Best Daredevil villains of all time

art from Daredevil: Yellow #6 by Tim Sale
art from Daredevil: Yellow #6 by Tim Sale (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Daredevil: Born Again will debut on Disney Plus in 2024, with Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio returning from the Netflix Daredevil series to reprise their roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, respectively.

Marvel Studios has yet to confirm whether other villains from Daredevil's rogues' gallery will join Kingpin in the new streaming series, but there are plenty to choose from. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen's enemies may not be the most iconic villains in comic books, but they are some of the most interesting. 

Here are the 10 best Daredevil villains.

10. Punisher

Daredevil/Punisher #4 cover art by Reilly Brown and Jim Charalampidis

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Punisher may be something of an anti-hero, but when it comes to Daredevil, their relationship is purely adversarial.

Of course, Punisher debuted as a villain trying to take down Spider-Man, but in the intervening years, Spidey and Punisher have begrudgingly worked together - while Punisher and Daredevil have clashed time and time again.

Daredevil is simply unwilling to tolerate Punisher acting as judge, jury, and executioner, while Frank Castle refuses to compromise his one man war on crime for anyone.

9. Mysterio

(Image credit: Marvel)

Over the years, Daredevil has fought numerous villains who are more typically in conflict with Spider-Man. In fact, one of his very first enemies was Electro. So why is Mysterio on this list?

Two words: 'Guardian Devil.'

When Marvel relaunched Daredevil under the Marvel Knights imprint, Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada tapped into Matt Murdock's religious background, sending him head to head with a group of seemingly divine beings. Beings that, in the end, turned out to be machinations of Mysterio, the master of illusions.

Mysterio makes this list because of that definitive story.

8. Jester

(Image credit: Marvel)

Jester is one of Daredevil's weirdest foes, from his gimmicky weapons to his bizarre career trajectory.

Jester started out using his weapons, based on gags and novelties such as fake hands and exploding yo-yo's to challenge Daredevil, but eventually aligned himself with the Hand and became possessed by a demon.

Most recently, Jester got beaten to a bloody pulp by the Superior Spider-Man, and played a big role in the end of Mark Waid's first volume of Daredevil, working with the Sons of the Serpent.

7. Typhoid Mary

(Image credit: Marvel)

Typhoid Mary suffers from a unique form of split-personality disorder tied directly to her powers, allowing her to use a variety of psychic abilities based on which personality is dominant at a given time.

Typhoid Mary has had something of a love/hate relationship with Daredevil, having been both his lover and his enemy. She's also often worked with the Kingpin in attempting to take Daredevil down.

6. Purple Man

(Image credit: Marvel)

Zebediah Killgrave's power may be terrifying - but it's his sadistic demeanor that makes him a true threat.

Over the years, Purple Man has used his mind control powers against numerous heroes, but he started out fighting Daredevil when an experimental nerve gas turned his skin violet and granted him mind control powers.

Most recently, Purple Man was almost killed by his own illegitimate children who banded together after their abilities manifested.

The creepy, obsessive Purple Man also became one of Marvel's greatest cinematic villains in Jessica Jones's first season, where he was portrayed by David Tennant.

5. Mr Fear

(Image credit: Marvel)

There have been several criminals known as Mr. Fear, but the two most important are the second, Starr Saxon, and the third, Larry Cranston.

Saxon took a novel approach to villainy, by humiliating and defeating Daredevil in the public eye as often and as soundly as possible, while staging events to make himself seem like a hero. He eventually plunged to his death in battle, but his loyal army of robots preserved his mind and he became the Machinesmith, arch-enemy of Captain America and Bill Clinton.

Next came Larry Cranston, whose first few appearances were not very special, except that he apparently died after jumping off a building because he assumed he was wearing his jetpack (he wasn't).

Later on he came back with a whole slew of henchmen and turned Daredevil's life upside down by removing the fear of death from almost everyone in Hell's Kitchen, including Daredevil's wife, becoming the most effective Mr. Fear of the bunch.

4. The Owl

(Image credit: Marvel)

Leland Owlsley, A.K.A. the Owl, has the distinction of being Daredevil's first original foe, debuting in Daredevil #3.

Until that point, Daredevil had faced enemies usually found in the rogues galleries of other heroes, but Owl was the first to specifically challenge Matt Murdock.

Owl makes up for his weird appearance and underwhelming powers (he can glide, and has super eyesight) with incredible cunning and ruthlessness.

Owl has never been the most popular of Daredevil's villains, but he's experienced something of a renaissance of late, currently appearing in Daredevil, and also appeared (albeit in a different form), played by Bob Gunton in Netflix's Daredevil season 1.

3. The Hand

(Image credit: Marvel)

Ninjas are cool. Undead ninjas are cooler. What else needs to be said about the Hand?

Over the years, this cabal of master assassins has used their talents to subvert their enemies, turning everyone from Wolverine, to Elektra, to Daredevil himself into villains.

They've also aligned themselves with numerous villains over the years, including Silver Samurai, Lady Bullseye, and the Gorgon. Still, their greatest strength is their ability to throw, well, bodies at any problem, only to resurrect their fallen warriors later on.

2. Bullseye

(Image credit: Marvel)

In the Marvel Universe, there's no one deadlier than Bullseye.

This cold-blooded killer never misses his mark, but his talents go beyond his infamous accuracy. Bullseye is capable of turning anything, from a paperclip to a chair, into a weapon of lethal potential.

Killing without mercy, Bullseye even killed Matt Murdock's one-time flame Elektra, allowing the Hand to resurrect her.

1. Kingpin

(Image credit: Marvel)

No one, not even Daredevil, is more feared in Hell's Kitchen than Wilson Fisk, AKA the Kingpin of crime.

Kingpin is arguably Marvel's biggest street-level villain, having faced everyone from Spider-Man to Luke Cage, but his rivalry with Daredevil is the stuff of legend.

And don't let his bulk fool you - under that suit, Kingpin is all muscle, wielding unparalleled power, both physical and political. 

George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)