marvel.com | 2016/02/24

Actress Elodie Yung’s got a lot to say about Elektra--no surprise since she’s playing the role in Season 2 of “Marvel’s Daredevil,” alongside, and sometimes in front of, Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock.

Now you can get a new look at the deadly Elektra with a new motion poster below, then keep scrolling to hear from Yung on what’s in store with “Marvel’s Daredevil” Season 2, streaming only on Netflix March 18!

Yung’s starting point on researching the fan-favorite ninja character began with the comics themselves.

“At some point I needed to do some homework,” she says. “And I didn’t know her before, I wasn’t familiar with Daredevil, although I was watching the show long before I auditioned, so that was really the only thing I knew about this world. I found ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN and bought that and it was very inspiring, I thought, for this character. I was like, ‘Whoa, what am I stepping into?’ It’s insane.

“After I read the first volume of ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN, I was like, ‘What is it about, really?’ I read the rest and then I had an idea of the essence of the character. Then I looked at DAREDEVIL #168, where [Elektra and Daredevil] meet. I started there in the books, in the comics.”

By adapting the comic stories to a film production, the actress saw it as bringing “different colors” to Elektra that will expand upon the original printed tales.

“I really think I tried to capture the essence of the comics,” she explains. “What I thought would be the essence of Elektra. And then, as any character that I play, I really tried to dig inside me and try to reach real emotions and transpose that in her world, in who she is. That’s what I tried to do. The writers described her in one of our first meetings as a sociopath, so I had to look into what is a sociopath.”

But is there also a note of sympathy from Yung to her character?

“You can’t identify 100% with your character,” she says. “Obviously, I’m not a sociopath. Or I hope I’m not! I hope for you that I’m not. You have to empathize with her and not judge your character, not think she’s a bad girl or she’s a good character.

“This is the way I did it. I had to look into what is a sociopath and it’s someone who basically can’t have any emotional bond with anyone and everything is like a chess game. I couldn’t really relate to this, and then I tried to empathize with her and the decisions she makes…I would forgive her. It’s difficult for me to explain, but I think Elektra is searching for who she is. And in this search for herself, I could relate and empathize. She tries to get the good out of what she does and sometimes [it’s] in a weird, violent way.”

When Elektra appears on screen in Season 2, she reunites with Matt Murdock as something of a lost soul, asking for help as someone who feels alone in the world.

“When she says that,” Yung notes, “I think she’s being honest. She left him when they were younger and then ten years later she comes back into his life because she’s missing something, because she’s alone. The whole arc this season for Elektra is finding the good in herself. Trying to understand who she is really and maybe she’s not [just] this cold person, this cold killer. She’s been raised and she grew up like this and she’s been trained [for it]. There’s some element of sociopathy in her, but I think it’s just the way that she was born as well.

“Elektra met Matt and she fell in love with him. And I think he brought some good out of her at some point in her life, and maybe she wants to figure out, by coming back to him, who she really is. She comes back because she misses him and she’s alone and the only person she’s ever loved is Matt. And she also needs his help. He has good skills and she also needs his skills to help her in her mission. I think that is the sociopath in her: ‘I will need you for something, so I’m going to use you.’”

And of course, the character of Elektra demands a fair amount of physicality, which means a whole lot of fighting time for Yung.

“We wanted to have a good mix of martial arts in the way she fights,” she points out. “So with the stunt team, we thought about it and we decided to [use] Muay Thai, but there’s also some Krav Maga in it and some Capoeira.

“Basically, she’s been trained to do a lot of things. She also uses weapons, the sais, so I had to learn how to manipulate them, which was something! I think the result is pretty good. We figured out [that] a mix of all these martial arts would be great for her. I also liked telling a story even when we do a fight. You wouldn’t fight the way I fight because we have different personalities. I wanted to have some disdain in the way that she fights sometimes, because I think Elektra is a bit careless, like, ‘You’re in my way, get out.’ Sometimes I would just exchange a punch for a throw, like a slap in the face, because that would tell more of a story about who she is.”

Catch Season 2 of "Marvel's Daredevil" when it debuts only on Netflix March 18! Make sure to follow @Daredevil on Twitter and like "Marvel's Daredevil" on Facebook for all the latest news and updates on the Man Without Fear.

ZhangYang敬上