Netflix has been making bounds and leaps in its original programming thanks to the critical one-two punch of House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, but the streaming giant’s most exciting times are still to come. Next year, Netflix’s record-breaking deal with Marvel for five exclusive original series (contained within the larger film universe) will pay off when Daredevil makes its debut. The series is already one of the most buzzed-about small screen projects in the works, and Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada’s recent comments about it have only raised expectations.
Speaking with CBM about the project, Quesada, who has made all the Netflix series – which include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and culminating team-up series The Defenders – one of his top priorities, had a lot to say about Daredevil in particular. That’s not very surprising, considering Quesada was the man who used a grittier, darker version of the hero to pull Marvel Comics back from the edge of bankruptcy in 1998. Quesada said:
“I’ve been working very, very closely with the entire team on all levels of the show. I think everybody knows my relationship with the character of Daredevil, and how important the character is to me — not just on an emotional front, but on a professional front. How DD brought me back here to Marvel, and how instrumental he was to even me being in this particular position I’m in today. I’m very involved with the show, as well as everything that we’re doing with the Netflix shows. I’m incredibly excited, plus the dark and gritty noir world of DD and the Netflix characters, it’s kind of where I live so it naturally attracts me to begin with.”
Daredevil doesn’t have very large shoes to fill – the 2003 film version featuring Ben Affleck was roundly panned and is considered one of the worst superhero movies. Though he stated that, “We’re not going into this show with the idea of trying to erase the memory of anything that came before,” Quesada is carefully taking steps to do right by the hero this time around. For one, he has ensured that the series will be filmed in New York City and take a grounded, gritty approach in keeping with the character’s comic-book origins.