The countdown is on for Friday, April 10th. Not only are we getting a brand new Netflix series, but it's freakin' Marvel's Daredevil! The first of Netflix/Marvel's "Defenders" shows - the darker "Street Level Heroes" stories that will also include AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

It's Dark

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Connection to MCU

And since Daredevil's the most famous of the bunch, ol' Matt Murdock gets the honors of going first. 13 episodes of Hell's Kitchen chaos brought to us by genre maestros Drew Goddard (Buffy, Lost, The Cabin in the Woods) and Steven S. DeKnight (Buffy, Angel, Spartacus).Of course, we're assuming you're already as super-psyched for this show as we are. But here are some thing that may make you even more excited. Some non-spoilery odds and ends we've learned after watching the first five episodes: things that make/help Daredevil stand out from the rest of the MCU.As you could probably tell from the trailers, this show is dark, both literally and thematically. With Matt Murdock's Daredevil donning the famous Frank Miller all-black attire ( at least at the outset ) and battling crooks and thugs while mostly cloaked in the shadow of night, this is a dimly lit series. Purposefully, of course. Meant to evoke a very "gritty, 1970s New York feel," said showrunner DeKnight, explaining the Mean Streets/Scorsese-esque feel of the show.Visuals aside though, Daredevil is a grim, intense show. It's not a hard R, but it is a rather coarse PG-13. This is the first MCU property that's not fully appropriate for kids who enjoy the movies. If you're looking for the MCU's version of Batman, or even the intense, grounded sensibilities that Christopher Nolan brought to his Caped Crusader movies, this is it. Our hero breaks bones. He resorts to torture. He leaves his enemies shattered and broken. If you thought Steve Rogers had issues with Tony Stark's flippancy and/or tactics, he'd have a hell of a lot to complain about here given Matt Murdock's style of justice.So this is the first MCU project to look and feel vastly different than the movies (or even ABC's Agents of SHIELD, which mostly sticks to the movies' tone). Jon Favreau's Iron Man basically set the mold for what the Marvel movies are. The brighter skies, the humor, the drama, the humor (again). This is a giant step away from that. An exploration of how different heroes need different handling. Just like how all comic books don't look or feel the same.So if Daredevil looks and feels different than the movies, how does it ultimately connect to the MCU? Well, for the most part it doesn't. It very much remains its own thing. And aside from a few mentions here and there of super-powered beings, Thor's hammer, and such, it keeps a very wide distance from that world. Whereas, if we look at Agents of SHIELD, the first MCU TV series, things are different. Most of the heroes on that show don't have powers, but they're totally immersed in the world of Avengers. Facing off against super-powered villains, Asgardians, Kree, and alien tech. Daredevil has none of that.

Daredevil Photo Gallery: Marvel's Daredevil Photos 15 IMAGES

But here's one interesting way they've connected the story to the larger MCU picture. Daredevil was created back in the '60s, just a few months after the Kennedy Assassination, to play as a niche Irish Catholic hero. Residing in Hell's Kitchen - an NYC neighborhood that, at one time, was home to many Irish immigrants. As well as a buttload of crime. Well, Hell's Kitchen isn't really like that anymore. And since the story doesn't take place in the 60s and 70s, the decision was made to have the Chitauri's attack on New York be the catalyst for the story now in 2015. Hell's Kitchen has gone to pot because it was all but destroyed during the alien invasion. Which means it needs a hero to help prevent it all from being taken over by a new syndicate of crime lords (led my a mysterious figure whose name, like Voldemort's, is never mentioned).Of course, there still aren't many references made to the Chitauri here. The catastrophic damage caused in The Avengers is now politely referred to as "The Incident."

More reasons to be excited for Daredevil on Page 2...