Following a well-received first season, Daredevil is back for a second batch of episodes on Netflix in March.
On Sunday, at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, Charlie Cox, who plays the titular Marvel superhero (whose secret identity is blind lawyer Matt Murdock), spoke of the fears he had in returning to the series.
“The danger of a second season is you have to reinvent it a little bit, or you tell the same story,” said Cox. “But as the scripts were coming in, I was incredibly impressed at how they managed that fine line, while evolving.”
Much of that reinvention had to do with the new show-runners, Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez, who have replaced Steven DeKnight.
The debut season of Daredevil followed Murdock as he slowly evolved into his crime fighting alter-ego. Cox teased that the new episodes will explore what Murdock does with his newfound identity and fame.
“Now that he’s so much more visible, he’s a symbol that is instantly recognizable,” said the actor. “That has to kind of inform his actions – and has to inform the decisions he makes. He has to be more responsible.”
Asked why superheroes fascinate audiences on such a grand scale, Cox said: “I think it taps into the child in all of us: we love the idea of being able to battle and defeat our difficulties, whether the difficulty is a Green Goblin … or simply a character flaw.”
Last season, Daredevil battled Wilson Grant Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), a powerful businessman and crime lord whose attempts to destroy and rebuild New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district were thwarted.
Season two sees Daredevil face two major foes from the comic book: Frank Castle (aka The Punisher) and an old flame, Elektra.
The Punisher (The Walking Dead’s Jon Bernthal) is, like Daredevil, a vigilante who aims to clean up Hell’s Kitchen. He differs by employing deadly methods.
“So much of the first season was about Matt dealing with his decision to be a hero,” said Bernthal. “Here comes this guy who’s really not concerned with that. As far as superpowers [go], his superpower is his rage, and that he’s not going to quit.”
As for the mysterious assassin Elekra, actor Élodie Yung said she tried to capture the “coldness” of the comic book heroine.
“Elektra is kind of a sociopath,” Yung said. “Her world is a chess game. What movivates her is what she wants. She will use anything she needs to use to get to her goal.”
“But on the other hand, we wanted to create a character with different layers. I think she’s not a bad or good person – she’s a person with different traits. In this season there’s an arc to her story, and you’ll find out who she is by the end of it.”
- Daredevil season two premieres on Netflix 18 March.