Although you may remember the pre-married, pre-divorced Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner as Daredevil and Elektra, Netflix's Daredevil is about to start that story over for you in Season 2. Netflix already reinvented the Daredevil franchise with Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in 2015 and now Daredevil is bringing in Elektra for Season 2. Fans of the comic series may have been disappointed when Elektra didn't show up in Season 1, but Daredevil's love interest and sometimes foe will be a huge part of the blind lawyer and vigilante's life when Season 2 premieres March 18. And while she is new to the series, the backstory between Daredevil and Elektra goes way back to an earlier time for the characters.
In the comics, Elektra was first introduced in 1981 in Daredevil issue #168. (H/t to PJ Montgomery at Sidekickcast for his thorough recap of the issue.) Matt as Daredevil encounters a female assassin that he recognizes as Elektra, although she doesn't immediately recognize him. (It appears the series will diverge from this with having Elektra breaking into Matt's apartment.) A flashback then reveals a young Matt at college meeting the U.S. ambassador from Greece's daughter — Elektra Natchios. As he pursues a relationship with her, Matt reveals his heightened abilities to Elektra and she becomes the first person he ever tells about his special senses. The pair date in college, but they break up after a deadly incident involving her father. She leaves Columbia University, but that is not the end of their connections.
Now, if you don't remember from your first marathon viewing of Daredevil, the series perfectly set up for an Elektra backstory in Episode 10 of Season 1, "Nelson v. Murdock." In a drunken flashback with Foggy at law school, Matt makes fun of Foggy for taking Punjabi just because of a girl. Foggy counters with, "Are you trying to tell me that you didn't take Spanish to snuggle up to — what's her name? The Greek girl." Foggy follows up with, "Whatever happened to her? She was smokin'." Matt's response? "Oh man, it didn't work out."
This was a nice little reference for fans of the comics — and also (I guess?) for those who saw the films Daredevil and Elektra and remembered that Garner's Elektra Natchios was technically Greek. I had seen Daredevil in theaters because my friend was obsessed with Colin Farrell, who was ascending to super stardom at the time, but I understandably forgot Garner's character's ethnicity since, uh, Garner isn't Greek. The films also give Elektra a different backstory, so let's get back to the comics and Netflix's Daredevil, shall we?
Since Daredevil comic fans know that Elektra is Matt's Greek girlfriend from law school, that Easter egg hinted at the series following in the footsteps of Elektra's original origin story — and in my opinion, that's always a good thing. After Matt and Elektra's university love, Elektra enters his life in a much more violent capacity and luckily for fans of the Netflix show, that will be a major storyline in Season 2. Now, how Elektra went from college student to ninja assassin is a tale that hopefully the series will also outline with Elektra actress Élodie Yung, but if we are going by the previews, that is not guaranteed. (And in fairness to Garner, Yung is also not Greek.)
The reason I want to see Elektra's training in the series is because in the comics, Elektra left New York City for Asia, where she learned martial arts from Stick — the same man who trained Matt in Season 1 of the series. Since Stick actor Scott Glenn will be returning to Daredevil Season 2, I'm crossing my fingers for some flashback scenes where Stick trains Elektra since that just furthers the two badasses' connection to one another.
What started as young romance becomes deadly for Matt and Elektra and just as she added a new, fascinating dynamic to the comics, Elektra should have the same effect on the Netflix show when it returns on March 18 — regardless of whether or not the series follows the exact history of the characters.
Images: Patrick Harbron (2), Barry Wetcher/Netflix; Twentieth Century Fox
