The second season of the American streaming television series Daredevil, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Matt Murdock / Daredevil, a blind lawyer-by-day who fights crime at night, crossing paths with the deadly Frank Castle / Punisher along with the return of an old girlfriend—Elektra Natchios. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez serving as showrunners, and series creator Drew Goddard acting as consultant.
Charlie Cox stars as Murdock, while Jon Bernthal and Élodie Yung are introduced as Castle and Natchios, respectively. Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D'Onofrio also return from the first season, with Stephen Rider joining them. The season was ordered in April 2015 after the successful release of the first, with Petrie and Ramirez replacing the season one showrunner Steven S. DeKnight. Production on the season began in July 2015 and continued through December, with the season focusing on the nature of heroism through comparison of Murdock to Castle and Natchios, and showing how the latter two affect Murdock's life.
The first two episodes of the season premiered in Paris on March 7, 2016, with the full season of 13 episodes released on Netflix on March 18. Critics praised the introduction of Castle and Natchios, as well as Bernthal's performance in particular, the season's action scenes, and storylines. However, many missed the presence of Vondie Curtis-Hall's Ben Urich from the first season, and D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk during the first half of the second season. The series was renewed for a third season in July 2016.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher Élodie Yung as Elektra Natchios Stephen Rider as Blake Tower Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
Recurring
Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney Susan Varon as Josie Michelle Hurd as Samantha Reyes Marilyn Torres as Louisa Delgado Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison Ron Nakahara as Hirochi John Pirkis as Stan Gibson Scott Glenn as Stick Peter Shinkoda as Nobu Yoshioka
Notable guests
Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett Matt Gerald as Melvin Potter Peter McRobbie as Paul Lantom Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl Kevin Nagle as Roscoe Sweeney Wai Ching Ho as Gao Suzanne H. Smart as Shirley Benson Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth
Production
Development When asked about the future of the series following the first season, showrunner Steven S. DeKnight said that Daredevil "is one part of the bigger plan—Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and then The Defenders. How that all fits together, and whether or not there will be a second season of this show—or if it will fold into the others—are questions nobody really has answers to yet." In November 2014, DeKnight said that there "probably will be more" seasons of Daredevil following the first. In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" to determine if additional seasons would be appropriate.
On April 21, 2015, Marvel and Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, with Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez replacing DeKnight as showrunners as well as acting as executive producers; both served as writers in the first season and worked closely with DeKnight and series creator Drew Goddard. The season introduces the Frank Castle / Punisher, whom DeKnight and the writers had wanted to introduce in a post-credits scene during the first-season finale but were unable due to the way that Netflix begins the next episode during the credits of the current one. DeKnight felt that this "was the right decision. I think there's a better, more organic way to introduce him to the world." Ramirez referred to the second season internally as "Daredevil vs. the Punisher". In September 2015, Goddard explained that he was still involved with the season as an executive producer, consulting with Petrie and Ramirez when asked to. The season consists of 13 hour-long episodes.
Writing
Ramirez talked about how the second season would be different from the first, saying that the writers had spent the first season wondering "if there was a place for dark and gritty content in superheroes" and because of the positive fan reaction to that ("we got a loud answer of 'yes), approached the second season with the mindset, "you wanted grounded and wanted dark, here's Elektra and Punisher. You asked for it." Petrie, talking about the potential use of flashbacks in the season, said that sometimes it is best to "peel back the layer of the onion through flashback, or two people in a room talking can have all the power in the world. That's something we get to pick and choose."
On including the Punisher specifically in the season, where he is introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Goddard felt television was the best fit for the character, as the writers are "able to do things on the small screen that fit that character better than if we had to water him down for the movies." Goddard stated that the season's approach to the characters and their actions would be to do what makes sense for the characters rather than "pushing the boundary" or looking to shock the audience, though he noted that this could still go in a more "adult...darker, dirtier" way due to the freedom of Netflix and the presence of characters such as the Punisher. Petrie stated that the writers hoped to "stir the pot" and "get people to think" with the inclusion of the Punisher and his lethal methods, adding, "Taking lethal justice into your own hands in America in 2015 is tricky shit. We have not shied away from the rich complicated reality of Now. If you've got a gun and you're not the police you're going to incite strong feelings." Ramirez added that Castle was not referred to as "Punisher" in the writers' room, similarly to Wilson Fisk not being called "Kingpin" for season one, as it allowed the writers to think "about [Castle] as a man with a vendetta, who made an oath to his dead family. The more specific it got, the less it became about issues outside of Hell's Kitchen or other things." In the series, the moniker of "The Punisher" is given to Castle by the media due to his aggressive actions.
For the timing of introducing the new characters, the showrunners decided to introduce the Punisher immediately and hold back on Elektra briefly, with Ramirez explaining that "one of the pitfalls when we have this many great characters to play with is wanting to throw them at the wall", but it was important to take the time to introduce the new characters properly to the audience, particularly to the people who weren't already familiar with them. Elaborating on the aim to keep the story focused on Murdock, Petrie revealed that the writers would often come up with "amazing stuff" for the season, but then realize that they had forgotten about Murdock and had to "completely turn it over and look at how this affects Matt and filter it through that prism." Ramirez added,
Charlie Cox explained that with Wilson Fisk imprisoned following the first season, season two picks up with "the crime rate [having] plummeted. Things have returned to normal, if not better than normal", which is when Punisher is introduced, who makes Matt Murdock "question everything. Matt has to reevaluate and what he does". Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television, said that "if season one was really about Matt's decision to become a hero, then season two really became about what is it to be a hero." By introducing the Punisher and Elektra, the writers were able to "push and pull" on Murdock, contrasting their three ideologies—the Punisher seeing "justice in a very black-and-white kind of way", and Elektra living "more in the gray". On Elektra in particular, Loeb said that she has a very clear, self-motivated agenda, and she challenges Murdock's own agenda and "quest for justice. Who are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? What's the end goal that you're trying to achieve?" More backstory and story arcs had been created for the characters Nobu and Gao, but this was not used, which Nobu actor Peter Shinkoda attributed to Loeb not caring about Asian people.
Casting Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D'Onofrio return from the first season as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Karen Page, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Claire Temple, and Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, respectively. In June 2015, Jon Bernthal was cast as Frank Castle / Punisher, and Élodie Yung was cast as Elektra Natchios a month later. In September, Stephen Rider joined the cast as Blake Tower.
Also returning from season one are Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney, Susan Varon as Josie, Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison, Scott Glenn as Stick, Peter Shinkoda as Nobu Yoshioka, Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett, Matt Gerald as Melvin Potter, Peter McRobbie as Father Paul Lantom, Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl, Kevin Nagle as Roscoe Sweeney, Wai Ching Ho as Gao, and Suzanne H. Smart as Shirley Benson. Ron Nakahara, John Pirkis, and Marilyn Torres have recurring roles as Hirochi, Stan Gibson, and Louisa Delgado, respectively, while Michelle Hurd and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their Jessica Jones roles of Samantha Reyes and Jeri Hogarth.
Design Joshua Shaw designed costumes for characters in the season. Petrie stated that more layers were added to the series' atmosphere to keep the season dark but provide more clarity to the viewer, an issue that occurred in the first season. Petrie also talked about the costumes for characters such as Elektra, noting that they had to not only look at the comics and "what looks cool", but also "what would you really fight in? What would protect you? [...] will people be wearing kick ass costumes in this show? At some point, everybody does. We promise. But, that said, we want to make them feel as organic and grounded as possible.
Lorraine Calvert joined the series as costume designer for the season. On adapting Elektra's costume for the season, which in the comics usually consists of impractically "strappy" red cloth, Calvert decided to make it utilitarian and appealing, while still being faithful to the comics. Originally starting out opposite of the eventual sleek design for both her fighting and daytime attire, Calvert said, "Ideas were tossed around about how she was possibly bohemian, [because] she was a free spirit who traveled all over the world with as much money as she possibly could." This eventually led to the final, sleeker design, because Elektra "really needs a very simple, elegant line because too much cloth is overwhelming." The costume consisted of "black moto pants, a one-piece zippered body suit, a sleeveless vest, and red cloth to provide the highlights and the hood covering Elektra's face." The shade of the red used for Elektra throughout the season was chosen so it would not clash with the red in Daredevil's costume, as well as to match the darker tone of the series.