Daredevil and The Defenders Dysfunctional MCU Problem

  I'll go on record right now.  Netflix's Daredevil is my favorite LIVE-ACTION comic book series.  Even more than Smallville or Arrow.  Daredevil is one of my favorite Marvel characters.  I like him not because of his powers or costume (which is pretty sweet) but because he's a hero who is just trying to do the right thing, but most of the time ends up making things worse for himself and those around him.  Charlie Cox was so great as Matt Murdock I gave away my copy of the Daredevil starring Ben Affleck.  Same thing with Jon Bernthal and my copy of The Punisher with Thomas Jane.  Cox and Bernthal's version of the characters are so definitive to me I can't watch any other previous version.  But I admit that is also a problem.

Last night, my Twitter feed erupted from a story coming out of the site CinemaBlend. In an interview with Kevin Feige he said, "If you were to see Daredevil in upcoming things, Charlie Cox, yes, would be the actor playing Daredevil. Where we see that, how we see that, when we see that, remains to be seen."  Rumors of Cox's possible return to the role have been circling for months.  Some believe we will see Matt Murdock in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The problem this creates is that Cox was part of another shared Marvel universe on Netflix.  Before Disney+ started cranking out MCU shows, Netflix was doing The Avengers formula on a smaller scale.  The Defenders started with individual series for Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, that then came together for The Defenders.  These characters were actually supposed to be set in the MCU with references sprinkled throughout, but then the references became less and less.  However, the Netflix series were all under the reign of Ike Perlmutter, who was the Chairman and CEO of Marvel Entertainment at the time, and who Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, did not get along with.

As the series were released Daredevil was beloved by most, while the rest got mixed to mediocre reviews.  Jon Bernthal's portrayal as The Punisher was praised as a highlight of Netflix's Marvel U.  When Disney+ was created the Mouse House wanted to be the only ones making MTV (Marvel television) and the Netflix series were cancelled. Some saw this as mercy killings anyway, except Daredevil.  Since then, fans hoped Cox, and even Vicent D'onofrio's Kingpin, would be incorporated into the regular MCU.  

Like I said, the Netflix series were technically part of the MCU so if Feige and his team plan to bring Cox aboard as Daredevil then they just have to acknowledge the Netflix series is MCU.  But that means the rest of The Defenders would be considered MCU as well.  Feige's problem with how Perlmutter ran his division of Marvel meant Feige also didn't want to mix his and Perlmutter's characters.  These TV shows would reference the MCU films, but never the other way around.  Sure Charlie Cox as Daredevil would be a huge win.  But what about all the other characters Feige would inherit?  Jessica Jones and Luke Cage declined in quality as they continued, and Iron Fist never was any good (and this is coming from someone who likes Iron Fist as a Marvel character). Setting aside Finn Jones's acting abilities, that version of Danny Rand was terrible.  Do we really want that version as the MCU's Iron Fist going forward?  

Now, Feige can say that Charlie Cox is doing an entirely new interpretation of Daredevil going forward, but then why not just recast?  Someone else will play Wolverine besides Hugh Jackman and someday, someone, will play Tony Stark besides Robert Downey Jr. How many Batmans, James Bonds, Jokers, and Supermans have we had?  Some have been good, and some not so good, but we all moved on after.  Keeping Cox on as Daredevil only continues the current entitled narrative that fans say what the studios should do.  While I was curious to see Zack Snyder's Justice League, I was not one of the sweaties that demanded Warner Bros give Snyder millions of dollars to let him finish his version of the film because they "deserved it." And after the $70 million+ was spent, the sweaties demanded Snyder get to finish his other planned DC films, even though all his previous DC films all under performed. Like a toddler throwing a fit in the middle of a toy store, we cannot let them think they are in control. 

To sum up this entire post I just have to ask myself three questions. Do I want to see more of Charlie Cox as Daredevil? Yes!  Do I want to see more of the rest of the Netflix Marvel characters? No! Do I think I should just shut up and remember that Kevin Feige probably has a plan like everything else he's done so far, and so far, it's all been pretty good? Of course, dumbass!

The 'Fury' of War

War is horrible.  Some people try to glorify it, but it sucks.  In the film, Fury, directed by David Ayer, I felt like he tried to portray that message.  Nobody ever wins a war.  Either you die physically or you survive and die internally.  At least that's the message I got from this film.

Logan Lerman plays Norman, a young man who is thrust into battle at the end of WWII.  Norman is assigned to the tank Fury, commanded by Wardaddy, played by Brad Pitt.  Along with them are Shia LaBeouf(Transformers), Michael Pena(End of Watch), and Jon Bernthal(The Walking Dead).  These men are charged with cleaning up Germany in 1945 and fighting off the last of the Nazi regime.

Along the way Norman learns the horrors of war from his tankmates.  Some of whom he disagrees with, but they must all work together if they are to survive an attack from over 300 Nazi soldiers.

The strongest part of this film were the performances.  At first you think Pitt is just doing his Inglorious Bastards character, but as the film goes on you see him as a much deeper character.  At the end of each battle he must take a moment to shutter at what he has done.  He must also keep his men in check who are being driven mad by years of killing.  On the other side of the coin is the new kid, Norman.  Norman has to learn to kill a man to preserve his life and those of his comrades.  I thought Lerman did a great job of trying to play that innocence, and then had that moment when he gets it; he gets what he has to do to live. 

 The rest of the crew gave solid performances that made each of their characters likable.  The film also felt like it was a smaller, more personal story, than other war films.  With five men in a tight space you have to feel the relationships between them.  The two strongest scenes were when Wardaddy was making Norman give out his first kill, and also when Wardaddy tries to have a sense of normalcy when running into two German women who were trying to hide.

The weakness in this film is it's predictability.  At the beginning you can guess the end, and they're really weren't any surprises.  However, I liked how it was about the men running the tanks.  A lot of war films we see infantry or pilots.  This was a nice change of perspective.

David Ayer did a fine of job of showing us how horrible war is, the tough decisions soldiers make, and how it effects them.  I really liked the final shot of the film.  I think it speaks to the strength of the men inside Fury, and the tragedy of war.

RATING:  B-