Binge-Worthy Series: Part 2

For the second post in this series, I’m going to focus on Netflix’s Marvel shows. All of them are binge-worthy. I’m a huge Daredevil fan, so that’s probably my favorite, second being The Punisher and third probably being Jessica Jones. I would recommend watching them all if you’re a Marvel fan.

Daredevil

• 2 seasons – so far.
• Action/Drama
• Available on Netflix

This series puts the Ben Affleck film to absolute shame. I really like how real the series feels for a superhero movie. It’s gritty and the story line is fantastic. So, the main character, Matthew Murdock is tragically blinded as a child and as a result – all of his other senses are heightened. He becomes a bad ass vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen at night and during the day, he works as a lawyer.

He has two main friends: Karen Page and Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. Foggy is Matthew’s partner and best friend and one of the first people to discover that he’s Daredevil. Foggy is always weighing the morality of vigilantism and has a deep concern for his best friend’s safety. The guy gives good advice but generally, Matthew doesn’t listen to him.

Season one basically introduces you to the main characters and their struggles and season two comes in hard – introducing one of my favorite comic book characters ever – Frank Castle AKA ‘The Punisher‘. Once Frank comes into the picture, bullets fly and there is one of the most epic prison scenes I’ve ever seen in my life.

If you’re just starting to watch Netflix’s Marvel universe, watch Daredevil first.

The Punisher 

• 1 season, so far (please be more!)
• Action/ total badassery
• Available on Netflix

When we first meet Frank Castle in Season 2 of Daredevil, it’s pretty clear this guy operates as a different kind of vigilantes. One way to sum up his character is a quote he says to Daredevil, “The difference between me and you is that when I put em’ down, they stay down”. Frank has zero tolerance for violent criminals and, though he has no superpowers, the dude can take one hell of a beating and get right back up to kick some more ass.

In his own series, we get to learn more about his backstory, his friendships and how losing his family essentially turned him into ‘The Punisher’. Frank doesn’t f*ck around. If he wants you dead, you’re dead. He is an expert with pretty much every gun in existence and has some hand-to-hand combat skills that aren’t be to f*cked with.

If you like action – any sort of action – this series is a must-see. Jon Bernthal really does an extraordinary portrayal of this iconic character. You can’t help but instantly feel connected to him. His story is one of loss, perseverance, betrayal, loyalty and epic badassery.

Jessica Jones

• 1 season, (season 2 coming soon)
• Action/drama
• Available on Netflix

Jessica Jones is awesome. Because of a car crash, she somehow develops super-strength and after trying to use it to be a superhero, she falls into somewhat of a rut. Before the show, she fell into the clutches of a dude who calls himself Killgrave, who has the ability of mind control. He essentially used her as a weapon and was completely obsessed with her. From her encounter with him, she has a bit of PTSD and starts Alias Investigations where she works as a private investigator. Jessica has a bit of a drinking problem but it’s cool, she still can throw people around like they’re dolls.

Just when she thinks Killgrave is dead, the asshole shows back up. He’s basically her kryptonite. Her best friend Trish Walker, who hosts a radio show, is always encouraging her to ‘get back out there’ as a superhero.

This show does a great job of showing a different kind of hero, one who is reluctant and mos of the time, not that friendly. She’s sarcastic as hell and it’s really hard not to like her flaws. They make her more human and very easy to relate to. We also first meet Luke Cage in her series and they have quite an interesting relationship.

Luke Cage

• 1 Season
• Action/Drama
• Available on Netflix

I was pleasantly surprised by how well this series was done. Luke’s backstory is great, (sad, but great). Like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage has super-strength but that’s not all – the dude is bulletproof. (I actually start to feel bad for the amount of money he probably has to spend on clothes – they’re all riddled with bullet holes!) He’s sometimes known as ‘The Hero of Harlem’, for good reason. He saves people a lot.

His style of fighting is really awesome. He has an ‘I don’t give a f*ck’ attitude while he stands there, straight-faced, basically just bitch slapping assholes out of the way. His story is really good. There’s lots of action and I love his interaction with Marvel’s nurse to the vigilantes – Claire.

Iron Fist

• 1 Season, so far
• Action
• Available on Netflix

Hey, it’s Loras Tyrell from ‘Game of Thrones’. This series, in my opinion, was slower paced than the other Marvel shows on Netflix but it’s still a good watch. So this dude, Danny Rand, was the heir to a huge fortune but everyone thought he was dead. He shows up to his father’s company looking like some homeless crazy and nobody believes it’s really him. He was thought to have died in the same plane crash as his parents – but surprise bitches, he didn’t. In fact, he became what’s known as ‘the iron fist‘.

I won’t go into too much detail about how his transformation takes place though because it plays out well in the show. It has to do with ‘Chi’. (Even though he has quite a temper at times).

Anyways, I would highly recommend watching this before you watch ‘The Defenders’ because Iron Fist’s role is hugely important in the team up. A lot of my friends didn’t like this series and it is my least favorite out of all of them but I still enjoyed it. I like marital arts.

The Defenders

• 1 Season
• Action/ Super hero team up
• Available on Netflix

They all come together: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand. In a huge conspiracy, they find themselves on the same side so teaming up makes sense, especially because they are all badasses. I don’t really want to go into the plot because it would spoil it.

It’s a great show and the character dynamics are great. They all really play off of each other well. It’s like they all meet up and – “Did we just become best friends?” – “Yup”. It’s a pretty epic team-up and it brings all the story lines crashing into one.

Eh, that bitch Electra shows up – ugh – AKA Daredevil’s mistake, as I like to call her. It’s still good, even with her annoying ass hanging around. Sigourney Weaver is in the series also, and she’s an asshat with a lot of really powerful asshat friends that become a big problem for ‘The Defenders’. They have to save New York – (but they don’t keep bringing it up like Arrow does about Star City, like dude, we get it – you want to save the city – stop reminding me). Oh, and there’s Stick – the guy that trained Daredevil. Claire’s there too. It’s a great mashup of all the Marvel Netflix series, (except the Punisher, wahh).

I really liked how they brought everything together and overall, you can’t go wrong with Marvel. Check back for Binge-Worthy Series: Part 3.