Daredevil Cosplays as the Punisher Before Making a Surprise Decision

Daredevil is no more.

The costumed crimefighter is wanted by the police for the death of Leo Carraro, who died from head trauma sustained in a fight with Daredevil during a liquor store robbery.

Matt Murdock is urged by best friend Foggy Nelson to make a deal with police, but Matt believes he's been set up by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime turned mayor of New York City. But when Matt uses his superhuman abilities to eavesdrop on Fisk from afar, he detects no lies.

Struggling to accept he killed a man — however unwittingly — Matt's troubles worsen when he is pursued by the relentless Detective Cole North, who shoots the fleeing Daredevil before overwhelming the weakened superhero in a street fight. Cuffed and placed under arrest, Daredevil is only freed through the intervention of gun-toting vigilante Frank Castle, the Punisher.

Daredevil awakens topless but still masked at Punisher's hideout, where the diametrically opposed men argue over their methods: Daredevil calls Punisher a twisted murderer, while Punisher says Daredevil enjoys beating criminals but doesn't have the stomach to finish the job, thus allowing more innocents to be hurt.

Their fight turns physical when Punisher executes a bloodied criminal he's kept captive, and Daredevil — who has only recently re-entered super heroics after suffering a debilitating injury that required physical therapy as part of his recovery — narrowly wins the fight that ends with Punisher's hideout destroyed in an explosion.

Daredevil denies Punisher's accusation he's a murderer, telling the defeated vigilante that if he were, Punisher would be dead.

"It'd be worth it... just knowing... what you'd become... better than I could ever—" but Punisher is cut off by a punch from Daredevil, who says he'll never be like Frank Castle, admitting it's his greatest fear.

After leaving the defeated Punisher for the police, Daredevil wears the Punisher's kevlar vest adorned with a skull. "Time to go to work," he says, determined to put a stop to a scheme put into motion by New York crime boss The Owl.

In Daredevil #5, the horn-headed superhero crashes Owl's drug operation while wearing Punisher's vest over his Daredevil outfit.

He defeats Krush, a towering man wearing "Iron Man-level armor," by attaching the goon to a van as it races away.

Brandishing a gun relinquished from Krush, Daredevil shoots out the van's tire, causing it to overturn and halting the transportation of Owl's drugs.

Daredevil takes on a pack of thugs, but he's quickly overwhelmed and saved only through the intervention of the Defenders: Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. He passes out.

Matt wakes up to a friendly "interrogation" from his friends, who want to know why the hell he went into that situation alone.

Matt says he did what he did because he wants everyone to know he's still a hero — he can still be a hero — despite having killed a man, an accident that weighs heavy on the battered Catholic.

"I tried to convince myself I didn't, but I hear the sound of his head hitting the cement wall every time I close my eyes... so I... I'm trying to do the job... for as long as I can, until..."

Matt admits he's done all he could and surrenders himself over to his friends. Jessica says they're not there to take him in, but they're concerned by his fight with the police and his "new Punisher cosplay."

Matt is dismayed to realize he's sporting the Punisher's insignia. He hadn't noticed. "I just... needed a shirt."

Luke and Jessica try to assuage Matt's guilt, telling him it happens and they've all been there, but Matt accuses his friends of being "murderers" before admitting, "We're all murderers!" Under the guise of retreating to the bathroom, Matt breaks away to a church before heading home.

There he's confronted by Spider-Man, who recognizes his old friend is clearly not himself.

Spider-Man says he knows what Daredevil is going through.

"You're a mess. You're in trouble and on a suicide mission. And I'm here to tell you... you're done," Spider-Man says.

"All of us know that we can't do this job forever. That there's going to come a day when we make too many missteps, when our bodies fail, when too many people get hurt and not enough get saved. I'd hope somebody would step up and let me know when it's my day. Right now? It's your day. It's over. I'm spreading the word. If any of us see you out there, attempting this, we'll stop you. We have to. Or it could be the end of all of us. You need to stop."

Daredevil unmasks, admitting Spider-Man is right. "I can't do this anymore."

Matt tosses Spider-Man his cowl. Spider-Man quietly turns and leaves. In his head, Matt recalls the words of his priest:

"God loves you, Matthew. Hold on to that and do the right thing. Renounce this violence. Cast out the devil." In the quiet dark of his apartment, Murdock cries.

Daredevil #6 releases May 29.