Netflix's ‘Daredevil’, Six More Named to Join the Cast
Marvel's Daredevil, the series developed for the cable TV network Netflix by Drew Goddard, and which is set to air all episodes on April 10, will have six new additions to a cast that now includes Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Deborah Ann Woll as Matt's romantic interest Karen Page, Elden Henson as Matt's close friend and law partner Foggy Nelson, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, Ayelet Zurer as Kingpin's love interest Vanessa Marianna, Bob Gunton as Leland Owlsley, Toby Leonard Moore as Kingpin's right-hand man Wesley, and Vondie Curtis-Hall as the journalist Ben Urich.
The newest addition to the show are: Rob Morgan as play Turk Barrett, a small-time criminal in Hell's Kitchen; Matt Gerald as Melvin Potter, a machinist caught between a rock and a hard place; Peter Shinkoda as Nobu, a Japanese businessman with an agenda all his own; Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao, a powerful woman running her own trade; and Nikolai Nikolaeff and Gideon Emery as Vladimir and Anatoly, two Russian brothers looking to forge new names for themselves in America.
In introducing the new members of the cast to media, executive producer and showrunner Steven S. DeKnight said: "It's an honor to be working with such a talented and diverse group of artists who vividly bring these characters to life. The challenge in bringing 'villains' to the screen is always in portraying them as three-dimensional characters. Our actors exceeded all expectations in this regard, crafting deeply flawed, wonderfully human antagonists." Executive producer/Marvel's Head of Television Jeph Loeb added: "With an already tremendous cast, these six actors help to fully flesh out Matt Murdock's world and give life to Hell's Kitchen. We've been blessed to work with such amazing actors on this series to create a truly remarkable first season."
The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with DeKnight serving as showrunner, and Drew Goddard, who created the comic book characters, acting as consultant. On what to expect from the upcoming web-TV series and on how it is different from the other live-action adaptations of the Marvel Comics character, Cox who plays Daredevil told Empire Online: "This is more sinister, and that really suits the character. The hero and the villain... it's a very blurry line. Let's say that you didn't know anything about Daredevil, hopefully you would feel a sense of ambiguity about who's on the right path here. And, well, you know... we have blood."
DeKnight, further elaborating, said: "Netflix, of course, they don't have a problem with pushing it. I mean, they go anywhere from G to NC-17. But the Marvel brand, that's a little different. They're obviously not comfortable going that far with it, though they've allowed us to push it much further than you've seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since starting with Iron Man. It is much more geared towards adults. We call it PG-16. We don't quite get to R, but we kiss right up to it."
The showrunner bills it as a crime drama with plenty of action, rather than an action piece set in a criminal world. "We always say we shoot for The Wire although no-one ever reaches The Wire. We also took our cues from classic cop movies of the '70s that we love: The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon, movies like that," DeKight adds.