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Netflix’s Daredevil trailer is darker and bloodier than anything we’ve seen from Marvel

Alex Abad-Santos
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.

One of the most important things in comic history was when writer and artist Frank Miller took over the helm of Daredevil. He had been the artist for the comic book, and filled the book with stunning art gleaned from the depths of film noir and dark, woozy expressionism. But it wasn’t until Miller began writing — his debut was in issue #168 (1981) —that Daredevil became an iconic hit.

Miller brought a dark, edgy grit to the book. He played on people’s fears, and made New York City a bloody fearsome den of murder. And Daredevil a.k.a. Matt Murdock, was the hero that this scary city forged.

And it’s clear from the trailer (above) that Netflix and Marvel are going back to Daredevil’s successful roots and taking a page out of Miller’s book.

The trailer doesn’t focus so much on Murdock’s (played by Charlie Cox) origin or blindness the way the terrible movie did. Instead, it focuses on the crime and darkness that plagues Murdock’s city. There’s blood (something you don’t really see in Marvel projects), talk of sins, shadows, and broken glass all set to an undulating heartbeat-like score.

Daredevil seems like a nifty counterbalance to the brightness of the super enjoyable Agent Carter and bigger properties like Guardians or Ant-Man. Whether it lives up to the greatness of Miller’s run is anyone’s guess. But it makes you want to tune in to find out.

Daredevil debuts on Netflix on April 10.

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