The Netflix Daredevil TV series is shooting now, but we still know relatively little about it, and we know almost nothing about the three shows that will follow (featuring Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) much less how they'll all come together in The Defenders. But now Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has said a few things about his company's upcoming Marvel slate, and one comment in particular sticks out: that the series "will not be afraid to go darker" than Marvel's films.
Netflix head Ted Sarandos told Empire,
It was really based on the theatrical model of 'The Avengers.' Could you take another group of characters, The Defenders, and go about it the same way? Normally, they do the big movie and then eventually they get to the group origin story. Having 13 hours to tell each of these stories, you can go right to the origin story and the action at the same time.
One obvious question is whether or not the Netflix characters will end up in big-screen stories. While DC seems determined to keep the TV and film universes separate, Marvel has already cross-pollinated the film and TV worlds via Agents of SHIELD, and will continue to do so in the upcoming Agent Carter series.
Sarandos said,
[A crossover] has definitely been talked about. 'Daredevil' is already shooting, since that's out first. Eventually the series will run very close together. You can then have a separate season where the characters will cross over.
I asked Kevin Feige the crossover question six weeks ago, and he demurred:
We haven't talked about that yet, really, because it's just early days for that. Daredevil is in production right now. But it is the same universe, so there's always potential for that.
But here's the thing that might interest people, especially those who wanted to see Daredevil come back to life at Marvel in film, rather than TV form:
The series will not be afraid to go darker than the film did. What we love about this particular set of heroes is that they're a little more down to Earth. Costume wise and also in that these are gritty crime stories, more in the streets than in the clouds.
