'Daredevil' Season 3 Is Less "Costume Porn" Than 'Arrow,' Showrunner Says
There's a world of difference between 'Arrow' and 'Daredevil,' and it's not just their universes.
by Eric FranciscoDespite the differences in color schemes and weapons of choice, Daredevil (from the Marvel Universe) and the Green Arrow (from the DC Universe) share certain similarities. For one: They’re both expert martial artists who use extremely specific abilities to fight crime.
But if you ask TV producer Erik Oleson, who worked on both Arrow for The CW and Daredevil on Netflix, the shows couldn’t be further apart — also, one show isn’t as much of a “costume porn.”
On a press visit to the set of Daredevil Season 3 several months ago, Inverse engaged in a Q&A session with new showrunner Erik Oleson, who succeeds Season 2’s Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez. Before Daredevil, Oleson served as co-executive producer of Arrow in its fourth season.
On the differences between Daredevil and Arrow, Oleson explains that streaming platforms like Netflix “really has no limits,” compared to traditional network channels such as The CW.
“It’s a completely different model,” Oleson says. “I had a lot of fun on that show. It’s also very fun to write, but the 22 [episode] model [on] network, it’s in many many ways tonally different to premium television. Premium streaming really has no limits on what you can do creatively or filmically.”
And creatively, premium streaming is free from formula. “Arrow had kind of a formula, which is fun and everyone loves it. And I’m friends with all those guys. This show is less about costume porn.”
Oleson recalls traveling abroad and meeting a non-English-speaker Arrow fan who mimicked the Salmon Ladder exercise seen in the series.
“So you know my work from Stephen Amell’s abs,” he jokes.
Oleson clarifies that he’s friends with the producers of Arrow, including creators Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim with whom he worked even further back on the network drama Jack & Bobby.
Yet, “I love Daredevil,” he says. “I’m able to steer this ship towards very deep waters. And that show, I guess the one lesson I drew is that superhero outfits don’t look that great in daylight.”
Arrow premieres on October 15 on The CW. Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3 premieres on October 19 on Netflix.
