Charlie Cox's fan favorite Daredevil is now fully in the MCU, even appearing in costume for a guest spot on the recent She-Hulk streaming series, which established the current MCU Matt Murdock as a full-on superhero version of the Man Without Fear.
And with an 18-episode streaming series of his own titled Daredevil: Born Again coming to Disney Plus, many fans are experiencing a serious case of Daredevil fever as they wait with anticipation for his MCU return. The good news is, there's a cure, and it's comic books, where there are nearly 60 years of Daredevil stories to turn to, as well as his current ongoing comic.
That said, 60 years of stories may feel like a lot to catch up on, especially with the pervasive idea that it's tough to get into current ongoing comic stories.
But Daredevil is one of the more accessible Marvel Comics to get into, both in terms of the library of the best Daredevil stories ever, and his current ongoing comic book series - and we'll catch you up on everything you need to know to take a flying leap right into Matt Murdock's world.
Daredevil and Kingpin
Right off the bat, we'll get into Daredevil's relationship with his arch-enemy Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, another popular character who has made it into the MCU played by fan-favorite actor Vincent D'Onofrio. The rivalry between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk is central to the Daredevil mythos for many fans of all forms of Daredevil media, and their last big showdown is also key to setting up Matt Murdock's current Daredevil status quo.
The last big fight between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk took place in early 2022 in the crossover event series Devil's Reign. In that story, Wilson Fisk, who is serving as the duly elected mayor of New York City, sets out to make superheroes illegal, even arresting Daredevil (though his secret identity is preserved).
While Matt is in prison, his longtime friend and lover Elektra takes up the mantle of Daredevil as protector of Hell's Kitchen in his stead, helping fight back against Fisk's forces as they try to take down every single hero in New York.
In the end, Matt Murdock returns as Daredevil (a mantle he now shares with Elektra), while Fisk loses control and is ousted as mayor, literally sailing off into the sunset to retire with his newlywed wife, supervillain Typhoid Mary, and leaving the 'Kingpin' title to his son, Butch Pharris, who takes his father's name 'Fisk' along with the title of Kingpin.
Wilson Fisk has yet to return (it's been less than a year, which is barely a blip in comic book terms), but Daredevil and Elektra have moved on to what's shaping up to be an even bigger problem to solve.
Daredevil and the Fist
That brings us to the present in the current Daredevil ongoing title, which just released Daredevil #6 on December 7. In the current story, Matt Murdock and Elektra share the mantle of Daredevil as the leaders of a secret organization known as the Fist which is supposedly destined to bring down the villainous ninja cabal known as the Hand (Fist… Hand… you get the idea).
To complete their foreshadowed victory over the Hand, Matt Murdock and Elektra not only brought all their allies including Foggy Nelson and their mentor Stick to a secret island hideaway, they also conducted a special ritual to enact the power of the Fist - in which Matt and Elektra got married.
That's right - Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios are officially Mr. and Mrs. Daredevil in the Marvel Universe.
This gives everyone in the Fist - including Foggy Nelson - superpowers of strength, agility, speed, and toughness to enable them to take on the mystical zombie ninjas of the Hand. The Fist also recruits a bunch of ex-supervillains from a secret prison, taking them to their island base to become agents of the Fist themselves.
This brings them to the attention of the Avengers, who have vowed to bring in both Matt Murdock and Elektra.
And that's the start of the current troubles Matt Murdock and Elektra are facing as co-Daredevils.
Daredevil and the Punisher
Speaking of Matt Murdock and his arch-rivals, Frank Castle/the Punisher is in the mix as well… because he's become 'the Beast,' AKA the new(ish) leader of the Hand, with both Daredevils preparing to face off with Castle and his army of zombie ninjas.
But what's more is, there's another faction of the Hand out there working against both Punisher's version of the Hand, and the Daredevils' organization the Fist. And this faction of the Hand has used its mastery of necromancy to turn numerous world leaders into zombified spies who will turn the entire world over to the Hand at an appointed time - including the president of the United States.
Well... The president was a zombie Hand spy up until he threw himself off the roof of the White House to frame Elektra for murder, tricking the entire world into believing Elektra assassinated the President.
This has prompted Frank Castle to declare that it's time to mobilize against Matt Murdock and Elektra, setting up the impending conflict between the Hand and the Fist.
That last bit just took place in the most recent issue, Daredevil #6. Daredevil #7, the next issue in the series, is due out January 11.
Both Kingpin and Punisher are among the best Daredevil villains of all time.
