The Man in the Mask vs. Russian mobsters – Cut Man, episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyKdg4blKno
This is the scene you’ve probably heard most about post-Daredevil’s release. There are 100’s of articles online dedicated to this fight alone and for good reason. It’s a one-take five minute shot (three or so being the actual fight), where Daredevil singlehandedly takes on a gang of Russian mobsters.
The technicality of one-take scenes are always impressive, and the Oldboy influences are definitely in there – the colour scheme, the hallway design – but it’s the effect that the punch-up has on Matt that is the most important thing here. He got cuts, bruises and probably broken ribs, and he gets a hell of a lot worse with each episode.
When you come to know the Marvel Cinematic Universe to present its characters with a level of invincibility, Daredevil’s beaten-on, bloody face seems a little surreal. The guy could barely even walk after, yet give Black Widow or Hawkeye those bad dudes in The Avengers franchise and they’ll take them out in a second. That’s not because Daredevil’s fighting game doesn’t match against those two – because, it does – but a way for the show to say ‘this isn’t the Marvel universe you’re used to’. What a relief, too.
I never feel a sense of danger for MCU heroes, but I did for Matt as this Daredevil fight went on. The camera wasn’t even on Daredevil – or The Man in the Mask, as he is referred to until the last episode – all of the time. It pans away from him when he opens a door, where for a good 30+ seconds, all you hear are screams, punches being thrown and the breaking of furniture.
Let me remind you that this all happened in the second episode.
Originally published April 25, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
