The just-released full trailer for Daredevil Season Three pays homage to a classic comic book cover crafted by famed writer-artist Frank Miller.
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1982’s Daredevil #184, written and drawn by Miller, sees the horn-headed superhero take on gun-toting vigilante Frank Castle, a.k.a. the criminal-killing Punisher. Both Daredevil and Punisher were out to stop drug dealer Peter ‘Hogman’ Grunter, who peddled his drugs to children.
During a clash over their wildly differing methods of distributing justice, Daredevil pulled a gun on Castle during an attempted arrest. Despite Castle’s belief Daredevil “wouldn’t dare” pull the trigger, Daredevil shot a surprised Castle in his armored skull insignia.
The visual homage plays out in the trailer when a costumed Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), suited up in his ninja-like black costume, comes face-to-face with a vicious Daredevil impostor attacking the New York Bulletin offices, out to besmirch the superhero’s name at the behest of a fresh-out-of-prison and revenge-seeking Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).
Suited up as the faux Daredevil is Benjamin Poindexter, played by series newcomer Wilson Bethel, who was confirmed Thursday as the infamous Daredevil archenemy by way of an official cast list.
In the comics, Poindexter is one alter ego belonging to Bullseye, who boasts deadly accurate aim and the ability to make almost anything into a weapon. The Kingpin will unleash the villain on a hunted and haunted Matt Murdock, who is wrestling with his hellish second life as a lawyer-by-day, vigilante-by-night.
On the outs with God, the season finds the battered Murdock going from “believing that he was Matt Murdock with this alter ego of Daredevil, to believing he’s Daredevil with a lie of Matt Murdock.”
“Matt starts the season broken physically, broken emotionally, and broken spiritually,” new showrunner Erik Oleson told EW. “He’s angry at God, he’s angry at the fact that he had risked his life to do God’s work, and he’s questioning whether or not he was a fool.”
Now, with Fisk freed from jail and out to systematically dismantle Matt Murdock’s life, Matt finds himself in a fight for his life — and his soul.
“When he realizes that he’s incapable of being Daredevil, he would rather just end it than go forward in his life without abilities,” Oleson said. “He’s decided to set aside his Matt Murdock persona and just be the Devil, to isolate the lighter part of himself.”
Daredevil Season Three launches exclusively on Netflix October 19.
