David Farnor | On 22, Apr 2015

Marvel’s Daredevil will return for a second season.

The show, which premiered at the start of this month, has been a streaming success, trending on Twitter for much of its opening weekend.

Executive Produced by Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight and Drew Goddard, the series adapts the tale of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer, who fights against injustice by day in the court, and by night as a super hero vigilante on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The show marks a significant new step for Marvel’s expanding empire of screen real estate: it arrives just as the comic book giant continues its big screen plans with Avengers: Age of Ultron, which (along with Ant-Man) rounds off “Phase Two” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase Three will start in 2016 – and is it inconceivable that Marvel might continue to a Stage Four? The MCU is now the biggest grossing franchise in the US, eclipsing Harry Potter. That is partly thanks to its sheer size (its 10 films are only currently rivalled by James Bond’s 24 and Star Trek’s 12) and partly thanks to its sizeable built-in fan audience.

On the small-screen, DC has proven that comic books can work well: The CW’s The Arrow and The Flash have not only enjoyed strong fan support and demonstrated the potential for comics’ episodic nature in TV’s serial format, but have also proved that cross-over events, a la printed special editions, work too.

It was no surprise, then, that Marvel had big plans for Daredevil: the show not only marks a departure in terms of its violent, dark tone, but also marks the first in a string of collaborations between Netflix and Marvel, who will create four original series – Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist – and then unite them for an eight-episode piece of event TV: The Defenders.

The next season will see Doug Petrie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Horror Story) and Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy), who worked closely with DeKnight and Goddard during the first season, step up as Showrunners. Petrie, Ramirez, Goddard, and Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will serve as Executive Producers.

“While previous commitments unfortunately prevent me from continuing on with Daredevil into its second season,” DeKnight explains, “I could not be happier that Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez are carrying the torch. They were invaluable collaborators during our first season, and I for one can’t wait to see what they do with the show moving forward.”

If Daredevil’s initial release suggested Marvel’s commitment to exploring the new streaming space, today’s announcement confirms it: the show may have been initially a platform upon which to build The Defenders but Marvel is willing to adapt its overall plan to get more of a good thing. Will Daredevil now be released before The Defenders? And in the same year as Luke Cage? How will that affect Murdock’s appearances in the other series?

Whatever it means, you can guarantee that Marvel is pleased with the response to its first original Netflix series. And judging by the quality of the first season, which often feels more like a crime drama than a superhero series, you can almost guarantee the second season will be equally impressive.

You can read our binge reviews of Daredevil Season 1 here.

Photo: Barry Wetcher © 2014 Netflix, Inc. All rights reserved.

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