Blockbuster films have been the bread and butter for Marvel for most of the 21st century with behemoths like the "Avengers" and the "X-Men". While these movies are what keep the lights on, this has given Marvel the opportunity to experiment with some it's lesser known properties. Shows like "Daredevil", "Jessica Jones", and "Luke Cage" have been pleasant surprises in terms of their ability to portray truly flawed and relatable characters. Not to say that the flagship film franchises are completely devoid of creative merit; but it rather speaks to the creative depth of Marvel that it can create smaller projects with similar quality.
The ability of these shows to tackle the everyday issues of the common man, while also telling the classic superhero stories that remain in their framework, is what drives their appeal. Jessica Jones, a private investigator and rape victim, has super strength and battles a mind-controlling villain. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, is a blind ninja that routinely fights undead ninjas and gangsters while holding down a job as a ambulance chaser attorney. Luke Cage, is a bullet-proof black man who was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit works as a dish washer and sweeps hair at a barbershop. These aren't the super soldiers and norse gods that blow up buildings and fly through the sky, these are real people that have to deal with the aftermath.
This follows the company's strategy of placing minorities and people with mental illness in the forefront of some of it's most classic stories. The new Spiderman is a Dominican kid from New York and the newest incarnation of Ms. Marvel is an Arab-American from Jersey City (!!!). Seeing this type of representation in one of America's most culturally relevant art forms is something holds way more valuable than it appears. Instead of seeing white males and fully able people as the heroes of our world, kids from all backgrounds can read a comic or watch a movie and see themselves being the heroes.
These are all characters we can root for because they are all real people, with real problems, that world-saving titans like Captain America and Iron Man are too big to have. Watching Jessica Jones struggle to open her jammed apartment door, or seeing Luke Cage sit on a bench and eat his lunch during his break, are all things that I can relate too. Most people can relate to these trivial moments, but the fact that even the extraordinary deal with them, too, makes the special seem not so far away.
