What to Watch Before Daredevil: Born Again

 

With Marvel Studios latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Daredevil: Born Again Season One fast approaching, I thought it would be fun to take a quick break from my usual content and make a guide for anyone wanting to catch up or refresh before it hits theatres. Here’s What to Watch Before Daredevil: Born Again.

 

The best place to start is with Daredevil’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, the first season of Daredevil which was initially produced for Netflix but which can now be seen on Disney+. This first season introduced Charlie Cox as lawyer and vigilante Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin along with Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson and Aylet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna along with numerous other characters who would go on to appear in the various other MCU-related shows from Netflix.

 

Next up, Daredevil Season 2 introduced other key characters including Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle aka The Punisher, Matt’s former mentor Stick, played by Scott Glenn along with his former lover and trained killer Elektra Natchios as portrayed by Élodie Yung as a war with the criminal organisation The Hand escalates. It’s confirmed that Jon Bernthal will reprise his role in Daredevil: Born Again.

 

After this we have the crossover event mini-series The Defenders which sees Matt Murdock meet and team-up with the super strong private investigator Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), bulletproof badass Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Danny Rand aka the Immortal Iron Fist (Finn Jones) to stop the machinations of The Hand, led by Alexandra (the stunning Sigourney Weaver). The series ends with Matt Murdock believed dead in massive building collapse which leads into…

 

Daredevil Season 3 opens with a recovering Matt Murdock and leads to Wilson Fisk being released from prison a free man. Wilson Bethel portrays Special Agent Benjamin Poindexter (known in the comics as Bullseye) who is recruited by Fisk to impersonate Daredevil, framing him for various slayings. The season and series ends with a three-way battle between Murdock, Fisk and Poindexter. Poindexter is left paralysed and undergoing surgery, while Kingpin is beaten and sent back to prison, with he and Daredevil reaching an uneasy agreement that Fisk will leave Karen and Foggy alone in exchange for Daredevil not revealing Fisk’s wife Vanessa’s criminal involvement in events. The Netflix era ends here and we wouldn’t see Charlie Cox in the role for quite some time.

 

Perhaps an expected place for Vincent D’Onofrio to appear as Wilson Fisk and cement the prior series events as ‘canon’ to the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper, the Disney+ Hawkeye series reveals The Kingpin to be the big bad behind the show’s events, having been released from prison once more and using the Tracksuit Mafia to reclaim his former empire. Notably, Fisk is shown to have a close relationship with protégé Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) until it’s revealed he is responsible for her father’s murder, resulting in her shooting him in the face.

 

Released in the same week, Spider-Man: No Way Home featured Charlie Cox reprising his role as Matt Murdock in a cameo appearance as Peter Parker’s lawyer. This moment got gasps and applause in the cinema when I saw it.

 

Matt Murdock returns in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in Episode 8, even suiting up in a new Daredevil costume inspired by his earliest comic appearances and teaming up with fellow lawyer/superhero Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk before the pair share a one-night stand. Daredevil briefly returns for a cameo in the show’s finale Episode 9.

 

Finally, during a flashback in the Disney+ mini-series Echo, we see Daredevil battle Maya Lopez in Episode One. The show follows Lopez returning to her home town and reveals Wilson Fisk survived being shot before culminating in the two facing off. Ultimately, Fisk returns to New York with his mind set on becoming the Mayor of New York City, leading into Daredevil: Born Again.

 

You may choose to skip some of these entries, but I’m sure watching them all will provide further depth and understanding for Daredevil: Born Again.

 

Until I discover how to fight blind, I remain

 

frogoat

 

  

 

 

 

 

Elektra in the MC2

 

After my recent post covering Wolverine in the MC2 thanks to the new Deadpool & Wolverine movie ushering the pair into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it feels like the right time to detail Logan’s romantic life partner in the MC2 Universe so today’s post will be all about Elektra in the MC2.

 

Elektra Natchios first appeared in Daredevil #168, and reportedly she was intended to be a one-off character, former love interest and foil for Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, according to creator Frank Miller. Elektra proved popular enough to make regular appearances in the series until her death at the hands of Kingpin’s assassin  Bullseye in Daredevil #181. Elektra returned from the dead by ninja cult The Hand soon after in Daredevil #190 and eventually went on to be a consistent fan favourite character.

 

A part of Elektra’s published history which proves very relevant to the MC2 begins in Wolverine #100 (written by long-time Wolverine scribe and MC2 alumni Larry Hama) where Natchios begins a mission to help restore Logan after the loss of his Adamantium left him in a feral and bestial state. With the backdrop of the Onslaught event raging, Elektra helps re-train and guide Wolverine back to himself and the two grow close as they begin to understand each other resulting in a friendship that continued into Elektra’s own series (Wolverine #100-#106).

 

Now, on to the MC2 proper! With the introduction of Rina Logan aka Wild Thing we also saw the arrival of her mother, Elektra Natchios in J2 #5. Here we learn that the relationship between Elektra and Logan has developed into a long-term romantic one resulting in the couple raising their teenage mutant ninja daughter together. Elektra informs Logan their daughter is pursuing J2, leading him to head to New York to find her.

 

We get our first glimpse of the relationship between Rina and her mother in a two page story from J2 #7 where we learn she and Elektra sometimes fight crime together, discuss weaponry, attend international mercenary conventions and build bombs together and have apparently even clashed with notable villains such as the ninja cult The Hand and Bullseye.

 

In J2 #11, alongside Cyclops, Logan and Elektra watch on as Rina runs the gauntlet against Jubilee’s team, the X-People. After Wild Thing proves herself, Jubilee declares she has passed the initiation and may join the X-People as a probationary member. Rina declines, stating she only did it because her father asked her to which Cyclops remarks she reminds him of Logan, who asks Elektra if she thinks he’s mellowed with age.

 

While at the Mall with her daughter Rina, Elektra visits a local martial arts dojo for some training. Targeted by her old enemy Kuroyama, the villainous assassin of the Hand, now rebuilt as a cyborg with a built-in attack computer that uses a virtual reality matrix. Elektra battles her old foe until Kuroyama is inadvertently defeated with one hit after appearing within Rina’s hacked video game (Wild Thing #2).

Elektra Natchios is seen alongside various other major Marvel female heroes in Spider-Girl #60 on both the issue’s cover and within the thoughts of May ‘Mayday’ Parker as the latter reflects on her place amongst the other superheroines who came before her. The real-world reasons for these cameos was to acknowledge prior female heroes as the Spider-Girl title reaching its 60th continuous issue, something only one other solo female superheroine title at Marvel had achieved, that being none other than Sensational She-Hulk. The Spider-Girl title would go on to surpass this, reaching issue 100, a feat still unbeaten to this date.

 

While temporarily working with the crime lord The Black Tarantula, Spider-Girl receives martial arts training from Elektra. While rocking a black variant of her classic costume, Elektra educates Spider-Girl by noting she is telegraphing her moves and repeating patterns. After correctly deducing she is the daughter of Spider-Man based on her mannerisms and body language, Elektra advices Spider-Girl she must not hold back if she hopes to defeat Lady Octopus (Spider-Girl #75).

 

Spider-Girl demonstrates she has quickly improved under Elektra’s tutelage by running a gauntlet without a single nick. Despite Spider-Girl’s confidence in her ability to defeat Lady Octopus, Elektra warns the heroine that there will be more challenges ahead, seemingly alluding to the threat of her employer the Black Tarantula (Spider-Girl #77).

 

With Spider-Girl parting ways with the Black Tarantula shortly afterwards, Elektra was not seen again in the MC2. Thus, we come to the end of today’s post with a bit of an anticlimax. As such, I would love to see the Greek assassin make her return to the MC2 someday, perhaps in a tightly plotted Wild Thing revival series?

 

Until I commit to watching the Director’s Cut of the Elektra movie, I remain

 

frogoat