Back Issues: Daredevil Returns For a Classic Marvel Team-Up

With the Marvel universe set in the same world outside your window, heroes saving New York City is an all-too-common sight and more often than not, the Big Apple is represented by the Friendly Neighborhood web-slinger and the Man Without Fear.  And since Kevin Feige has confirmed Charlie Cox will soon return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one Matt Murdock, we wanted to give you a brief rundown of the character should you see him pop up on the silver screen sooner rather than later. You know—say in Spider-Man: No Way Home…or something.

Battlin’ Beginnings

The son of Battlin’ Jack Murdock, Daredevil has virtually always been Marvel’s primary street-level character. In his first appearance, it’s established the character’s father had ties to gangsters and other powerful who’d fix boxing matches. This ultimately leads directly to Battlin’ Jack’s death in a scenario not unlike Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Having gained superhuman abilities—but being blinded—after being doused with radioactive chemicals, Daredevil quickly hunted down his father’s killers and inadvertently killed one of them, scaring him so severely that he dropped dead of a heart attack.

Thus began Murdock’s internal agreement that he’d never kill again.

Rogue’s Gallery

Throughout his time in the Marvel Comics lore, the Man Without Fear has amassed quick the rogue’s gallery of supervilains—one that sometimes crosses over with that Spider-Man, the biggest batch of villains in the history of comics. Some villains Daredevil runs into that Spider-Man also fights include the likes of Kingpin and the Punisher.

On his own though, Daredevil’s antagonists are only growing in popularity. You have Bullseye, one of the most beloved villains in the entire Marvel stable. The same goes for Elektra, even though she’s more aligned with Matt Murdock than against him. Then there are the likes of Typhoid Mary, The Owl, Purple Man, The Hand, and Mister Fear.

Crossovers

After the character’s introduction in Daredevil #1, Marvel quickly realized the potential he could have by appearing alongside other characters in the library. That’s why just two months later—within the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #16 (June 1964)—Daredevil and Spider-Man crossed over for the first time. In that issue, Daredevil and Spider-Man come to blows after the Ringmaster hypnotizes Peter Parker and the rest of the crowd at the circus.

Fast forward two years and Spider-Man finally shows up within the pages of the main Daredevil series in a two-issue arc between Daredevil #16 and #17.

Live-Action

Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Daredevil was popular enough to become one of the first Marvel heroes to get their own feature film. Starring Ben Affleck as the eponymous vigilante and Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Daredevil hit theaters in 2003 to less-than-stellar reviews. Despite that, the Fox flick still grossed $179 million against a reported production budget of $78 million. It was enough for Fox to push an Elektra spin-off into development, but after that flick bombed, Fox pulled plans for a Daredevil sequel.

The character wouldn’t be seen again until Netflix managed to score a deal with Marvel Television in 2014. The groundbreaking deal saw the streamer secure rights for four characters—Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist—to make multiple shows that would eventually crossover in an Avengers-level event series.

And…well, the rest is history. Three seasons of a Netflix show and The Defenders later, Netflix pulled the plug on the entire universe, sending all five shows (the streamer added The Punisher in a second deal) to the chopping block.

Now, some six years after Charlie Cox first appeared as Ol’ Hornhead, he’s getting ready to make his highly anticipated MCU return.

Want to learn more about Spider-Man’s latest adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Check back on ComicBook CRAM every day leading up to the premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and click here for even more content to find out everything you need to know about the new movie!