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.
