You can say that Marvel’s Daredevil is the definition of justice that may be blind, but it can see in the dark. Matt Murdock is the perfect example of that. Blinded as a child due to radioactive waste, Matt lost his sight, but gained extraordinary gifts when his other senses became heightened. As a lawyer, he defends the underdog: clients who have no other advocate. As the Man without Fear, he is the man in the mask, the guardian Devil of Hell’s Kitchen: an avenging angel who prowls the rooftops at night.
Daredevil attempted to become a big-screen heartthrob when the film came out Valentine’s Day 2003 with Ben Affleck in the role. Co-starring Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Colin Farrell as Bullseye and the late Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, the movie received mixed reviews and made a profit at the box office, but not enough for a sequel. Still, Daredevil spawned the 2005 spin-off flop Elektra with Garner as the titular ninja assassin caught between the forces of good and evil when she decided to protect a man and his daughter.
In 2015, Netflix resurrected Marvel’s Daredevil with Charlie Cox, whose birthday is December 15. For three seasons, the actor brought conviction into the role of the lone man who can make a difference as both an attorney and masked vigilante: fighting the system, working outside the law to bring corrupt and powerful men like Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio in an Emmy-worthy role) to justice while fighting his own demons and maintaining his inner light so he won’t end up in the darkness like his femme fatale ex Elektra (Elodie Yung). Marvel’s Daredevil led to two seasons of The Punisher with Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, a war veteran who becomes a one-man vigilante league against the people who killed his family.
Part of the Marvel Collection, all three seasons of Daredevil can be found on Netflix.