Marvel’s Newest Daredevil is a Better Fourth Wall-Breaker Than Deadpool

Deadpool might be Marvel Comics’ most famous fourth wall-breaker, but he’s got nothing on the newest incarnation of Daredevil. There’s hardly a comic book fan alive who isn’t aware of Wade Wilson and his uncanny meta-awareness. Many Deadpool comics will have the Merc with a Mouth gab right at us, offering up his commentary on a story while he’s right in the middle of it. He’s not the only person in the Marvel Universe who’s aware he’s in a comic book, but Deadpool is undoubtedly the most popular hero to know it.

But it looks like Deadpool has some serious competition. The Ultimate Universe is winding down, and a recent one-shot, Ultimate Universe: Two Years In #1, is setting the stage for the line’s final chapter. Amazingly, we’re still getting new characters in the eleventh hour, and after he was teased back in October, we’re finally getting to know the Ultimate Universe’s version of Daredevil. But who is he, what differentiates him from his 616 counterpart, and why is he a better fourth wall-breaker than Deadpool?

Marvel’s New Daredevil is a Beyonder Without Fear

Ultimate Universe: Two Years In #1 by Deniz Camp, Alex Paknadel, Patrick Boutin, Phil Noto, Francesco Manna, Lee Ferguson, and Javier Pulido focuses on the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy. They’re working hard to rescue more of their teammates, as well as trying to undo the damage the Maker has done to the universe. They eventually cross paths with the Ultimate Daredevil, a Beyonder in this world. Though an injury reduced his senses, he still possesses the ability to warp reality, a power he’s using to preserve what he can of the Ultimate Universe.

Ultimate Daredevil uses a hyper-cube to contain elements of the universe and the Guardians work hard to stop him. But it’s hard, as Daredevil’s extra-dimensional power allows him to utilize the negative space of the comic page itself. He can reshape panels, travel from one box to another, and even possesses ‘reader-sense’, which enables him to change the script of the comic and get his friends to back down. But despite the immense power at his fingertips, Captain Marvel manages to grab the hyper-cube and restore everything Daredevil plucked from the universe.

Deadpool’s Fourth Wall-Breaking is No Match for Ultimate Daredevil

Now, all respect to Deadpool. I mean, the guy is meta comic book storytelling incarnate. But at the end of the day, Deadpool can only do so much. Sure, he can talk directly to us and make glib comments about the state of the comic book industry. But that’s nothing compared to the stunts this new Daredevil just pulled. As a Beyonder, even one that’s lost many of his senses, Ultimate Daredevil has power that can only be described as ‘godlike’. And seriously, when’s the last time Deadpool manipulated a comic page to take on a squad of superheroes?

With the Ultimate Universe on borrowed time, I don’t know if we’ll ever see this version of Ultimate Daredevil again. He might pop up in Ultimate Endgame, but once the line is completely through, it’s hard to imagine him showing up elsewhere. So Deadpool’s reign as Marvel Comics’ resident fourth wall-breaker is still safe. But Ultimate Daredevil was a fun exercise in showing how much cooler that kind of character can be by making them a practical god of the comic book medium.

What do you think of Ultimate Daredevil? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!

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