This Is The Best Marvel Netflix Series, According To Fans
When it comes to high quality superhero television, few programs have reached the dramatics heights and cultural relevance of Netflix's Marvel slate. When you look past how it all ended — with sudden cancellations leading to multiple unresolved cliffhangers — and remember how it began, one has to recall that most of these shows became some of the most talked about, critically-acclaimed properties ever adapted from comic books. Daredevil launched the whole shebang, and between heart-pounding hallway fights and tight, terrific writing, it's hard to imagine that a better version of the man without fear could ever be committed to film. Both Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, arriving soon afterward, brought new diversity to the genre, showing two marginalized heroes struggling against oppressive societal forces, and exploring themes deeply relevant in today's world. The Punisher, then, focused on the trauma endured by veterans trying to reintegrate into a society that, all too often, leaves them hanging.
And Iron Fist was about ... well, okay, maybe you can't win them all.
Since the coming months will see Marvel finally regain the rights to Daredevil — Netflix having held onto them for two years after the series' cancellation — this seemed like as good a time as any to conduct a survey, and see which of the solo Netflix Marvel shows people enjoyed the most. And when Looper asked, 148,000 fans across the world answered.
Daredevil snags the top spot, by a pretty big margin
The winner is what you probably expected. Marvel's Daredevil was, from start to finish, the mascot series of the entire Marvel-Netflix lineup. In the comics, Daredevil has benefited from decades of one brilliant creative team after another — from the iconic Frank Miller run, to the gritty Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev team-up in the 2000s — and by hewing closely to the character's tortured roots, displaying Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) as a man torn between being a devoted Catholic, a do-gooder lawyer, and a street brawler with a taste for violence, the TV version struck gold. With unforgettably raw fight scenes, shocking intensity, and incredible acting from a supporting cast including Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, and Maggie Grace, Daredevil was arguably one of most outstanding TV shows of the decade.
So, then, it's no surprise that 53 percent of fans surveyed chose Daredevil as their favorite Marvel Netflix series.
Following behind that was The Punisher, starring Jon Bernthal as the skull-shirted vigilante, which earned 26 percent of the vote. Keep in mind, this does not mean that people who voted for Daredevil then chose Punisher as their second choice — this was not a ranked choice poll, so every vote was only for the top position. The next two shows in line, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, earned 8 percent and 7 percent of the vote, respectively. The Defenders, being a crossover of multiple shows rather than its own unique series, was not included in the poll.
Last place? You guessed it: Iron Fist, though to be fair, the series did score a somewhat respectable 6 percent of favorite rankings from those surveyed. This is, possibly, due to the show having an improved second season before being cancelled.