Netflix wowed us with their take on the Marvel Universe. While the gritty street heroes Netflix covered did not save the city from a Chitauri invasion, they went up against evil that preyed on the innocents of their cities. Watching Daredevil for the first time was like a breath of fresh air. (The Ben Affleck movie wasn't terrible, but it isn't the stellar-ness that the Netflix show is.) Jessica Jones was riveting; I didn't sleep for a day because of how engrossing it was. So when Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher came out, I eagerly looked forward to each release because Netflix had established a history of excellence.

These heroes were so appealing to me because they seemed within grasp. I could meet a regular, chill guy like Luke Cage out on a walk. No way was I going to run into a billionaire inventor like Tony Stark. But since the Netflix heroes are closer to the ground than the Avengers, their stories tend to be a lot darker. Their villains are dastardly psychopaths who patrol the streets ensuring their power stays unchecked or they're malicious businessmen who want to control their corner of the world.

That said, the shows are awesome as heck. But they do contain some of the most messed up moments in television. Here's a list of some of those moments from all five of the Marvel shows currently on Netflix. These moments will not always be the most visual (which is why the entire first season of Punisher does not dominate this list). Instead, these moments are the kind of messed up moments that make you wonder how dark a Marvel hero's story can get.

25 The Green Mile

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The Punisher is not known for his mercy. With a name like "The Punisher," we don't exactly expect him to be. But he showed his expertise with absolutely no regard to the shedding of fluids when he slowly walked along a hallway during his time in prison. Daredevil's second season saw Frank Castle in a prison for his vigilante activities. Purposefully trapped in a hallway with enraged prison inmates who have been given weapons, Castle must use only his bare fists to survive the encounter. What follows is perhaps the most epic display of Castle's human endurance as he pounds his attackers for his survival. He improvises, using their weapons against them, and when the figurative dust has settled, the Punisher is the only one standing.

24 The Worst Elevator Trip

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Jessica Jones introduced (in my opinion) the scariest super villain ever. Kilgrave is a petty man who was given (albeit in a tragic way) the ability to make people do whatever it is he wants. All he would have to do is speak an imperative sentence and whoever he was addressing would follow his orders. This caused an incident to befall Hope Shlottman, one of Kilgrave's many victims.

He forces her to accompany him for several days against her will.

Her parents become concerned and they hire Jessica to find her. Jessica manages to locate her, but not before Kilgrave issued one final, fatal order to Hope. As her parents led her out of Jessica's building, they took an elevator down. Unfortunately, Hope was told to eliminate both of her parents. By the time the elevator reaches the bottom floor, it's too late for Jessica to save Hope's parents.

23 Family Matters

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Cornell Stokes, also known as Cottonmouth, starts out at the beginning of Luke Cage as the villain. He's a veritable crime lord who created a lucrative nightclub and inherited his criminal empire from Mama Mabel, his adopted mother. Mama Mabel was the leader of the family mob, and she had high hopes for Cornell to run the family business.

Strangely enough, Cornell just wanted to be a pianist.

His induction into Mama Mabel's lifestyle is harsh, so much so that we actually feel bad for him. Mabel forced him to execute his Uncle Pete, the only man who had ever encouraged him to play the piano. Pete had been doing some side dealings away from Mama Mabel's business and he had become too familiar with Mariah, one of Mama Mabel's wards. Pete wasn't a good man, but Cornell was just a kid when he had to get rid of him.

22 Like Father, Like Son

Villains don't always spring out from nowhere. Sometimes they are made by the environment they inhabit. I loathed Ward from the first time I heard him speak in Iron Fist. He was smarmy and snake-like, the portrait of a sleazy corporate tycoon. But then I got a look at his father, and you know what?

Ward didn't seem so bad after that.

His father, Harold, was even slimier than Ward, and even crueler too. Harold had Ward under his thumb, and honestly, I didn't blame Ward when he finally broke and turned on Harold. I'm surprised he didn't do it sooner. But alas, poor Ward had to contend with a dad who was not only the biggest jerk in town, he had to contend with a dad who could come back to life with less sanity than he started with.

21 A Name Worth Saying

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The slow introduction of the Kingpin in Daredevil was brilliantly executed. We don't hear his name until the third episode. We hear Wilson Fisk's wishes through his employees' words and actions. And some of those actions are downright chilling. Fisk hires John Healy to deal with some crime bosses he wants dealt with. Matt Murdock wants to get to the bottom of Healy's actions, so using his Daredevil persona, he puts Healy into submission and demands to know who hired him. Under duress, Healy screeches out Fisk's name. Afterwards, he's horrified by what he's done. He's terrified to his bones of what Fisk will do to him if he finds out that Healy gave away Fisk's identity. He ends things in order to avoid whatever fate he feared Fisk would deal to him.

20 To Choose Or Not To Choose

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A lot of heroes have a code they stick to. Given that heroes tend to have a lot of power at their disposal, it's comforting to think that they make rules to restrain themselves from crossing a line. The Punisher does not have the same line that Daredevil has. Daredevil does not believe in ending a life, even with the most terrible criminal. The Punisher believes that the unjust should pay for their crimes with their lives. In order to prove to Daredevil that his line makes no sense, Punisher gives him an ultimatum. The Punisher tells Daredevil that he can either end the life of a criminal or end his own (the Punisher's) life before he ends the criminal's life himself. Daredevil is unable to do either, so he can only watch as the Punisher makes good on his promise.

19 A Strange Premise

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When we meet Jessica Jones, it's clear that she has baggage. As the first season of Jessica Jones progresses, we learn that she has been through the wringer. We don't grasp the full severity of her past until close to the end. Kilgrave, the mind-controlling sadist I mentioned earlier, got his claws into Jessica, and he forced her to do some of the most debasing things you can force a woman to do. What eventually broke his control of her was when he told her to push a woman named Reva Connors. With Jessica's super strength, that single push into traffic was enough to spell doom for poor Ms. Connors. After the shock of committing this act, Jessica was able to walk away from Kilgrave despite him issuing orders for her to stop.

18 A Barber Shop Incident

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Luke Cage's old-time friend, Pop, was a friend worth having. He wasn't a flawless person. As flashbacks showed and as he himself admitted, he made mistakes when he was a young person. But he grew past them and became a fixture in the community.

His barber shop became a place of peace within the turbulent neighborhood.

So when a criminal underling entered the establishment, it was shocking to watch. I had hoped that wise Pop would stick around for more than half a season to continue counseling Luke Cage in the ways of hero-ing. Instead, Pop perished inside his barber shop while the store itself was being torn to bits. Even the underling's boss, Cottonmouth, was angry at him for this incident in Pop's Barber Shop. That place was supposed to be Switzerland.

17 Information-Gathering Habits

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A running motif in Netflix's The Punisher was the hard way to gather information. There are practically too many times in the show to name them all where Frank Castle is either being severely interrogated himself or he's the one doing the interrogating. Each and every one of those scenes brought about waves of squeamishness inside me. When Frank was being interrogated, it showed how tough he was as a character (not that we needed a reminder of how tough he was), but it still felt almost... gratuitous. Like violence for the sake of violence. But, then again, the Punisher persona creates situations where those kinds of vicious acts are deemed necessary.

16 Embarrassment

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My sister and I both never really liked Vincent D'Onofrio. We first saw him as the cockroach creature in Men in Black, and ever since then, he's always kind of freaked us out. We both had to admit though that his portrayal of Wilson Fisk was great. He was a large, awkward man who spoke in a gravelly voice, but his respect for Vanessa completely won us over. However, Fisk's regard for Vanessa went to an extreme level when a Russian associate of his interrupted a dinner date with her. Fisk had his assistant take the Russian away in a car, where he later met them after escorting Vanessa away. He then proceeded to end the Russian with a car door. Every time he slammed the door, Fisk shouted at the Russian about how he had embarrassed Fisk in front of Vanessa. Scary, but kind of sweet.

15 An Elektric Personality

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Elektra definitely brought some spice into Matt's life. She was mercurial, but in the end, she showed that she wanted to change for Matt. She had always been more savage than him. They both enjoyed the thrill of a fight, but Matt always fought for the right reasons.

Elektra just seemed to take a vicarious enjoyment from it.

Matt tried to convince her to follow his moral line, but Elektra couldn't help her nature. When a young boy attacked Matt in his apartment, deeply wounding him, Elektra came up behind the boy and ended him. It was traumatic, because we, like Matt, had hoped that Elektra could be swayed to the good side. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and we, like Matt, were disappointed.

14 No Other Options

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After being forced to eliminate her parents by Kilgrave, Hope was taken to prison for her crime. Jessica had no evidence to prove that Hope had not been acting in accordance with her will. No one had ever met someone like Kilgrave. A man who can control minds makes for a tough opponent to nail. Jessica spends most of the first few episodes of Jessica Jones trying to capture Kilgrave alive so that Hope could have the evidence she needed to prove her innocence.

However, Hope still had more ill news to come her way.

In prison, she was hurt by a fellow inmate. Concerned, Jessica visits her, only to find out that Hope arranged for the act. She had found out she was carrying Kilgrave's child (from the relations he had forced her to have with him), and she had wanted to miscarry. I wasn't joking when I said these Netflix shows had some messed up stuff.

13 Cousins, The Real Way

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Mariah Dillard and Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes were cousins. They had both been raised by the mob boss Mama Mabel, so they had both been groomed to deal with underhanded businesses.

Where Mariah was the public figure, Cottonmouth was the actual crime lord.

However, almost from the get-go, I could tell that Mariah had more stones than Cottonmouth. She was more clever, and Cottonmouth's flashback to his childhood proved he was softer. Still, I didn't expect Mariah to fly at her cousin in a rage. Their fight was brief, I think because Cottonmouth was surprised by Mariah's ferocity too. It ended with Cottonmouth on the floor, not breathing, and Mariah officially the inheritor of Mama Mabel's criminal empire.

12 Poor, Unmourned Kyle

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Kyle was the unfortunate assistant to Harold Meachum. After Harold was given a new lease on life after passing away from cancer (thanks to ninja magic), he had to remain in hiding. The only ones who knew he was alive were Ward, Harold's son, and Kyle. After Harold's first brush with the afterlife, he seemed to be more or less his original self. But after his second brush with the afterlife, Harold lost his mind. Perhaps not on purpose, Harold lulled Kyle into a moment of camaraderie by sharing some ice cream with him. When Harold made one small comment about his favorite flavor not being available, Harold turned cold and murderously angry. Literally. Poor Kyle didn't stand a chance against Harold's insane fury.

11 Being The Good Guy

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Tough interrogation is something we expect to see in The Punisher, but Daredevil dabbled in it during its very first season. Daredevil and Claire Temple, the nurse who eventually becomes all local super heroes' go-to medical support, needed information from a Russian assailant. When he becomes less than talkative, the two of them resort to more extreme methods.

Let's just say that Claire's medical knowledge came in handy.

We know that the Russian they are questioning is not a good guy, but we couldn't help but become disquieted by both Claire and Matt engaging in bad guy behavior. Claire even dons this creepy-looking hooded jacket and mask combo that makes her appear just as threatening as Daredevil does.

10 Filial Affection

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I said it about Ward Meachum, and the same is true about Wilson Fisk: bad environments can make bad people. Wilson Fisk's father, Bill Fisk, was an unpleasant man. He was needlessly mean and enjoyed deriding his young son for not being manly enough. When he lost his campaign for Hell's Kitchen's city council, Bill began to drink more and more, wallowing in his misery and wrath. He also began taking out his frustrations on his loving wife, Wilson Fisk's mother. One day, Wilson can't bear to hear his mother in pain anymore. He takes a hammer and finishes his father. Then, he and his mother slowly dispose of things together. The Kingpin of Crime was made by the environment he grew up in.

9 Friendly Donation

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The Hand ends up being the villainous organization of shadowy ninja people that the Defenders all have to face off against when they finally come together. Despite having a ridiculous-sounding name, the Hand's plans involved some very gross stuff. They stole young people from across Hell's Kitchen in order to use them as blood incubators, and then they slowly drained them of all of their blood. (Plus, I think they brainwashed them or something because they acted like zombie children afterwards.) Their blood is then given to the "Black Sky" (in this case, Elektra Natchios) and she is resurrected thanks to that weird ninja magic that is prevalent in both Daredevil and Iron Fist. 

8 Medieval Punishments

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Jeri Hogarth, the lawyer that Jessica Jones works with, proved herself to be a semi-reliable friend and a full-blooded lawyer. She had a practical ruthlessness that, while it didn't make her the most sympathetic of characters, made us admire her. Despite the fact that she was occasionally cold-hearted, we did not desire her to suffer what Kilgrave put her through. After she freed him from Jessica's specially-made prison, Hogarth was given the reward of Kilgrave ordering her ex-wife to give her a thousand cuts. And just because Kilgrave threw out a euphemism did not mean that Hogarth's ex-wife took it that way. She did exactly as she was ordered to and tried to end Hogarth's life by a thousand cuts.

7 Not Much For A Mother's Love

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Billy Russo was the opposite of Frank Castle. Especially in appearance. Russo had chiseled good looks which he nurtured and crafted in a daily morning routine. Castle was rugged and looked as if his nose had been broken five dozen times. Russo came from an upbringing spent in foster homes. His mother had been a victim of substances, so she had been unable to care for Russo properly.

Because of her neglect, Russo was sent to all these different homes.

In a twisted turn of fate, Russo was able to return the favor by finding his mother and placing her in a home during her old age. He cared for her (in a terrifying and totally uncaring kind of way), but at the same time, he kept her forever hooked on the thing that had caused her to abandon him.

6 Replacement Dad

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The story of how Matt's father passed away is tragic, but perhaps even more tragic is the story of how he lost his other father figure, Stick. Stick did not pass away like Matt's dad. Instead, he abandoned Matt at a moment when Matt showed the smallest sliver of affection for him. Stick was the one who trained Matt to fully use his abilities and to fight with the rest of his senses. He gave Matt the ability to run when Matt was feeling crippled by his new abilities. So it's understandable that Matt became fond of the old man who had given his life new direction. He tried to give Stick a bracelet he had made out of paper from an ice cream cone that Stick had bought for Matt when they first met. Stick took it in his hand and then crumpled it in his fist.