Daredevil Message Board

[Mike Murdock]

I posted these thoughts in the book review thread but wanted to post them in a separate thread where spoilers could be freely discussed. So this contains spoilers for Luke Cage Season Two.

When I decided to cover Daredevil 56-60, it was pretty much just because we hadn't done a Bendis story in awhile. I also thought Luke Cage was a guest star, which fit. However, I had no idea how fitting it actually was. Season Two of Luke Cage ended with Luke Cage basically taking over the Matt Murdock role (instead of King of Hell's Kitchen, he's King of Harlem).

But I'd argue they handled it a little better. Rather than just be more aggressive or whatever it is Matt did when he became King of Hell's Kitchen, Luke is more explicitly embracing his role as Kingpin. He's not engaging in crime, but he's engaging with the crime families. He's keeping organized crime out of Harlem (just like Matt did with organized crime in Hell's Kitchen), but he is meeting with the crime families.

To me, this works a lot better. For starters, Harlem is much bigger than Hell's Kitchen, which isn't a small factor. More importantly, though, there's far more moral ambiguity in what he's doing. When I read Hardcore, I assumed that's what Matt would be doing. I think Luke (who is on the other side in the comic) assumes he's doing as well. Overall, it just makes for a more interesting story.
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[Dimetre]

I pretty much agree with everything you typed, Mike. "The King of Hell's Kitchen," (or what I've read of it so far), shows Matt simply being more ruthless against criminals. He's acting like Luke was at the beginning of season 2, which incited his argument with Claire.

As I've said in the Book Club, Matt may have declared himself "Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen," but he doesn't do anything a Kingpin would do. Wilson Fisk was The Kingpin. I don't think someone should call themselves Kingpin if they're not going to do something Fisk would do.

Mariah is closer to a Kingpin than Matt is during the Bendis run. I like that she passes down the position to Luke. It wasn't something he chose, and he's naive enough to think he can be a force for good without being corrupted by the position. I also like that Misty is there to play the role of skeptic. I think season 3 could be excellent, and I hope Misty is there throughout it.

As for Bendis' story, I think the four-headed monster known as "Luke/Peter/Reed/Stephen" is the only appearance of a skeptic, and they only make a single appearance. Since Matt is only fighting crime in a more ruthless fashion (and we're not even shown this), the conversation didn't work for me.

[macjr33]

I know its up in the air of whether or not they will do a Season 2 of Defenders; however, I think building on this story could be a great season.

Where Matt, Jessica and Danny confront Luke as he struggles to maintain order and not be corrupted. Bring in the Kingpin and other rivals crime bosses into the mix and you could really have a great street level focused series. Kind of what the Defenders comic was going for.

I will also say that his storyline works better for Luke in the MCU than it would for Matt so glad to see it being explored.