I Watched Daredevil and Will Never Watch Arrow Again

Word to God, I will never watch Arrow again. Let me rewind a minute. This past weekend was the first weekend of spring weather in New York City, and instead of running through Central Park or eating ice cream from the street vendors that appeared like spring flowers, I spent 13 hours indoors watching Daredevil. And I regret nothing. Daredevil is – and I don’t say this lightly – the best superhero show ever made. Expectations of the Netflix series were mixed as most fans didn’t know what to expect, which is rather understandable given the previous butchery of the character in the 2003 film. In this new rendition – the “dark and gritty” remake, as everyone is keen to call it – Daredevil offers exposition that is effectively an origin story, yet without ever feeling like one. Its outstanding writing makes it a series not only a staple for comic fans, but also for any casual Netflix viewer who decided to see what this whole thing was about. In fact, the casual viewer might even enjoy it more thanks to the amazing portrayal of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio.

D’Onofrio’s performance is worthy of incredibly high praise, making a nuanced, compassionate interpretation of a character that would have been easy to minimize into a simplistically evil, brutish goon. Instead, D’Onofrio – and the writers, much to their credit – gambled to give us a man of both dubiousness and vulnerability. Wilson Fisk was emotional, polite, and somehow one could even use the word “co…