Daredevil season three is all about getting back to basics for Netflix's original Marvel Universe series, as long as you're comfortable defining "basics" as a blind lawyer who elbows criminals into comas at night. Earlier this year, the streaming network invited Collider and a few other journalists to the show's Brooklyn set, and everything from the new sets and story details to interviews with the cast and creators to just the overall vibe strongly suggested that Daredevil is moving away from the mystical Hand-related hullabaloo of season 2 and The Defenders toward something much more tragically human. New showrunner Erik Oleson—the third for the series—has crafted an entirely original story that isn't adapted from any comic series, a crime-thriller that begins with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) barely alive after the Midland Circle collapse in The Defenders.

And it only gets much, much darker from there. The scene we watched production film took place in a dimly lit crypt, where a bloody, bruised Matt Murdock viciously took Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) to task for ruining his chance to bring justice to New York once and for all. If what I saw is indicative of the rest of the season, we're in for one intense return trip to Hell's Kitchen.

Below, you can check out 40 things I learned about Daredevil season 3 from touring the set and chatting with Cox, Woll, and Oleson as well as co-stars Elden Henson and Joanne Whalley and costume designer Liz Vastola.

• 

  Daredevil season 3 will not feature any cameos or crossovers from Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, or The Punisher.
• The season begins immediately after the events of The Defenders, and then there is a significant time jump as Matt recovers from his injuries.
• Both Cox and Oleson noted that Matt begins the season "physically incapable" of being the Daredevil we would recognize.
• When Matt returns to the streets, it's not in the classic red Daredevil suit but a black costume reminiscent of his season one look. The reason? A crisis of both faith and self-confidence has convinced him he doesn't deserve the suit anymore. "It’s almost like he’s lost that privilege," Cox said.
• Cox also hinted that his character has gone off the deep end a little bit in regards to his vigilante alter ego. "Matt goes from believing that he was Matt Murdock with this alter ego of Daredevil, to believing he’s Daredevil with a lie of Matt Murdock," the actor told us.
• At the beginning of the season, Matt is letting Karen and Foggy believe that he's still dead.
• For the majority of the season, Matt is living in a basement crypt beneath a church.
• Matt crafted the new black costume himself using materials he found in the church basement. Daredevil designer Liz Vastola noted that she made it look purposely ripped and jagged to highlight Matt's state of mind.
• "[Matt] begins this season and he does not look like Daredevil," Vastola said. "He does not look like a menacing, slicked out, scary fighter."

• 

  Joanne Whalley joins the cast as Sister Maggie, a nun who helped raise Matt Murdock when he was an orphan and who also nurses him back to help after The Defenders. Oleson described Maggie's presence as "a spiritual, advisory role" to Matt. Cox noted that fans who think they know Maggie's backstory might be surprised.
• Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) is back for season 3. In exchange for his release from prison, the Kingpin of Crime has become an FBI informant.
• The love of Fisk's life, Vanessa Marianna (Ayelet Zurer), is being charged as an accessory to his crimes.
• Fisk is living under FBI surveillance in the massive penthouse suite of a New York Hotel. We got a glimpse of that set and it's everything you want in a Fisk lair, gigantic and filled with white, dreary blank space.

• 

  The penthouse is filled with modern art pieces, which we were told is Fisk's sad homage to Vanessa.
• Directly next door to Fisk's room is a much smaller surveillance space where the FBI keeps watch on the crimelord 24/7. It's a great contrast to Fisk's living space, cramped, confined, and filled with the faces of agents who died in a massive incident early in season 3.
• What even the FBI doesn't know is that Fisk secretly owns the hotel.
• The exterior of the building where Fisk is staying was filmed at The Lotte New York Palace in Manhattan.
• Jay Ali is playing Rahul "Ray" Nadeem, an FBI agent who basically becomes Fisk's handler after he is released from prison. Oleson was adamant that Ali's role is a major one in the story of season 3.
• In addition to Fisk, season 3 will introduce another antagonist who is a physical threat to Matt Murdock. Oleson said the character "in many ways is able to balance and/or at times even best Daredevil."

• 

  For the first time, Karen Page and Wilson Fisk will share a scene one-on-one. Woll told us she filmed the scene with D'Onofrio on a soundstage during a particularly brutal New York snowstorm.
• Season 3 will delve much deeper than past seasons into Karen's backstory, occasionally through flashbacks. Expect some bloody secrets to be revealed. "We will get a sense of why shooting someone and covering it up is a bit more in her wheelhouse," Woll said.
• Part of Karen's backstory will include a scene of intense physical violence. Woll told us that the series' assistant stunt coordinator noted how un-Daredevil like the fighting in that scene is because it's realistic and messy. "He said it’s really interesting because they do so much trained, exciting acrobatic fights on this that they don’t do a lot of basic domestic violence," she told us.

• 

  Karen still has the gun she was carrying in The Punisher.
• Costume designer Liz Vastola described Karen's wardrobe—which is evolving as she settles into her role as an investigative journalist—as "fucking fierce."
• Vastola mentioned that Fisk's season 3 wardrobe was crafted after she and D'Onofrio "looked a lot at the comics."
• Foggy's season 3 look is a "complete 180" from when we first met the character in Daredevil season one. The character is wearing suits made by New York's iconic Martin Greenfield Clothiers.
• Season 3 will introduce Foggy's family and delve into his backstory more than past seasons.

• 

  Oleson's season arc is an original Daredevil story that isn't an adaptation of any comic series.
• Tonally, the showrunner drew inspiration from Frank Miller's Born Again and Kevin Smith's Guardian Devil arcs.
• Compared to seasons one and two, Oleson said this season is "much darker, more character-driven."
• When writing the season's scripts, Oleson adopted the idea of deep POV. Woll described the storytelling style as, "We have about six main characters and the idea is that every scene that you are in, you will be from the perspective of one character."
• Oleson described season 3 as a cross between Daredevil season one and The Sopranos.
• Jet Wilkinson—who helmed episodes of Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Punisher—is directing an episode this season.
• Every interview we did—especially with Erik Oleson—drove home the point that season 3 would re-focus in on the dynamic between Daredevil's core crew: Matt, Karen, and Foggy.
• The central, underlying theme of Daredevil season 3 is the fact that our fears enslave us, according to Oleson. "Daredevil being the man without fear, of course, was an interesting jumping off point," he said.
• Season 3 will reveal Matt Murdock's real, deeply ingrained fear. "When he gets to the end of this season he will realize it was actually a motivation for a lot of his decisions over the years," Oleson said.
• The one important lesson that Oleson brought to Daredevil from his time as a producer on The CW's Arrow is that "superhero outfits don't look that great in daylight.
• "The action sequences are violent and explosive and very much Daredevil," Oleson said, "and yet there are real stakes in every action sequence."
• Daredevil's original showrunner Steven S. Deknight came up with the idea that “This is a Daredevil who is one bad day away from being Frank Castle.” Charlie Cox still uses that advice in his performance.
• Charlie Cox owns the same green bomber jacket that Danny Rand wore in Iron Fist season 1. It was a gift from his girlfriend.

To catch up on all of our Daredevil Season 3 set visit coverage, peruse the links below:

• Charlie Cox on 'Daredevil' Season 3, His New Costume, and Matt Murdock's Inner Demons
• Deborah Ann Woll on 'Daredevil' Season 3 and Karen Page's Dark, Violent Past
• 'Daredevil' Season 3: Elden Henson on Foggy's Life After Matt Murdock