With Disney launching its Disney+ streaming service, the fans had to sadly say goodbye to the Netflix Marvel-Verse. Daredevil, the Punisher, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage aka the Defenders, will no longer be playing on Netflix. The most disheartening loss we had to face amongst them is that of Daredevil, the one who started it all. Played by Charlie Cox, the Man without Fear waltzed into our lives and made us watch in awe as he won our hearts and minds with incredible action choreography and acting skills. Daredevil grew on to become an instant success and its latest season, Daredevil Season 3, was touted to be the best of the lot. When Netflix announced Daredevil’s cancellation, it hit us hard. Well, prepare to cry some more. There are some critically acclaimed Daredevil storylines that you will never be able to see again on screen. Presenting – 10 Incredible Daredevil Storylines we will never get to watch on Netflix!!
10. Roulette
There’s a reason Daredevil is seen as such a dark character. His actions make him one of the grimmest vigilantes Marvel Comics has to offer. The blind catholic is known to use sadism and savage mockery at times. In Roulette, we see the darkest chapter yet. Created by Terry Austin and the legendary Frank Miller, Roulette is actually a one-shot storyline. It tells the story of Daredevil visiting a hospital. Turns out, he is not there to visit a loved one but his mortal enemy. Bullseye, now paralyzed, is helpless as Daredevil approaches the room. It is later revealed that Bullseye was paralyzed by Daredevil after the latter killed Elektra, Daredevil’s one true love. Daredevil then puts one bullet into a revolver and spins the chamber. Then he plays Russian roulette with Bullseye. The ending is dark and bleak as hell.
9. Guardian Devil
What happens when a villain decides to completely destroy a superhero’s life from the inside out? In this storyline, we realize Mysterio is dying from cancer. He still has enough fire on his chest for one last adventure. Spiderman is actually a clone of the original Peter Parker at the time so he decides to focus all his energies on Daredevil. Mysterio extracts Daredevil’s secret identity from the Kingpin. Then he frames Foggy for murder. After that, he turns Matt Murdock’s life into a living hell (quite literally) after Mysterio sets events into motion that lead to Matt being stuck taking care of the Anti-Christ. Mysterio does the unthinkable then when he kills Karen page in cold blood, right in front of Matt Murdock’s eyes.
8. Over the Edge
Over the Edge was not a story arc limited to Daredevil. It was a common pop culture trope back then to glorify mental disorders. A lot of the heroes of the Marvel Universe including the Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider, developed mental problems. Daredevil’s case was a bit different. He didn’t go crazy as such. He instead developed a split personality. His real personality started wearing the yellow Daredevil suit, the first suit Matt Murdock wore when he became Daredevil. His new personality was a violent psychopathic vigilante who wore the red suit and liked permanently crippling his enemies.
7. Underboss
When a new player in town threatens the peace that Daredevil had fought so hard to maintain in Hell’s Kitchen, it is up to the Man without Fear to set things right. Underboss was the first work of Brian Michael Bendis on the Daredevil Marvel Knights imprint. Kingpin was soon relegated to a secondary villain status after the new ‘Underboss took charge of New York’s underworld criminal empire. The storyline saw Daredevil venturing into the noir world of New York’s criminal world to fight this new threat.
6. Hardcore
Daredevil’s identity is revealed to the general public, who now consider Matt Murdock aka Daredevil as the city’s enemy number one. The Kingpin, who was no longer the man that called the shots in Hell’s Kitchen, wanted to regain back his former glory as fast as he could. To win the people’s hearts and gain new allies, the Kingpin sends mercenaries to kill Matt Murdock. Starting from Bullseye to Typhoid Mary, every bad guy tries to kill Daredevil under the Kingpin’s orders and fail miserably. In the end, Daredevil gets to Kingpin’s lair and beats the shit out of him. He then becomes the new Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen. Man, we would have loved to see this story play out in the Netflix show.
5. The Murdock Papers
The Murdock Papers is not a story about the Daredevil but a tale of Matt Murdock. The comic book series takes place right after the events of Hardcore. Even though Daredevil was the new Kingpin, bad guys still targeted him and his loved ones. Murdock fails to rein in on them and fails miserably. His wife then leaves him and Matt Murdock’s life starts to be picked apart by his own actions as he becomes more and more psychotic. He finally breaks down mentally in a moment of rage and does something he shouldn’t have done. The FBI soon comes in to arrest him and Matt starts losing grip over reality soon after his incarceration.
4. The Devil Inside and Out
What happens when you take all hope away from an already broken man? You get a man with only one true purpose – vengeance. After the FBI arrest him and put him in jail, it is revealed that the events set in motion that ended up putting Daredevil in jail was just to keep him trapped and busy as the villains went for the real target – Foggy Nelson. Daredevil couldn’t do a thing but listen as Foggy dies, slowly and painfully. Matt soon breaks out of prison with the help of the Punisher and turns into a Man without fear and remorse. All he is looking for is revenge on Kingpin and Bullseye for the death of his best friend.
3. Return of the King
Return of the King was the end of the line for Ed Brubaker’s run on the superhero storyline. Michael Lark also bid adieu after the release of this comic book series. The story involves Kingpin finally deciding to retire and live out the rest of his days in Spain, which he considers his retirement retreat. He is then attacked by the Hand and Lady Bullseye. The Kingpin survives the assassination attempt and returns to Hell’s Kitchen and teams up with Daredevil to stop the Hand, only to betray him later. The series ends with Daredevil taking over leadership of the Hand to stop the Kingpin from creating further chaos.
2. Shadowland
Probably the most controversial storyline for a Daredevil fan, Shadowland is Daredevil’s ‘Captain America – Hail Hydra’ moment. The organization he has fought for so long, the Hand, finally get under his skin. Daredevil becomes the leader of the Hand and launches a full-scale silent invasion of Hell’s Kitchen. If you think Daredevil in ‘The Devil Inside and Out’ was brutal, this version of Daredevil is absolutely ruthless. It later turned out that Matt was so cruel in his ways because he was possessed by a demon that was controlling his actions. Shadowland is more popular amongst the fans now because it is the storyline that paved way for Daredevil: Reborn, which brought back the element of optimism into Daredevil’s storylines, something that had been missing all these years.
1. End of Days
End of Days is the story of how Daredevil finally dies at the hands of his arch-nemesis Bullseye. The story was a one-shot but became so popular that Marvel decided to include it as canon in its Marvel Standalone Marvel: The End series. The story involved Ben Ulrich trying to unfold the mystery behind the true meaning of the last word Daredevil uttered before he died. Almost all the storyline involves Ulrich trying to figure out what “Mapone” means. The story ends with such an extremely surprising twist that it will keep you awake for days.
