Daredevil, daredevilling soon to a streaming device near you!

The upcoming Netflix wing of the Marvel screen universe is intriguing to say the least. While it can never compete with the budgets and cinematic spectacle of the big-screen Avengers-verse, lower-budget, extended storytelling with more Earth-bound superhero characters has promise — and definitely more than the dreadful, interminable Agents of SHIELD crap that ABC has been churning out the last few years. One gets the feeling that without a need to cater to network television’s lowest-common-denominator ethos, we’ll have a bit more narrative meat to chew on. And with brief seasons of individual characters all culminating in a promised Defenders cross-over, it’s the Avengers winning formula but on a smaller scale. No, that’s not quite right — on a different scale.

Daredevil is our first Netflix entry, to be joined in relatively short order by Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Will it be enough to make us forget the Affleck movie, the unpleasant aftertaste of which still lingers? Will these characters find their way into the Infinity War two-parter, the crossover to end all crossovers?

One thing is for certain: for all fans of the Holmesian problem-solving of Bobby Goren on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the presence of Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilton Fisk is a plus-plus addition. You don’t see much of him here, but you have to believe he’ll be that most vital of cogs: a worthy antagonist.