received.聽

Netflix鈥檚 programs stand out as critical successes in the TV superhero genre in contrast to some of the programs on the major networks. Programs on the CW like 鈥淭he Flash鈥 have been well-received, but ABC鈥檚 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥 and Fox鈥檚 鈥淕otham,鈥 for example, have gotten mixed reviews from critics.聽

鈥溾橝gents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥 needs to step things up a bit,鈥 Collider writer Evan Valentine noted after the most recent episode. 鈥淚 feel like the previous midseason finale was a misstep for a solid season that鈥檚 caused something of a tail dive.鈥 As it stands, the series is passable but I wouldn鈥檛 give it a recommendation moving forward if things don鈥檛 drastically improve.鈥

As for 鈥淕otham,鈥 IGN writer Matt Fowler called the most recent episode had 鈥渁 very good scene 鈥. surrounded by the usual 鈥楪otham鈥 absurdity.鈥澛

There are of course many other elements that go into making a show good, but how has finding a home on Netflix helped 鈥淒aredevil鈥 and 鈥淛essica鈥?聽

USA Today writer Kelly Lawler suggested that 鈥淒aredevil鈥 is 鈥渂uilt for Netflix.鈥澛

鈥溾橠aredevil鈥 was made for the binge-watcher,鈥 Ms. Lawler writes. 鈥淵ou can tell from the way the episodes bleed into one another, not really existing on their own.鈥 This isn't the villain-of-the-week formula of 鈥楢gents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥 or even 鈥楢rrow鈥 or 鈥楾he Flash.鈥 This is a long game played by Murdock and [villain Wilson] Fisk, a single movie stretched out over the course of 13 episodes. And watching them all in a row over the course of one weekend just feels right.鈥澛

David Sims of The Atlantic agrees that the Netflix form of a TV season is ideal for a comic book story.聽

鈥淭he strong first season of Daredevil, which just dropped on the binge-friendly Netflix as 13 episodes, proves the material might have finally found its perfect medium,鈥 Mr. Sims writes. 鈥淎 network show like 鈥楳arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥 on ABC has some obligation to keep things simple enough to follow along with week to week; 鈥楧aredevil鈥 is its graphic-novel cousin, meatier and more ambitious, and succeeding on those grounds even though the pace is slower.鈥