10 Things for Marvel’s Daredevil, Season 2

We’ve all seen Daredevil by now, right?  And we all enjoyed it?  Well, Season 2 is coming next year, and that being the case, I have some requests.

Here’s what I’d like to see in Season 2:

1. Bullseye.  This one’s pretty easy.  Daredevil starts with a blind guy slowly working his way up the ladder of organized crime.  He goes from fighting Russians engaged in human trafficking to dirty cops who act as street enforcers to Japanese yakuza trying to develop land illegally to Chinese triads moving drugs as a means of generating capital for future criminal enterprise to, finally, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime.  Along the way, he develops as a crime fighter.  By the end of the first season, Matt Murdock has taken down hundreds of low-level thugs, dozens of dirty cops, a ninja, and the Kingpin himself.  Of those, only the ninja is a legitimate match for Murdock one-on-one, and it’s at least partially because he too is wearing a costume.  For this reason, the Kingpin needs a costumed enforcer of his own, someone who can meet Daredevil on his own super-powered turf and have a legitimate chance of winning a fight.  That someone in Bullseye.

Bullseye!

2. The Owl.  This one’s easy, too.  Leland Owsley, Sr., is a primary antagonist in season one.  It’s not a stretch to imagine that his son will enter the picture in the wake of the Kingpin’s collapse to try to bring order to Hell Kitchen’s underworld.  This is what happened during the Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil, and it worked really well.

3. Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH).  In the comics, The Owl is a mutant who starts dealing MGH as a street drug that gives ordinary people a super-powered high.  The result is a really interesting bit of chaotic crime drama.  Marvel obviously can’t put “mutant” growth hormone on TV, but I wouldn’t be surprised to “Inhuman” growth hormone – or some kind of stand-in – make an appearance when we see the Owl.

4. More courtroom drama.  One of the better parts of the Daredevil comics is that they’re not just superhero stories, they’re also, occasionally, court room dramas.  In particular, the “White Tiger” arc of the Bendis-era (it’s not drawn by Alex Maleev) is a favorite.  The White Tiger is (usually) a Latino marital artist from the South Bronx, and in this particular arc, he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, White Tiger goes straight to Nelson & Murdock, who agree to defend him because Matt Murdock can tell that he’s innocent.  However, Murdock can’t prove the Tiger’s innocence, and wackiness ensues.

5. Spider-Man.  This probably isn’t gonna happen, but these Spider-Man is a frequent guest star in Daredevil, and vice versa.

6. The "Underboss" storyline.  Another classic from the Bendis/Maleev era.  In the comics, Kingpin finds out Daredevil’s secret identity but doesn’t do anything with it.  Then one of his men finds out that he knows but that he’s sitting on it, and this is enough to launch a revolution in the Hell’s Kitchen mafia.  Then the FBI finds out Murdock’s secret, and all Hell breaks loose.

7. The Punisher.  The Punisher was originally designed to be a villain for Spider-Man.  Most superheroes are essentially costumed vigilantes whose activities are at best highly illegal.  So how can you tell that the “good guys” are good?  By showing what a truly evil vigilante looks like.

8. Kingpin's return.  This is gonna happen.  They mention at the end of season one that Kingpin still has to go to trial.  Plus, Vincent D’Onofrio was just too good to let go to waste.

9. The Hand.  I think this is also gonna happen.  We already saw one Japanese ninja in season one.  It’s safe bet that more are on the way.

10. More story arcs instead of a season-spanning single arc.  This one’s a personal pet peeve.  I really liked season one, but as I mentioned, by the end of the season I felt like the Kingpin was decidedly outgunned.  Running more than one story arc would help, then, by adding multiple bad guys, presumably with increasing levels of danger.