Given the popularity of my Daredevil posts, I thought I’d make another!
I’m going to cut right to it. The new Red Fist story arc isn’t doing it for me. I appreciate the creativity behind it. I appreciate how far Daredevil has come since he got rehabilitated after getting hit by a truck. I appreciate that Daredevil is more bad-ass than ever.
I just feel as though we lost sigh of what’s Daredevil’s all about. We lost sight of what a lot of these Marvel characters are all about.
The Red Fist story arc feels like a larger-than-life superhero story. And that’s exactly why I don’t like it. The best Daredevil stories are the stories where there aren’t any superhero antics. Daredevil: Born Again is regarded as one of the best Daredevil stories ever. I think it’s the best Daredevil story because, to me, it’s not a superhero story at all. It’s a story about love, forgiveness, and faith. To me, it’s the best Daredevil story because Matt Murdock’s humanity is put in the forefront. His spectacular acrobatics and fighting skills aren’t the priority.
The Red Fist story arc fails at this. Hard.
Future Daredevil stories need to put Matt Murdock’s humanity at the forefront to keep them compelling. I’ll explain why,
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The Relatable Stakes Issue
Before we get into the Red Fist story arc, I want you to ask yourself why the Daredevil Netflix series was so successful.
There’s a lot of answers that come to mind. The character development is amazing. The choreographed fighting scenes were spectacular. To me, the first answer that comes to mind is that it wasn’t trying to be The Avengers.
When The Avengers take a hit, they easily brush it off and move on. When Daredevil takes a hit, he feels it. We the audience feel it. He yells and screams in pain. He takes time to recover. Then he gets back into the fight like we all do. The Avengers are Gods behind the mask. Daredevil is a person behind the mask.
In the Red Fist Story arc, Daredevil is now a master assassin. He’s teaming up with his on-and-off again girlfriend master assassin Elektra to form the Red Fist. A group that can take on the evil dead ninjas called The Hand.
Don’t get me wrong, this sounds really creative and cool! The only problem is, it’s not grounded.
Right before the Red Fist story arc, Matt faked his own death so that he can be Daredevil 24/7. Matt isn’t a lawyer anymore working his 9 to 5 job like you and I. He’s not taking on real world threats like gangsters and mobsters. It’s almost like you’re taking this real and grounded character and moving him into the realm of fantasy. In that, that’s exactly what’s going on! People love Daredevil stories not because the stakes are high. People love Daredevil stories because the stakes are relatable.
More Characters Are Being Trifled With
Not only is Daredevil away from his grounded and gritty roots, the Punisher is too.
For those of you who don’t know, The Hand recruited the Punisher, and he became their leader. Again, this is super cool and creative! It’s just not grounded, and it trifles with why The Punisher is so important.
The Punisher is important because he’s one of the few characters that give a voice to the military community. He gives a voice to every soldier who did their tour only to have their country turn their back on them when they returned. Marvel: Why would you make Frank Castle a master assassin leading an army of dead ninjas? What person in the military would want the character to go in that direction?
In this Red Fist story arc, the Punisher is miles away from his grounded and gritty roots. Like Matt, he’s a person. When he gets hit or shot, he takes time to recover. Like any regular person would.
Now he’s a ninja who’s been possessed by a demon and can fly. For crying out loud! Just bring the characters back to New York City! Like Daredevil, people love the Punisher because the stakes are relatable.
Making these characters as flawless and powerful as The Avengers brings us father and farther away from those relatable stakes.
No Interpersonal Drama
The point that I’m trying to make is that it’s all superhero antics and no interpersonal drama. At the end of the Devil’s Reign arc, Matt fakes his own death to the public.
There’s no more working the 9 to 5 job, paying the bills and balancing your work and social life. Instead, it’s just fighting ninjas.
Having interpersonal drama in a superhero story is essential! If you don’t have it, how do you expect a reader to relate to the characters?
The decision for Matt to ditch his civilian identity is flawed as it doesn’t leave room for characters like Foggy to enter the story in a grounded way. Foggy Nelson’s such an important character!
He reminds Matt that he’s human and needs to take care of himself every once in a while. He grounds Daredevil stories nicely. He’s a guy that has a real and normal relationship with Matt. He’s not like Stick or Elektra who have a weird assassin mention and on-and-off lover relationship with Matt.
In this story arc, Matt brings Foggy to his hideout and trains him and other regular people for the fight against The Hand. I think Foggy got some new superpowers too. It’s such a bizarre direction to take that Foggy in. He’s a lawyer! Foggy’s like your middle-aged Dad. You can’t just give him some training and throw him in a fight. There’s no room for Foggy in the story when Matt is Daredevil 24/7.
The Daredevil Red Fist story arc is super fun and creative, but it needs interpersonal drama to keep the story grounded and relatable for the reader.
If we can’t connect to the story or characters, what’s the point in reading it?
What do you think? Do you think I’m being to harsh on the Daredevil: Red Fist story arc?
Be sure to leave your comments below!