Netflix has released a new Daredevil motion poster showcasing Matt Murdock’s magic sunglasses that transform him into a masked vigilante:

It’s kind of a goofy poster, but nothing about the show thus far has been encouraging since Drew Goddard—an avowed die-hard fan of the character—thought it would be better to abandon his dream than work with executive producer Jeph Loeb (Heroes).

The recent trailer didn’t do much to inspire much confidence, and all the emphasis keeps coming back to making the show “gritty” and “real”, which extends to why we’ve only seen Daredevil (Charlie Cox) in his “black ninja” outfit as opposed to his classic red suit.

Speaking to Comics Continuuum (via MCU Exchange), Marvel CCO former Daredevil artist Joe Quesada says:

We had to come up with a logic for it. It was a delicate balance, because the stories we're telling are so real-world. Matt starts out in a homemade outfit that develops slowly. As he starts getting the crap kicked out of him on the streets, he adds padding little by little.

Loeb elaborated, saying:

We couldn't just come out of the box with a guy running around in a red devil costume. We needed to be able to make sure that it looked not like a costume, but a uniform.

Well, a uniform is worn by many, and most superheroes don’t have uniforms unless they’re part of a team like the X-Men.

But I understand that it can be a bit much if this origin story doesn’t have Matt Murdock in his red tights from the start, and if that’s the direction they want to go, then I’m curious to see how it evolves. Showrunner Steven DeKnight promises that we will see the red suit, but it will take some time:

He always wore a black mask that was tied in the back. We went through a lot of different versions and did a lot of R&D before settling on something. If you watch very closely, you'll see the outfit evolve subtly into what we call the black ninja suit. The mask changes. He starts wearing protective pads. Eventually it morphs into the classic suit, because he wouldn't be Daredevil without it. Getting there is part of the fun. The idea was to back the story up to the point before Matt is Daredevil. Then we could take him to a place where some version of the red suit works in a grounded world. The solution is very exciting and makes complete sense.

But here’s the thing: at some level, we’re already on board. People didn’t reject the 2003 movie because of the red suit. They rejected it because it was a lousy story. Yes, you can make an argument that someone who’s a clandestine vigilante probably shouldn’t be wearing bright red, but viewers only get hung up on that detail if their minds have drifted away from the story and characters.

Again, I understand that there’s a need for build up, and hopefully Daredevil will pay off in more ways than just its hero’s outfit.

Daredevil premieres all 13 episodes on Netflix on April 10th.