Daredevil Season 2: What to Expect

This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Daredevil Netflix Series and potential Daredevil season 2  spoilers. Read on at your own risk.

Need more Daredevil in your life? Well, Netflix fans, we’ve got good news and more good news! Daredevil season two is coming. That’s good.

What’s also good is that we won’t have to wait for the entire cycle of AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders before moving on to another round with Matt Murdock. Instead, we’ll get Daredevil season 2 around spring of 2016.

Daredevil season one pulled from a host of comic book influences, taking characters, visual cues, and settings primarily from Frank Miller’s tenure as writer and artist on the series. The thing is, they’ve only just scratched the surface of what is generally considered to be the most creatively fertile history in the character’s history. Miller’s run (in collaboration with Klaus Janson), spanned nearly five years of comics and is best known for the introduction of Elektra and Daredevil’s ongoing battle with Bullseye, both of whom were hinted at, but not introduced, in season one.

Oh, and there was also an absolute proliferation of ninjas during this period…and we only had one ninja in season one. That’s simply not enough ninjas by any count.

It’s unlikely that Daredevil season two will be any kind of direct adaptation of those stories, however. But season one took little bits and pieces of inspiration from the Roger McKenzie/Frank Miller period of Daredevil #158-167. But all the big deal stuff we’re expecting/hoping to see in Daredevil season two doesn’t kick off until Daredevil #168, in a story appropriately titled…

Elektra

Simply put, Elektra is probably the single most pivotal character in Daredevil mythology. Yes, the Kingpin is a big deal (and I’ll get to him in a minute), but every hero has an arch-villain, and Wilson Fisk wasn’t even created with Daredevil in mind (he was a Spider-Man villain). But I digress…

Elektra was mentioned in passing during one of the college flashback sequences in season one (in episode 10, to be exact). She’s the “smokin’ Greek girl” that Foggy was referring to. Anyway, she grows up to become a formidable assassin, and she ends up back in Matt Murdock’s life in a fashion that puts her at odds with him.

I’d expect nearly all of season two’s flashbacks to focus on Matt and Elektra’s early relationship and/or her training as a badass. Elektra trained with Matt’s asshole mentor, Stick, but that might feel a little too convenient for this series…but you never know. She eventually joined up with the Hand, the clan of criminal ninjas that the now burnt-to-a-crisp Nobu was heading up during season one.

Elektra is an inherently tragic character (as you would expect, since she has a name lifted right out of a Greek tragedy), and while she’s become a fairly major supporting player in the overall Marvel Universe, she’s in for a bumpy ride on this show. I’ll get to that in a minute, though.

The Hand

Elektra needs to be working for somebody shady, so it may as well be the Hand, the organization that helped make her into a heartbreaking killing machine. The Hand were relegated to the background of season one, never referred to by name. Once Nobu (before he took on that medium rare consistency during the fight with Daredevil) put on the familiar red ninja gear, though, that should have erased all doubts.

Plus, we still have to see Kirigi on screen. Kirigi is basically an undead/immortal ultimate ninja. C’mon. There is nothing cooler.

But if season one dealt with the rise of Wilson Fisk in his journey to become the Kingpin of Crime, then season two will have to spend a fair amount of time focusing on who fills the power vaccuum while Fisk rots in jail. The Hand seemed quite concerned with annexing a particular city block in Hell’s Kitchen, leading to reasonable speculation that they’re looking to establish Shadowland, an enormous urban ninja fortress that became the focus for an entire Marvel Comics crossover a few years ago.

Ummmm…don’t expect Daredevil season two to be any kind of adaptation of Shadowland, mind you. But it does seem like the kind of massive threat that could be used to bring The Defenders together once we get to that series. But it’s going to be a long time before we get there, so maybe I should just keep my mouth shut about it.

Bullseye

Not only is Bullseye coming, we’ve probably already met him. The mysterious sniper working for Wilson Fisk who showed up in Daredevil season 1, episode 6 “Condemned” was almost certainly our psychopath. Here’s a photo from his sniper bag if you need something to hang that on…

Bullseye wasn’t created during the Frank Miller era, but he sure did his best (and by best, I mean “most reprehensible”) work during it. In case you don’t already know, Bullseye is an assassin for hire who is not only a match for Daredevil in the fighting skills department, but he can use virtually any object he picks up as a deadly weapon. His favorites tend to be playing cards for a little flair, but I wouldn’t expect that to be too overused in this series. But the prospect of this show putting its incredible fight choreography to work with a guy who can outfight Daredevil is plenty exciting.

Bullseye tends to be unpredictable. He’s a little nuts, some of that (at least during the comics era we’re discussing) is the result of a brain tumor that gives him weird hallucinations…like everyone on the street wearing a Daredevil costume. You can imagine how he would react to that. While that may be a little over the top, the prospect of a terminally ill supervillain with nothing to lose would certainly fit the aesthetic that’s been established on Daredevil so far. 

Remember when I mentioned that things don’t go easy for Elektra? That’s because in Bullseye’s most memorable moment, he kills her. As if Daredevil didn’t have it in for Bullseye enough already, the prick kills the love of his life.

Sure, she eventually “gets better” as folks tend to do in comics, but that’s a story for another time. Given what we’ve already seen play out on this show, I’m willing to bet that death will be treated as a fairly permanent problem. Speaking of which…

Stick and The Chaste

In the comics, Elektra’s return was dealt with fairly expediently, in a story that focused even more heavily on the Hand, Stick, and Stick’s Hand-hating team of martial arts badasses, the Chaste. It’s unlikely that one season would try and cover both the death and resurrection of Elektra, so figure she’s gonna croak in episode twelve (just like Ben Urich did) to leave room for the ass-whupping of the year in episode thirteen. 

Anyway, the fact that I’m still talking about Elektra in an entry headed “Stick and The Chaste” should reinforce just how important she is. Back to business…

If Elektra will be leaping around in Daredevil season two (and if she isn’t, I’ll fall on my sai), and if the Hand will be increasing their presence (and they had better be, because…ninjas), then expect to see more of everyone’s favorite blind dickhead, Stick. Stick has some friends (inasmuch as someone that disagreeable can even have friends), known as The Chaste.

In short, they are martial arts badasses who hate The Hand. They have names like “Stone” and “Claw.” Ummmmm…look, it’s Frank Miller. Just go with it.

But just as we had an episode in season one dedicated entirely to Stick, with flashbacks that showed Stick training Matt, and we also had an episode that dealt entirely with Wilson Fisk’s origin, a similar approach for Elektra is warranted, especially since she received some training from Stick.

Gladiator

We already met Melvin Potter in Daredevil season one. He’s the guy designing everyone’s gear…good guys and bad guys. But perhaps most importantly, we saw hints that he was designing some superhero gear of his own, with his forearm-mounted buzzsaws showing up as blueprints, and the logo for his chest armor clearly displayed in his workshop.

At this point, Gladiator is Chekov’s supervillain. You don’t show us multiple costume design elements like that unless you have plans to deliver on them. And in terms of the very specific era of the comics that this show is drawing its influences from, Melvin Potter plays a fairly significant role. 

One story in particular, though, seems like a prime candidate for exploration on this show. Daredevil #173-174 saw Matt Murdock help clear Melvin Potter of a crime he didn’t commit. In the process, Melvin puts on the Gladiator suit and helps Daredevil and Elektra take on some Hand ninjas. See how neat that all works out? 

Will The Kingpin Return?

Oh, absolutely. Vincent D’Onofrio is far too powerful a presence to waste in one season, and we’ve really only seen the rise of Wilson Fisk so far, they’ve only just scratched the surface of what a true Kingpin of Crime can do. Fisk spent season one playing his enemies against each other and creating a power base. The problem is, now he’s in jail…he’s going to have to defend that power at a disadvantage. 

And that’s where Vanessa Fisk comes in. Do not underestimate that woman. They’ve already gotten the whole “Vanessa Fisk in mortal danger, Kingpin becomes a giant toddler over it” trope out of the way (no, seriously, it’s kind of a theme), so she’s going to be a shark. You’ll see.

What’s Up With Karen Page?

Karen Page, as we started to learn in season one, is shady. I don’t think they’ll chase that rabbit too far this year, because there’s a major payoff down the road with her past and her problems, which ultimately lead to much bigger problems for Matt Murdock. And Matt already has problems.

Since Nelson and Murdock are going to become a more prestigious firm pretty quickly (we got to see them do some pretty fine lawyering in season one), figure their rise will contrast with Karen’s decline into drug abuse and other things. Also, you have to figure that since Matt is totally into doomed women, the more of a hot mess she becomes, the more likely a romance is to bloom. But then again, Elektra complicates everything. Maybe Karen and Foggy have a shot after all!

But if you really want answers on the Karen Page thing, go read Daredevil: Born Again, which I do not have enough good things to say about. That will probably spoil all of Daredevil season three for you, though!

Will We See The Punisher?

Daredevil first met the Punisher in Daredevil #183. The level of violence we’ve already seen on display in Daredevil basically makes the Punisher and his high body count crusade against criminals look like a real possibility. Plus, it helps that the folks in charge have at least been paying lip-service to the idea of bringing Frank Castle to the table.

The thing is, if Daredevil season two is not only going to advance the stories of the characters already introduced, but bring in heavy hitters like Bullseye and Elektra (and I’m telling you, those two are totally happening), it makes introducing the Punisher a bit of a problem. Do you want this series to feel as overstuffed as the 2003 Daredevil movie? Of course you don’t.

But the idea of threading Frank Castle’s origin story as background noise throughout the season is intriguing. In the Ultimate Marvel version of his origin, Frank Castle was a Serpico-style honest cop whose family ended up paying the price for his incorruptibility. Vigilantism and a penchant for keeping a “war journal” followed. It might be better off saving Punisher for season three (or even his own series), but I’d keep my radar senses attuned for Punisher easter eggs next year for sure, and a likely appearance by Frank Castle…if not in full-blown Punisher mode just yet.

Will Turk Barrett Return?

He’d better. Turk’s whole schtick is turning up like a bad penny every time Daredevil needs to lean on somebody for some information. Turk’s finest hour came towards the end of season one, where he was utilized pretty much exactly like he was supposed to be. Hapless, being chased by a dude in a weird costume, and giving up information once a little pressure was applied.

Plus, Rob Morgan was awesome in the role.

What About The Owl?

The Owl is dead. Long live…The Owl? Bob Gunton was terrific as criminal financial whiz, Leland Owlsley. The thing is, he bore little resemblance to the freaky Owl of the comics. That’s fine, because that wasn’t the vibe that season one was going for.

But he made more than one reference to a son named “Lee.” That’s Leland Owlsley Jr. In other words, there’s still an opportunity for a version of the Owl a little bit more like the supervillain from the Marvel Universe to show up in a future Daredevil season. Particularly in more recent comics, the Owl has been an especially skeevy douchebag, selling metahuman drugs to lowlives, and just generally giving everyone the creeps.

There’s a power vaccuum to be filled in the Hell’s Kitchen underworld, so maybe the Owl will show up as a secondary villain at some point in season two.

Will We Meet More of the Marvel Universe?

By the time Daredevil season two lands, AKA Jessica Jones will already be here, and there’s a chance that Luke Cage will be complete as well, although that seems ambitious. But since we’ll have met Luke Cage in AKA Jessica Jones anyway, then both of those characters are fair game for Daredevil season two.

In recent times, the super strong Jessica Jones (who works as a private eye) served as a bodyguard for Matt Murdock once his secret identity got revealed (which happens a lot). Matt also helped get her off a bogus murder charge, so the two have some back and forth. There’s also the matter of the vacant Atlas office across the hall from Nelson and Murdock. Jessica runs Alias Investigations, and it wouldn’t take much paint to change that sign from Atlas to Alias.

Considering how many Iron Fist easter eggs were scattered around season one, this might be where we first meet Danny Rand, too.

But you know who else would make for a fantastic guest star in Daredevil season two, even though it will almost certainly never happen?

That’s right. Matt Murdock and Natasha Romanoff had a fairly long-running friends with benefits situation, and this also happened right during that sweet spot in the Frank Miller years that have so dominated my speculation on season two. But with the Marvel Cinematic Universe inexplicably struggling to find something for Black Widow to do, maybe having her team up with Daredevil for a few episodes could help. It’s probably not gonna happen, though.

Don’t hold your breath for Spider-Man, or even Peter Parker, to show up…but maybe we’ll get our first look at a Marvel Cinematic Universe Daily Bugle in this one!

How About Stilt-Man?

No. This is all you’re getting. Stop asking.

Mike Cecchini will be down at Josie’s getting loaded with the low-lifes. But you can also find him on Twitter.