Daredevil Season 3's Best Fights, Ranked

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3, streaming now on Netflix.

When Daredevil came out in 2015, it set a high bar for the rest of Marvel’s Netflix dramas in terms of fight sequences. In addition to the signature hallway fight scene, every brawl Matt Murdock found himself in felt grimy, painful and, most importantly, real. The choreography made the grounded approach of the entire series a success, even in moments where the narrative faltered.

Season 3 ups the ante, with new showrunner Erik Oleson wanting every blow thrown to be important, unpredictable and have dire consequence, not just for Matt, but for his villains as well. To call these 13 episodes high-octane would be an understatement, so let's dive into the best fights this season.

5. Kingpin Unhinged

Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) usually keeps his cool on the show, but when he cuts loose, he's absolutely frightening. When the time comes to dispatch subordinates, rivals and, of course, Daredevil, Fisk turns into a brawler, able to absorb almost any blow, and when he dishes it back, well, let's just say the repercussions are dire.

This is punctuated when his FBI henchman, Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter (Wilson Bethel), fails to kill Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). After hearing the disappointing news from one of his goons, Kingpin asks the man for his jacket in the SUV. Shockingly, Fisk ambushes the man, wrapping the jacket around his face, as if to strangle him. However, it's just prevent blood from spraying everywhere as he rains down blows, smashing the unfortunate lackey's head to a bloody pulp in a matter of seconds, before regaining his composure as if nothing happened.

4. The Office Fight

This season did a great job of building up Dex as Bullseye, having him slaughter several Albanian assassins that attacked his FBI entourage, proving his mettle as a one-man arsenal. After Fisk corrupts him, he suits up as Daredevil to attack the New York Bulletin and kill someone who wanted to snitch on Fisk, which brings him face to face with Matt in his black suit -- arguably the series' most anticipated moment.

They quickly begin hand-to-hand combat, which feels similar to franchises such as The Raid and Ong Bak, with tight, close-up shots of both men using various styles of mixed martial arts. As expected, Dex raises the stakes by using every piece of office equipment possible -- from pens to staples to computer screens -- in addition to his baton, to try to take Matt out. Matt's stunned, realizing way too late that he needs to close the distance, which sees Dex beating him brutally before killing his target.

Page 2:

3. The Church Brawl

Matt and Bullseye resume their feud later on in the season at Father Lantom's (Peter McRobbie) church when the villain goes after Karen. This time, though, Matt keeps combat close-range, with Bullseye struggling to lengthen the distance. Matt flips their dynamic, resorting more to holds and a Muay Thai style of brawling, giving Bullseye little to no room to maneuver.

However, Matt's still handicapped as he has to worry about Bullseye targeting Karen and the other parishioners, as well as everything from broken pieces of statues, lit candles, glass and furniture that's being flung at him with deadly precision. Matt does leave Bullseye worse for the wear this time around, especially after Karen helps by getting in a few shots, but Bullseye eventually emerges victorious by killing Lantom, escaping before the cops arrive.

2. The Prison Scrap

After Matt steals Foggy's I.D., he goes to the prison Fisk was freed from to dig up information on why the Albanians wanted him dead. Sadly, Fisk is monitoring the jail and when Matt goes for medical treatment to treat a punch from his inside man, Fisk has a plethora of assailants attack the lawyer.

These include the medical officer and a bunch of other prisoners, with the fight switching in between the sick bay and, of course, a very narrow hallway. What makes it intriguing is Matt's been drugged, which levels the playing field for the other attackers. It's another intense shot of continuous action which sees the prison go into lockdown mode, and the Albanians then helping Matt fend off corrupt members of the Riot Squad, all so he could escape and take Fisk out on the outside with the information garnered.

1. The Triple-Threat Main Event

Daredevil pulls back to punch the Kingpin

Everything comes to a head in the season finale, with Dex donning the Daredevil suit and trying to kill Fisk's wife, Vanessa, as revenge for Fisk killing the object of his own desire, Julie. Dex crashes the wedding, leading to a three-way fight between him, Fisk and Matt. It's pure chaos as Matt, while beating Fisk up, tries to ensure Vanessa doesn't die. However, with Bullseye throwing glass, knives and everything the penthouse has available at him and Fisk, that job's all the tougher.

Everyone gets a proper shot at each other, culminating in Kingpin crushing Dex's spine, paralyzing him. This gifts Matt the upper-hand, though, and he takes Kingpin down, beating him senseless, leaving his longtime foe barely alive. He refuses to kill him, instead opting to strike a deal to protect his own identity with the villain. As Matt surveys the damage left in the wake, the cops come in, wondering how three men could have turned a penthouse into a bloody war room.

Now available on Netflix, Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3 stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Joanne Whalley as Sister Maggie, Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Poindexter, Jay Ali as Rahul “Ray” Nadeem and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.

CBR

Daredevil: Season 3's Most Jaw-Dropping Fights, Ranked