“He uncovers the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light” (Job 12:22, NRSV).
On September 10, 2018, reference to this verse from the book of Job was posted to the twitter account for Netflix’s popular Marvel show Daredevil. The post also included a video of a battered and bloody Matt Murdock in a confession booth, saying to the camera: “darkness only responds to darkness.” The tweet foreshadows the importance of the book of Job to the third and final season of Netflix’s Daredevil program. Numerous characters throughout the season reference and offer their interpretation of this biblical narrative—with Murdock using the text to legitimize his violent vigilantism. The titular character Daredevil compares himself to the prophet Job, he contends that God has abandoned him, and ultimately he takes up the mantle of the “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.”
This paper presentation analyzes the adaption of the book of Job in Netflix’s Daredevil program. More specifically, it examines how characters in the show respond to the theodicy, or problem of evil, in the text to legitimize or reject physical violence. It analyzes the arcs of two characters—Matt Murdock and Karen Page—showing how each individual responds to violence in the third season of the show. The paper then then compares these interpretation of Job with those offered by scholars in the field of biblical studies. Particular attention is given to scholarship that engages adaptations or re-tellings of the biblical narrative, including work by Reinhold Zwick and Ilana Pardes. The paper concludes that the Netflix Daredevil program contributes to the contemporary social critique on violence and the ethical concerns surrounding the problem of evil. It explores how the program modifies, expands, and builds on the theodicy of the book of Job to address violence, murder, and vigilantism.
About the presenterDavid A. Schones
David A. Schones holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University specializing in biblical studies. His current research interests include disability studies, gender studies, infertility, religion and culture. His dissertation, entitled “Infertility in 1 Samuel 1: Toward a Hermeneutic of Reproduction” employs social scientific models to analyze the conceptualization and stigmatization of involuntary childlessness in this text.