The second season of the American
streaming television
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...
series ''
Daredevil'', which is based on the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
character
of the same name, follows
Matt Murdock / Daredevil, a blind lawyer-by-day who fights crime at night, crossing paths with the deadly
Frank Castle / Punisher along with the return of an old girlfriend—
Elektra Natchios. It is set in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
(MCU), sharing continuity with
the films and other
television series of the franchise. The season is produced by
Marvel Television
Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel En ...
in association with
ABC Studios
ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...
, with
Doug Petrie
Douglas Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. He co-wrote the screenplays for the ''Fantastic Four'' film and '' Harriet the Spy ...
and
Marco Ramirez serving as
showrunner
A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
s, and series creator
Drew Goddard
Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer most closely associated with the horror genre. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ...
acting as consultant.
Charlie Cox
Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English-American actor. He is best-known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in seven projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading the television series '' Daredevil'' (2015–2018) a ...
stars as Murdock, while
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. He came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where he was a starring cast member in the f ...
and
Élodie Yung
Élodie Yung (; born 22 February 1981) is a French actress. She is best known for her roles as Elektra Natchios in the second season of '' Daredevil'' (2016) and the miniseries '' The Defenders'' (2017), as well as Thony De La Rosa on the Fo ...
are introduced as Castle and Natchios, respectively.
Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll (born February 7, 1985) is an American actress. She played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She portrayed Karen Page in four tele ...
,
Elden Henson,
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...
, and
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leona ...
also return from the
first season, with
Stephen Rider
Stephen Rider (born September 25, 1979) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Admiral Stephen W. Rochon in the film '' The Butler'' (2013), Eric Millworth in the ABC series '' Lucky 7'' (2014) and Blake Tower in th ...
joining them. The season was ordered in April 2015 after the successful release of the first, with Petrie and Ramirez replacing the season one showrunner
Steven S. DeKnight. Production on the season began in July 2015 and continued through December, with the season focusing on the nature of heroism through comparison of Murdock to Castle and Natchios, and showing how the latter two affect Murdock's life.
The first two episodes of the season premiered in Paris on March 7, 2016, with the full season of 13 episodes released on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on March 18. Critics praised the introduction of Castle and Natchios, as well as Bernthal's performance in particular, the season's action, and storylines. However, many missed the presence of
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Vondie Curtis-Hall (born September 30, 1950) is an American actor, film director, and television director. As an actor, he is known for his role as Dr. Dennis Hancock on the CBS medical drama '' Chicago Hope'' created by David E. Kelley and as ...
's
Ben Urich
Benjamin "Ben" Urich () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in stories featuring Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil and Spider-Man.
Urich is a invest ...
from the first season, and D'Onofrio's
Wilson Fisk during the first half of the second season. The series was renewed for a
third season in July 2016.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
*
Charlie Cox
Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English-American actor. He is best-known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in seven projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading the television series '' Daredevil'' (2015–2018) a ...
as
Matt Murdock / Daredevil
*
Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll (born February 7, 1985) is an American actress. She played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She portrayed Karen Page in four tele ...
as
Karen Page
Karen Page is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. She served as the original love interest for Daredevil, working as an office manager for him and Foggy Nelson ...
*
Elden Henson as
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
*
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. He came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where he was a starring cast member in the f ...
as
Frank Castle / Punisher
*
Élodie Yung
Élodie Yung (; born 22 February 1981) is a French actress. She is best known for her roles as Elektra Natchios in the second season of '' Daredevil'' (2016) and the miniseries '' The Defenders'' (2017), as well as Thony De La Rosa on the Fo ...
as
Elektra Natchios
*
Stephen Rider
Stephen Rider (born September 25, 1979) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Admiral Stephen W. Rochon in the film '' The Butler'' (2013), Eric Millworth in the ABC series '' Lucky 7'' (2014) and Blake Tower in th ...
as
Blake Tower
*
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...
as
Claire Temple
*
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leona ...
as
Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
Recurring
*
Royce Johnson as
Brett Mahoney
* Susan Varon as
Josie
*
Michelle Hurd as
Samantha Reyes
* Marilyn Torres as
Louisa Delgado
*
Geoffrey Cantor as
Mitchell Ellison
* Ron Nakahara as
Hirochi
* John Pirkis as
Stan Gibson
*
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
as
Stick
*
Peter Shinkoda as
Nobu Yoshioka
Notable guests
*
Rob Morgan as
Turk Barrett
*
Matt Gerald
Matt Gerald (born May 2, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter.
Gerald was born in Miami, Florida. A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, he is best known for his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) roles as White Power Dave in ''All Ha ...
as
Melvin Potter
*
Peter McRobbie as
Paul Lantom
'' Daredevil'' is an American television series created for Netflix by Drew Goddard, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise ...
*
Amy Rutberg as
Marci Stahl
* Kevin Nagle as
Roscoe Sweeney
*
Wai Ching Ho as
Gao
Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an imp ...
* Suzanne H. Smart as
Shirley Benson
*
Carrie-Anne Moss
Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000), for ...
as
Jeri Hogarth
Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a friend of Iron Fist (character), Iron Fist's father Wendell and an attorney for the Heroes for Hire, a team of heroes of which I ...
Production
Development
When asked about the future of the series following the
first season,
showrunner
A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
Steven S. DeKnight said that ''Daredevil'' "is one part of the bigger plan—''
Jessica Jones
Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appea ...
'', ''
Luke Cage
Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...
'', ''
Iron Fist'', and then ''
The Defenders''. How that all fits together, and whether or not there will be a second season of this show—or if it will fold into the others—are questions nobody really has answers to yet."
In November 2014, DeKnight said that there "probably will be more" seasons of ''Daredevil'' following the first.
In January 2015,
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
COO Ted Sarandos
Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. (born July 30, 1964) is an American business executive who has been the co-chief executive officer of Netflix since 2020.
Early life and education
Sarandos was born on July 30, 1964, at Monmouth Medical Cente ...
stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well
heyare addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" to determine if additional seasons would be appropriate.
On April 21, 2015, Marvel and Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, with
Doug Petrie
Douglas Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. He co-wrote the screenplays for the ''Fantastic Four'' film and '' Harriet the Spy ...
and
Marco Ramirez replacing DeKnight as showrunners as well as acting as executive producers; both served as writers in the first season and worked closely with DeKnight and series creator
Drew Goddard
Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer most closely associated with the horror genre. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ...
.
The season introduces the
Frank Castle / Punisher, whom DeKnight and the writers had wanted to introduce in a
post-credits scene
A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...
during the first-season finale but were unable due to the way that Netflix begins the next episode during the credits of the current one. DeKnight felt that this "was the right decision. I think there's a better, more organic way to introduce him to the world."
Ramirez referred to the second season internally as "Daredevil vs. the Punisher".
In September 2015, Goddard explained that he was still involved with the season as an executive producer, consulting with Petrie and Ramirez when asked to.
The season consists of 13 hour-long episodes.
Writing
Ramirez talked about how the second season would be different from the first, saying that the writers had spent the first season wondering "if there was a place for dark and gritty content in superheroes" and because of the positive fan reaction to that ("we got a loud answer of 'yes), approached the second season with the mindset, "you wanted grounded and wanted dark, here's Elektra and Punisher. You asked for it." Petrie, talking about the potential use of flashbacks in the season, said that sometimes it is best to "peel back the layer of the onion through flashback, or two people in a room talking can have all the power in the world. That's something we get to pick and choose."
On including the Punisher specifically in the season, where he is introduced to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
, Goddard felt television was the best fit for the character, as the writers are "able to do things on the small screen that fit that character better than if we had to water him down for the movies."
Goddard stated that the season's approach to the characters and their actions would be to do what makes sense for the characters rather than "pushing the boundary" or looking to shock the audience, though he noted that this could still go in a more "adult...darker, dirtier" way due to the freedom of Netflix and the presence of characters such as the Punisher.
Petrie stated that the writers hoped to "stir the pot" and "get people to think" with the inclusion of the Punisher and his lethal methods, adding, "Taking lethal justice into your own hands in America in 2015 is tricky shit. We have not shied away from the rich complicated reality of Now. If you've got a gun and you're not the police you're going to incite strong feelings."
Ramirez added that Castle was not referred to as "Punisher" in the writer's room, similarly to
Wilson Fisk not being called "Kingpin" for season one, as it allowed the writers to think "about
astleas a man with a vendetta, who made an oath to his dead family. The more specific it got, the less it became about issues outside of Hell's Kitchen or other things."
In the series, the moniker of "The Punisher" is given to Castle by the media due to his aggressive actions.
For the timing of introducing the new characters, the showrunners decided to introduce the Punisher immediately and hold back on Elektra briefly, with Ramirez explaining that "one of the pitfalls when we have this many great characters to play with is wanting to throw them at the wall", but it was important to take the time to introduce the new characters properly to the audience, particularly to the people who weren't already familiar with them.
Elaborating on the aim to keep the story focused on Murdock, Petrie revealed that the writers would often come up with "amazing stuff" for the season, but then realize that they had forgotten about Murdock and had to "completely turn it over and look at how this affects Matt and filter it through that prism." Ramirez added,
Charlie Cox
Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English-American actor. He is best-known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in seven projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading the television series '' Daredevil'' (2015–2018) a ...
explained that with Wilson Fisk imprisoned following the first season, season two picks up with "the crime rate
avingplummeted. Things have returned to normal, if not better than normal", which is when Punisher is introduced, who makes
Matt Murdock
Daredevil is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with some input from Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' Daredevil'' #1 (April 1964).
...
"question everything. Matt has to reevaluate and what he does".
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville'' and ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', writer for the films ''C ...
, head of
Marvel Television
Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel En ...
, said that "if season one was really about Matt's decision to become a hero, then season two really became about what is it to be a hero." By introducing the Punisher and Elektra, the writers were able to "push and pull" on Murdock, contrasting their three ideologies—the Punisher seeing "justice in a very black-and-white kind of way", and Elektra living "more in the gray". On Elektra in particular, Loeb said that she has a very clear, self-motivated agenda, and she challenges Murdock's own agenda and "quest for justice. Who are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? What's the end goal that you're trying to achieve?"
More backstory and story arcs had been created for the characters Nobu and Gao, but this was not used, which Nobu actor
Peter Shinkoda attributes to Loeb not caring about Asian people.
Casting
Charlie Cox
Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English-American actor. He is best-known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in seven projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading the television series '' Daredevil'' (2015–2018) a ...
,
Deborah Ann Woll
Deborah Ann Woll (born February 7, 1985) is an American actress. She played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series ''True Blood'' (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She portrayed Karen Page in four tele ...
,
Elden Henson,
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...
, and
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
His roles include Private Leona ...
return from the first season as
Matt Murdock / Daredevil,
Karen Page
Karen Page is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. She served as the original love interest for Daredevil, working as an office manager for him and Foggy Nelson ...
,
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson,
Claire Temple, and
Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, respectively.
In June 2015,
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor. He came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where he was a starring cast member in the f ...
was cast as
Frank Castle / Punisher,
and
Élodie Yung
Élodie Yung (; born 22 February 1981) is a French actress. She is best known for her roles as Elektra Natchios in the second season of '' Daredevil'' (2016) and the miniseries '' The Defenders'' (2017), as well as Thony De La Rosa on the Fo ...
was cast as
Elektra Natchios a month later.
In September,
Stephen Rider
Stephen Rider (born September 25, 1979) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Admiral Stephen W. Rochon in the film '' The Butler'' (2013), Eric Millworth in the ABC series '' Lucky 7'' (2014) and Blake Tower in th ...
joined the cast as
Blake Tower.
Also returning from season one are
Royce Johnson as
Brett Mahoney,
Susan Varon as
Josie,
Geoffrey Cantor as
Mitchell Ellison,
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...
as
Stick,
Peter Shinkoda as
Nobu Yoshioka,
Rob Morgan as
Turk Barrett,
Matt Gerald
Matt Gerald (born May 2, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter.
Gerald was born in Miami, Florida. A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, he is best known for his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) roles as White Power Dave in ''All Ha ...
as
Melvin Potter,
Peter McRobbie as Father
Paul Lantom
'' Daredevil'' is an American television series created for Netflix by Drew Goddard, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise ...
,
Amy Rutberg as
Marci Stahl,
Kevin Nagle as
Roscoe Sweeney,
Wai Ching Ho as
Gao
Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an imp ...
,
and Suzanne H. Smart as
Shirley Benson.
Ron Nakahara, John Pirkis, and Marilyn Torres have recurring roles as
Hirochi,
Stan Gibson,
and
Louisa Delgado, respectively, while
Michelle Hurd and
Carrie-Anne Moss
Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000), for ...
reprise their ''
Jessica Jones
Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appea ...
'' roles of
Samantha Reyes and
Jeri Hogarth
Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a friend of Iron Fist (character), Iron Fist's father Wendell and an attorney for the Heroes for Hire, a team of heroes of which I ...
.
Design
Joshua Shaw designed costumes for characters in the season.
Petrie stated that more layers were added to the series' atmosphere to keep the season dark but provide more clarity to the viewer, an issue that occurred in the first season.
Petrie also talked about the costumes for characters such as Elektra, noting that they had to not only look at the comics and "what looks cool", but also "what would you really fight in? What would protect you?
..will people be wearing kick ass costumes in this show? At some point, everybody does. We promise. But, that said, we want to make them feel as organic and grounded as possible.
Lorraine Calvert joined the series as
costume designer
A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...
for the season. On adapting Elektra's costume for the season, which in the comics usually consists of impractically "strappy" red cloth, Calvert decided to make it utilitarian and appealing, while still being faithful to the comics. Originally starting out opposite of the eventual sleek design for both her fighting and daytime attire, Calvert said, "Ideas were tossed around about how she was possibly bohemian,
ecauseshe was a free spirit who traveled all over the world with as much money as she possibly could." This eventually led to the final, sleeker design, because Elektra "really needs a very simple, elegant line because too much cloth is overwhelming." The costume consisted of "black moto pants, a one-piece zippered body suit, a sleeveless vest, and red cloth to provide the highlights and the hood covering Elektra's face." The shade of the red used for Elektra throughout the season was chosen so it would not clash with the red in Daredevil's costume, as well as to match the darker tone of the series.
Daredevil's costume was also upgraded in the season, with Calvert calling it "a much more fluid suit and much more tactical in a way." The costume department "streamlined" the suit to make it simpler, using less material on the gauntlets and boots.
Cox described it as a "delicate area" that required some "tweaks" after the brief use of it at the end of the first season. He noted that the changes are weaved into the storyline of the season, including the need for a new, redesigned mask, and a lower-half of the suit that is closer to the original cargo pants that the character wore earlier in the previous season. These baggier pants gave Cox and his stunt double much more maneuverability.
Filming
Production on the season began in July 2015 in
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...
, with the working title ''Ringside'',
and a nine-day-per-episode schedule.
Filming locations included the
Metro Theater;
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...
;
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East ...
;
Long Island City
Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...
;
SoHo
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
for exterior shots of Murdock's apartment;
Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. River engineering#Channelization, Channelization made it one of the most heavily-use ...
; the
Forest Park Carousel;
Bayside, Queens
Bayside is a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fr ...
for Castle's old home;
Green-Wood Cemetery and Catacombs;
East Village; the
Bronx County Courthouse
The Bronx County Courthouse, also known as the Mario Merola Building, is an historic courthouse building located in the Concourse and Melrose neighborhoods of the Bronx in New York City. It was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934. ...
;
Tribeca
Tribeca ( ), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Str ...
;
Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...
; the
Brooklyn Navy Yard
The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...
;
Fort Totten and tunnels inside
Bayley Seton Hospital
Bayley Seton Hospital (BSH) was a hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island, Stapleton, Staten Island, New York City. It was a part of the Bayley Seton campus of Richmond University Medical Center but is permanently closed.
The campus was establish ...
for when Murdock confronts the Hand; and
Calvary Cemetery.
Filming ended in December 2015.
Martin Ahlgren joined the series as
director of photography
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
for the season,
deciding to "go in a slightly different direction" than the first season, but retaining "the yellowish street light color that gave season one a very distinct style". Ahlgren filmed season two in
4K resolution
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) with a 16:9 asp ...
on
RED Dragon cameras, and tried to use in-shot lighting such as lamps and car headlights, as well as "4×4 Light Blankets—flexible sheets of LED that was small enough to fit into tight locations and light enough that it could be taped to a wall, yet outputs a very nice soft light that can be adjusted from daylight to tungsten color".
Ahlgren highlighted the car chase at the beginning of "Guilty as Sin" as a challenge, noting the many ninjas chasing the car, and the one that "jumps up on the car and travels on the roof for a block", with all the stunts filmed on location. An Ultimate Arm, "a motorized crane mounted on a Porsche Cayenne", was used for the sequence, a break from the series' usual handheld and steadicam operations. The chase was shot over two nights in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with the interior of the car then filmed on a green screen stage, a rarity for the series, "to give the actors a better environment to act in".
On the season's fight sequences and choreography, Bernthal said, "The fights are all character-driven and the fights tell a story". Cox added that "there is absolutely an attempt to make sure every punch or kick that is thrown is like a line of dialogue; there is motive behind it, there is reason behind it, it means something".
Cox's stunt double, Chris Brewster, explained how the series' fight choreography has evolved, with the first season having shown Murdock just starting out as a vigilante—"he fought with all heart and soul, but wasn't a polished fighter. He was more raw and gritty"—while the second season sees the character having learned from previous mistakes—"his style is more defined and thought out now, but he will always fight with the Daredevil flair". As for the fighting styles of Punisher and Elektra, Brewster said that because of the Punisher's military background he uses a lot of weapons, and his "hand to hand style is more of a close quarter combat nature", while Elektra was trained by Stick and the Hand, so she has similar movement to Daredevil who was also trained by Stick. "However", Brewster continued, "The Hand are trained assassins who are all about stealth takeouts and quick kills. Her style shows elements of" that as well.
The season uses multiple different martial art styles, including
kali
Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...
, Chinese
kung fu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
,
wing chun
Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...
,
kenjutsu
is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms o ...
, and
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
.
The one-take fight in "New York's Finest" in which Daredevil fights gang members down a staircase was described by Cox as "kind of like an homage" to the first season's well received one-take hallway fight scene, and "almost like that scene on crack". Silvera noted that it is a metaphorical "descent into Hell" rather than a "test of will" like the first season's scene.
The stunt team had three days to prepare the fight, and the final sequence was filmed in a day and a half.
Unlike the first season's scene, which was shot on a set and used a camera mounted on a ceiling track, the stairwell sequence was filmed on location, and required the camera to be passed around multiple people to get the final shot.
The season includes another homage to the hallway scene in "Seven Minutes in Heaven", where the Punisher has his own hallway fight. Silvera noted that this "full-blown", murdering Punisher was "a strong contrast to Daredevil". For all the season's fights, the stunt team filmed a
previsualization
Previsualization (also known as previsualisation, previs, previz, pre-rendering, preview or wireframe windows) is the visualizing of scenes or sequences in a movie before filming. It is a concept used in other creative arts, including animation, ...
version using stunt doubles,
with the actors, such as Cox, then shown this in sections on the day of filming, and allowed to make adjustments where necessary. Though the actors completed the majority of the fights, doubles were used for flips and major stunts.
Visual effects
Shade VFX returns from the first season to work on the visual effects for the series.
Music
By September 2015,
John Paesano
John Paesano (born July 2, 1977) is an American composer working primarily in film, television, and video games. He is known for collaborating with director Wes Ball on the ''Maze Runner'' film trilogy and ''Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ...
had begun composing music for the season.
He felt that the season's new showrunners "were true to what we were trying to do in season one. There were just elements in season two that we had to acknowledge" such as the Punisher and Elektra. He jokingly said that "it's not like we all of the sudden went into
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
territory, you know? It's definitely still dark, still gritty
..but it definitely jumps up a couple levels." When approaching the characters of Punisher and Elektra, with whom Paesano was familiar from the comics and previous adaptations, he "took all those preconceived notions I had with a grain of salt" and waited to see what the season's interpretation of the characters would be. Paesano worked closely with the series' sound design team, spotting episodes with them to coordinate where "we were going to hit what" and "maintain that definable aspect of New York" and its sound.
A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...
on July 15, 2016.
All music composed by John Paesano, unless otherwise noted.
Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins
On references to the larger MCU, Ramirez said "those little
Easter eggs
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...
that come along the way are fun", but there were times when the writers did not take opportunities to reference the rest of the universe because they felt like distractions from the series' narrative and characters. Petrie stated that the writers wanted to "keep it in Hell's Kitchen" and focus on issues such as "the air conditioner doesn't work at Nelson and Murdock. That's really what we're interested in." He explained that the real life New York City "has a larger than life presence" with celebrities that live there—"If you see
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974), nicknamed "the Captain", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) caree ...
walking down the street, that's great, but then you turn the corner and you get into an argument with the guy who overcharged you for a pretzel. We want our guys to be real New Yorkers."
The season features the
motorcycle gang
An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a biker club or club (in Australia), is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purpo ...
Dogs of Hell, who were first introduced through their Nevada chapter in the ''
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, ...
'' episode "
Yes Men
The Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through various actions, the Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about problematic social and political issues. To date, t ...
",
and
Roxxon Corporation, a company featured throughout the MCU.
It also mentions the vigilantes
Jessica Jones
Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appea ...
and
Luke Cage
Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...
, the death of Oscar Clemons, and the law firm Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz, which are all references to the
first season of ''
Jessica Jones
Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appea ...
''.
When Claire Temple first appears in the season, she has "a cut in her eyebrow", which Cox was told would be explained in ''
Luke Cage
Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...
'', saying, "the timeline had been thought through and worked out so that whatever's going on in ''Luke Cage'' ... somehow at some point during that show, the next day she's in the hospital talking to me."
Marketing
Footage from the season was shown at
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...
in October 2015,
and at
Comic Con Experience
CCXP (originally called Comic Con Experience) is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention that has been variously held in Brazil, Germany and Mexico. The largest pop-culture festival in the world, it is designed along the same lines as S ...
that December.
On February 15, 2016, the first part of the season trailer was released focusing on the Punisher, while the second part focusing on Elektra was released 10 days later, on February 25.
Scott Mendelson of ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' felt the first part is "clearly going for a vibe similar to that first full-length ''
Dark Knight'' teaser back in December of 2007, with Castle being framed as a natural byproduct of/reaction to Daredevil's own vigilantism". He also appreciated that it appeared Castle would be presented as a villain, as the previous
film adaptions of the character always had Castle "still a hero at the end". Mendelson's one drawback to the trailer was when Castle starts "monologue-ing" in the last third, feeling Bernthal "casts such an imposing and grim shadow as a near-silent angel of death that the
aunting and mythologicalmood is almost broken".
Joanna Robinson at ''
Vanity Fair'' felt that the premise of the trailer, with Daredevil facing the Punisher, is "right in line with the big superhero trend this spring", comparing it to ''
Captain America: Civil War'' and ''
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', which feature
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...
fighting
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...
and
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
fighting
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
, respectively. Robinson wondered if, like those films, the season also has a separate, "bigger bad waiting in the wings to unite our vigilantes" that the trailer is hiding.
On March 7, 2016, the first two episodes of the season premiered in Paris,
with a premiere in New York City on March 10.
Also in early March, billboards were erected in Toronto featuring character posters for Daredevil, Punisher and Elektra.
The series'
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account encouraged users to vote for which character was their favorite, with the other two receiving blood and bruises added to their billboards.
Release
Streaming
The second season of ''Daredevil'' was released on March 18, 2016, on the
streaming service
Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
worldwide,
in
Ultra HD
Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K resolution#Resolutions, 4K UHD and 8K resolution#Resolutions, 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an ...
4K.
Preparing for the release, Netflix created eight different images to use as cover art for the season on its site. The images were randomly distributed among select subscribers, with Netflix tracking to see which one was the best-performing to eventually use for all subscribers. Netflix also debuted a countdown timer to a percentage of its users worldwide, allowing them to see how long it was until the season would debut.
The season was enhanced to be available in
high-dynamic-range video
High dynamic range (HDR), also known as wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, or expanded dynamic range, is a signal with a higher dynamic range than usual.
The term is often used in discussing the dynamic ranges of images, videos, audio or ...
after its initial release by post-production vendor
Deluxe.
The season, along with the additional ''Daredevil'' seasons and the other
Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
regaining the rights.
The season became available on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.
Home media
The season was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in
Region 2 and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in
Region B on May 15, 2017,
in
Region 4 on June 14, 2017,
and in
Region 1 and
Region A on August 22, 2017.
Reception
Audience viewership
As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series,
Symphony Technology Group
STG Partners, LLC (STG) is an American private equity firm and based in Menlo Park, California. Its predecessor, Symphony Technology Group ("Symphony") was founded in 2002Dorbian, Iris (July 1, 2024) STG Rising: Hailing the Newcomer on the 100. ...
compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, the second season of ''Daredevil'' had 5.94% of viewers age 18-49 watching in an average minute in the first 32 days following its release.
Symphony also estimated that 3.2 million viewers age 18-49 were watching an episode of ''Daredevil''s second season over the average minute in its first weekend of release.
The marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click-stream data from an online panel of more than 100 million consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season.
Critical response

The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported an 81% approval rating with an average rating of 6.90/10 based on 57 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bolstered by some impressive action, ''Daredevil'' keeps its footing in season two, even if its new adversaries can't quite fill the void left by Wilson Fisk."
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Reviewing the first seven episodes, Brian Lowry of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said, the season begins "on an uneven note", comparing some of the early moments to the works of
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...
, "complete with slow-motion bullets and blood sprays. Stick with it, though, and the show blossoms, featuring a few terrific action sequences while introducing into this grim world seminal characters the Punisher and Elektra."
Kevin Fitzpatrick of ''
ScreenCrush
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'' felt the first seven episodes of the season seemed "to have learned the best of both" from season one and ''Jessica Jones'', "placing its most compelling imagery front and center straightaway, but still taking time to pick apart the characters beneath them, rather than shout platitudes about saving the city". He also praised the castings of Bernthal and Yung as Punisher and Elektra, respectively, and enjoyed "the improved spotlight" for Foggy and Karen, given the reduction of Dawson saying, "So many superhero series struggle to draw its supporting characters as compellingly as the action, and ''Daredevil''s particular blend of set piece and legal thriller feels inescapably original". However, Fitzpatrick did note the series lacked the presence
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Vondie Curtis-Hall (born September 30, 1950) is an American actor, film director, and television director. As an actor, he is known for his role as Dr. Dennis Hancock on the CBS medical drama '' Chicago Hope'' created by David E. Kelley and as ...
brought as
Ben Urich
Benjamin "Ben" Urich () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in stories featuring Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil and Spider-Man.
Urich is a invest ...
in the first season. He concluded that the season's progression "feels much cleaner" than the first's, "moving almost in acts more than back and forth victories
..Even the aim feels that much more cohesive, to start in a place of Matt, Foggy and Karen all confident in their new roles, but wrestling with the consequence of their choice to always help the helpless."
Merrill Barr of ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' said, "''Daredevil'' season two is very much the same excellent show ''Daredevil'' season one was... but in the places it isn't, it's also very much improved". Barr praised Bernthal as the Punisher, and noted the reduction in the amount of "thick blacks" in the cinematography that the first season was criticized for.
''
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
''s Chris Cabin also praised the first seven episodes of the season, giving it four stars, and saying that the series "finds overwhelmingly sincere and effective traces of humanity in a genre that has been hard-pressed to feel overtly pre-conceived in its political, societal, and philosophical ideas". He said ''Daredevil'', like ''Jessica Jones'', "feels like a show that is constantly evolving, and consistently searching for challenges". Cabin also felt that "the show's use of sound and image to infer or suggest as much as any line of dialogue
..continues to set this series apart from its half-measured kin." He added that the season "goes to great lengths to make the stakes of" the moral and ethical issues, as seen by pitting Daredevil's methods against the Punisher, "intensely involving and thrilling," while also praising the action sequences of the season and the "streamlined focus on character in the writing", claiming that "none of the
CUfilms have even an iota of the seductive intimacy and heart of this show."
Dennis Perkins writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' awarded the season a "B+", missing D'Onofrio's "towering menace as Wilson Fisk", but feeling that Bernthal and Yung "make Castle and Elektra an effective season-long two-pronged assault on Matt Murdock's heroic identity, which gives ''Daredevil''s supporting characters a clearer purpose as well."
''
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' reviewer Matt Fowler, after reviewing all the episodes of season two individually, gave the season a 9.3 out of 10, saying that it "excels at both action and story while giving us a much more complex and layered season than the first.
..Gone is a notable 'main villain', but instead we're given fantastic performances by not only the main returning cast but by the newly introduced Jon Bernthal and Elodie Yung."
Jack Shepherd of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' was slightly more critical of the early episodes of the season, saying the ideological battle between Murdock and Castle "is the crux of these first few episodes and also highlights the main problem with ''Daredevil''" pointing out that "there is no real bad guy here" and there "is only so many times you can watch an episode end with Daredevil and Punisher beating each other up before you start thinking there is a glitch in
the Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...
." He also agreed with Fitzpatick regarding Curtis-Hall's presence as Ben Urich not being filled in the season. Despite this, Shepherd added that the season began to pick up by the fourth episode, with the introduction of Elektra, capping with episodes six and seven, which he called "by far the season's best, laying the foundation for an exciting story ahead", while also praising Cox, Henson, Woll, Bernthal and Yung for their performances.
Daniel Fienberg, reviewing the first seven episodes for ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', expressed similar sentiments as Shepherd, feeling the episodes missed what Vincent D'Onofrio brought as Wilson Fisk in the first season, or at least "the through-line threat that he presented...Fortunately, the
unisher and Elektraare vividly realized and the action is still visceral and brutal and maybe the big picture will emerge in the season's second half. Because of the portrayals of those two characters, he felt "that there's a challenge to remain wholly invested in plotlines that don't involve them". Despite being "right on the edge of desensitization" regarding the fight scenes, Fienberg still praised them, highlighting the different styles Elektra and the Punisher used "vary
ngthe dynamic enough".
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
''s Jeff Jensen award the season a "C", calling it "a straight-up disappointment". Calling the early episodes with Daredevil's face-off with the Punisher "skimpy and sluggish from the get-go", Jensen also added that they were "a flatline of inert drama, with long scenes of windy exposition or dull skulking interrupted by the occasional well-staged if ridiculously gory fight sequence." Jensen added that "hope for improvement" came with the introduction of Elektra, and that the sixth episode should be a template for the rest of the season, which ultimately, he felt was "stiff and silly."
Daniel D'Addario for ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' was also disappointed with the season, saying, "it's hard not to feel that one is being taken for a long, and not particularly enjoyable, ride
..''Daredevil'' just wants to dole out fun doses of extreme gore on the path to an endpoint on a business plan. Any viewer committed to story is left searching in the dark."
''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
''s Abraham Riesman joined the criticism, calling the seven episodes reviewed "a dour parade of one cliché after another, recycling themes, images, and rhetoric that audiences have seen countless times before." Though he wouldn't call it "", he felt that with all the other superhero content released in the same year, "it feels woefully unnecessary." However, he did praise Bernthal's performance, saying it was "another excitingly sympathetic antagonist" after D'Onofrio's "standout performance" as Fisk in the first season, but was "nowhere near as fun". In contrast to the
first season of ''Jessica Jones'', which Riseman called Marvel's "first attempt to depict sex in any kind of realistic way", he called the second season of ''Daredevil'' "astoundingly un-sexy."
Accolades
Got Your 6, which "champions positive portrayals of military
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field.
A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces.
A topic o ...
s in Hollywood", deemed "Semper Fidelis" to be "6 Certified" for "responsibly and accurately portray
ngveterans via the character of Frank Castle, The Punisher, who insists that his legal representation not perpetuate veteran stereotypes of PTSD in order to defend his actions".
''Daredevil'' was included on
Hidden Remote's Best TV Series of 2016 list, ranking 4th.
''
Comic Book Resources
''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...
'' named "Seven Minutes in Heaven" and "Penny and Dime" as the 12th and 2nd best episodes in 2016 among comic book-related television series, respectively.
, -
! scope="row" rowspan="4" , 2016
,
Got Your 6
, 6 Certified – for "a representative and balanced depiction of veterans"
, data-sort-value="Semper Fidelis" , "
Semper Fidelis
''Semper fidelis'' () is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal" (Fidelis or Fidelity). It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, usually shortened to Semper Fi. It is also in use as a motto for towns, families, ...
"
,
,
, -
, Online Film & Television Association Award
, Best Sound in a Series
, ''
Daredevil''
,
,
, -
, rowspan="2" ,
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards
,
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
, "
New York's Finest"
,
, rowspan="2" ,
, -
,
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie
, Philip J. Silvera
,
, -
! scope="row" rowspan="3" , 2017
, rowspan=2 ,
Saturn Awards
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
,
Best New Media Television Series
, ''
Daredevil''
,
, rowspan="2" ,
, -
,
Best Actor on Television
,
Charlie Cox
Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English-American actor. He is best-known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in seven projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading the television series '' Daredevil'' (2015–2018) a ...
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Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
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Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
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Daredevil''
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References
External links
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{{Punisher
2016 American television seasons
02
Punisher in other media
Martyrdom in fiction
Works about Irish-American organized crime