You may recall a piece I wrote a couple of posts back (scroll, friend, scroll) where I promised to write about two things: 1) Orchestra (done – and you really didn’t have to scroll that far to find it, you little master of mouse navigation, you), and 2) Daredevil (the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, Red, blahblahblah – good ol’ Matt Murdock)

Let’s get this out of the way: I recognize this is the post no one asked for or wanted, but here we are getting back to my roots where my only goal is to entertain myself. (Only child life skills in action!)

On the night I promised you I’d write that post, I thought, “I’ll just add a little teaser at the bottom to build excitement they most assuredly don’t have… yet!” So, I headed over to YouTube, found the trailer, hit play, and took a beat to try to see it through your eyes – to see it as if I were my Dad, my aunt, my non-comic loving friends – y’know, the people who might just click on it out of blind love for (tolerance of) me. Several flash scenes with sickening bone crunchy sounds and a couple of hyper-extended limb snaps later, I declared the trailer NSFA (Not Safe for Aunt), or really any of my friends/family, and I let that bad idea go.

While I want to share my love for the series, I want to do it without traumatizing my nearest and dearest.

So, we’ll go a different route – how mild-mannered, nerdy me ended up reading comics and enjoying action movies/TV series.

It started with my high school bestie, Julie, and her love of one fierce little mutant – Wolverine (Wolvie, Logan – the rapidly healing terror to any Sentinel who later grew up to be Hugh Jackman), which started phase two of our mutual love of Wolverine. Let’s take a moment for a video – I promise, no bones!

Oooft! Ok, you got that video instead. Y’see, I just rewatched a trailer featuring Wolverine, and it was… how do I put this? NSFA! But take a mental journey with me – close your eyes, picture Hugh with sideburns, a skin tight-ish trademark yellow and blue classic X-Men uniform slow-mo walking or y’know, having his shirt burned off while holding hands with Ryan Reynolds and channeling a tremendous amount of abs blue electricity to save the world. I feel saved!

Anyway… like a good high school friend who observes girlfriend code, it was forbidden to like the same X-Man as my friend, that’s just not cool. So that led me to Nightcrawler which eventually led me to Gambit. And oh, Cher!

(Huge thanks to my friend Lynn who had this commissioned at a Vegas comic con many years ago and sent it to me. Apparently, the artist made kissy noises while adding the hearts and said something like, “see, Rogue and Gambit are in love, get it?” So, every time I look at it, I say the same thing and think little ridiculous kissy noises, because yes sir, I get it!)

(Huge thanks to me (I love that girl) who discovered my new favorite artist at a Georgetown market, Julia Mann, and bought this piece, which is so similar to the one I already had. As for all the Rogue and Gambit art. Well , you have your Xaden’s, Hunt Athalar’s, and Mandalorian’s and I… ok, I’m not in High School anymore and these guys are fictional, so I’m just going to call dibsies on the lot. I don’t care how old I am. YEP! DIBSIES! I’m old, not dead. Also, we can share!)

Anyway, I picked up my first Uncanny X-Men comic back then, and was almost immediately sold on Marvel. I’m sorry, but DC never did it for me. Years later, I watched a documentary where they discussed some of the differences between Marvel and DC, the two major comic publishers, stating at one point (and I’m paraphrasing a bit) that Marvel heroes were like messy, seriously flawed, rebellious teens while characters from the DC universe were more akin to patronizing/self-righteous parents (think pre-Frank Miller). I guess, Marvel’s grimy dysfunctional heroes just speak to me more. They’re not perfect. They make huge mistakes, and that resonates with me and appeals to me a bit more.

FYI – Daredevil is a Marvel title, in case you couldn’t guess.

Now pivoting over to action movies.

When it comes to my love of action movies (ok, maybe not a love for all of them, but certainly more than deserve – *cough* The Rock *cough* Con Air *cough* Independence Day), I was drawn in by Rambo (much to my social worker, baby boomer parents’ horror, who weren’t thrilled with this new found appreciation of cinematic masterpieces. I mean, what would Pete Seeger and Joan Baez say?) From there I hopped all over the action map, making stops at the likes of Jackie Chan (typing his name fills me with happy memories), Hong Kong cinema in general, Jason Statham, Arnold, Dwayne, Vin (though not the Fast & the Furious series), Keanu and almost anything made by Guy Ritchie. Can I also throw in Michelle Yeoh here? I love (big ol’ heart hands) Michelle Yeoh!

I’m the girl (woman?) who’s seen all of The Expendables at the movie theater, and not a single episode of Sex and the City. What is a Samantha compared to a John McClane?

I’m also the girl (woman??) who’ll die on the Die Hard is the best holiday movie ever hill every single year, because it is. It’s a Christmas classic! Makes me want to buy a large bear and head to an office party in a limo.

Now, let me disclaimer a bit: I don’t necessarily think action movies are “good,” but they can be hella FUN! What’s the plot? No clue! How about that dialog? Don’t need it. Was there a big fight scene? Car chase? or an unnecessary, over-the-top explosion? Then yes, I’m in, please and thank you!

And the more I think about it as I’m typing, Rambo may not have been my entry point into the genre. There’s a good chance that honor actually goes to Chuck Norris himself thanks to a time when our karate school went to greet him at the local airport. That day Chuck went out of his way to make sure an awkward little girl (the only girl there), dressed in her gi (the only one, again), who carried a yellow sign declaring him her hero (something the parents made; I had no clue who he was) feel special and included. In that moment, he earned a lifetime of goodwill and sparked my interest in his films. Somewhere in the universe is a photo of us, and that makes me happy.

Here’s a fun fact about him: Did you know Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table? Yep.

Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.

You’re welcome! (These never get old for me.)

Now, inching closer to Daredevil…

Fast forward to the onslaught of Marvel films dominating Hollywood for decades – from blockbuster movies to TV series – my perfect popcorn chewing storm – the likes of which have caused me to have a Chris ranking. Fine, Daredevil has nothing to do with the Chris’ or their ranking. But girl, since I mentioned the Chris rankings, I’m just sharing that Evans is #1. Obvs! In case you were just sitting there wondering, which you weren’t, but you’re still here soooo… Hemsworth is #4. Look, you’re the one who keeps reading. This is on you, not me. Pine is #2, because Kirk, and well Pratt fell to #3. Anyway, love you, Cap!

Anyone following those knows there have been really good ones: Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, and I’d even throw in Ant Man (most were pleasant surprises). There have been solid ones: Captain America, Spiderman, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, etc. Then there were some right cringey ones: Eternals, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Avengers: Age of Ultron (overly quippy meh-ness) spring to mind. You can’t argue opinion, but blech.

Then Netflix hopped into the Marvel series game and gave us Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Punisher, and The Defenders. That really kicked off my love of Daredevil (Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, but that’s an aside). Then the series’ ended, and I had a pout while begrudgingly saying goodbye knowing I’d never see Charlie Cox or Vincent D’onofrio in these roles again; they weren’t part of the movie Marvel universe.

So, imagine my surprise while sitting at the movie theater watching Spider-Man: Now Way Home and this happened (psst, that’s Charlie Cox making a cameo as Daredevil!)

I audibly squealed and applauded in the theater as soon as I saw the familiar cane, while expressing my complete surprise (quietly-ish) in barely contained delighted disbelief. Umm… this may have caused my movie buddy to turn slowly and stare. “Sir, your stink face will not repress my joy!” Which was about the same reaction I had while watching Disney’s Hawkeye series and Vince D’Onofrio first appeared on screen as Wilson Fisk (Daredevil’s nemesis), because if I was seeing them in the movies, in this Marvel universe, then there was a chance I’d see them again.

Well, Disney delivered. Thank you, Disney! I am now back in Daredevil bliss just one episode shy of the Season Finale.

I wish I could tell you the “why” behind why this show and these actors works for me. I can’t. All I can say is, it just does – from the story to the way the set looks to the action sequences and to the actors. And really, this season has not disappointed – I mean, by episode 3, I was loudly shouting, which kind of spun up Luna, who began to dance excitedly around the living room. She wasn’t sure why I was so amped up, but it was clearly a great day.

So, there it is – my “Damn, I love Daredevil” post as promised. (See, sometimes I deliver.)