Masculinity in Daredevil

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Much of Matt’s season-long arc is about learning to balance advice from three separate father figures. His biological father taught him about honor; his callous mentor Stick (Scott Glenn) taught him to fight; the Catholic Church—personified in Peter McRobbie’s Father Lantom—taught him to protect his soul. Matt ultimately combines all three lessons to win the day, but for a show that’s strongest when exploring consequences, it rings slightly hollow that he’s continually able to emerge victorious and stick to his no-killing policy.

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Apart from his willingness to commit murder, the thing that separates Fisk from Matt is his lack of existential angst. In a twisted take on the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Fisk simply accepts that crime, intimidation, and murder are efficient tactics to save his city. His warped morality allowed Fisk to climb his way out of poverty into a life of luxury. Meanwhile Matt and his best friend Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) can barely scrape together a living after they turn down jobs at a morally bankrupt law firm to open their own good-hearted practice. Moral compromise is not without its benefits.

All of this could feel a little simplistic if Daredevil weren’t so smart in the ways it subverts masculinity as well. Outside of perhaps Bill, no one character embodies all the stereotypes of conventional masculinity. When he’s not a vicious rage monster, Fisk is something of a gentle giant, and his social awkwardness and fumbling attempts to woo Vanessa make him immediately sympathetic. Before his death, Jack was a warm and affectionate father whose parenting style was free of macho posturing. And Matt is often incredibly emotionally vulnerable, particularly with Claire and Father Lantom.

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