WARNING: The following article may contain minor spoilers for Daredevil Season 3, arriving October 19 on Netflix.


Last summer, CBR joined several press outlets on a set visit for Daredevil Season 3. The visit included a few key interviews with members of the cast and crew, a tour of the show's most prominent sets, and an on-set viewing of the show's night shoot. Things started off with a video call with new showrunner Erik Olsen, where we learned plenty of juicy tidbits about the season ahead.

The Return of Wilson Fisk

"Wilson Fisk is back," Olsen declared, starting off the round table session with a bang. Following his arrest at the end of Season 1, Vincent D'Onofrio's Fisk was relegated to a guest starring role in the second season, while he served his prison sentence. Now the villain will be making his return following his decision to become an FBI informant. Fisk's deal will take him out of prison and into a penthouse suite, where he will be monitored and confined, but following up on Matt Murdock's fall at the end of The Defenders, the dynamic relationship between these two characters will take an interesting turn.

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According to Olsen, the two enemies will mirror one another in fascinating ways. "We're going to find Matt Murdock in a very, very dark place," he said of the titular hero. "He is not letting his friends know that he is alive in the beginning of the season... Matt has issues with God, he has issues with his abilities. He is not in physically good shape at the beginning of the season and is physically incapable of being the Daredevil that he has always been."

But while Daredevil is going through an identity crisis, and is completely broken down from his failures, Fisk, is in a remarkably better place than his nemesis. While Matt is suffering, Fisk is comfortable, but still feeling very empty inside. "He is in prison, and sure he became the kingpin of the prison, but it's a pyrrhic victory. He's locked up and separated from the woman he loves, and for all of the power he may be able to exercise within prison, that is not a filling life." Fisk has always been a man of luxury, but it's all meaningless now because Vanessa is about to face criminal charges.

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Though Fisk is under surveillance, Olsen sees him taking on the role of a spymaster, manipulating those around him and playing the long game in order to get exactly what he wants. "We've always seen Fisk have his hooks in people, and I go a lot deeper with that this season." He may have turned state's evidence in order to get Vanessa out of prison, but he still has his own plans and machinations.

Fisk is, of course, "someone who is going to want to get back at the people who brought him down in Season 1," and that means Daredevil. Though it will all lead to Matt and Fisk being on a dangerous collision course over the span of Season 3, until that point, it becomes clear that these two characters are "basically on opposite tracks."

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The dichotomy between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk runs so deep, it actually manifests in physical form. While we were on a tour of Wilson Fisk's penthouse, set decorator Caroline Ghertler explained that the villain will be living a life of luxury while Daredevil is hiding out in a crypt. Matt will cover himself in dark rags, returning to something that resembles his costume from Season 1, while Fisk continues to dress immaculately. The penthouse will be decorated in whites, grays and blues, while Daredevil's lair will be dark, ugly and violent. As Olsen put it, he wants to "explore all of the colors of Wilson Fisk this season" -- even literally.

With Matt going darker than ever before, it means Fisk will have to take on a different role. Instead of setting them up against each other directly, Olsen takes a more indirect approach, which can be just as effective. "You want to watch this collision course between two very complex and dimensional characters." He plans to do this by "fully exploring all the relationship and internal storylines going on with each of the characters, and yet set them against each other in kind of surprising and unexpected ways."

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Daredevil-Hallway

Daredevil Season 3 will refocus Matt Murdock and his mission. He hates himself for his failures, but is trying to find redemption. He has his freedom, and a chance to start over, but continues to operate underground and in secret. Meanwhile, Fisk will be locked up in his ivory tower of a penthouse. He has been outed as a villain; the cops hate him, the city hates him. However, he has plans to change how the world sees him. Just as Matt is becoming more violent and unhinged, Wilson Fisk will be forced to "come back smarter," and that makes him more dangerous than ever.

We know an epic confrontation is coming, but before we get there, Erik Olsen plans to fully explore how Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk work off one another. The hero has fallen into the dark, while the villain is thrust into the light, and neither of them are happy where they are. We have seen what happens when these two confront each other in open warfare, but how will New York City react to a war of attrition?

Arriving Oct. 19 on Netflix, Daredevil Season 3 stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Joanne Whaley, Vincent D’Onofrio and Wilson Bethel.