Daredevil Proved He Fits The MCU By Beating Phase 4 To Its Biggest Idea

MCU's Phase 4 has spent the majority of its releases exploring characters on a sliding scale of moral greyness, both in its heroes and villains. Heroes such as Shang-Chi discussed their hidden darkness and violent history, while characters like Scarlet Witch and Loki have seen a nuanced approach to their characters; with redemption and hidden depths within antagonists, the MCU appeared to have closed the book on. This rich, morally grey landscape is definitely a welcome step into more adult, layered territory. However, Marvel initially explored these themes way back in 2016 with its Daredevil Netflix series.

The MCU's Phase 4 has taken a turn into more adult territory, where Andrew Garfield's neighborhood-friendly Spider-Man confessed to a dark, more violent path his heroic persona had taken. A frank discussion about the impact of grief saw Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has seen the MCU find the imperfect depths of their heroes and bring their villains back from darkness into the brightness of light.

One Daredevil episode in particular encapsulated the blurring lines between good and evil and moral greyness, with season 1, episode 6, "Condemned," and put on display what made Netflix’s Daredevil so great while proving why the character fits into the MCU. The episode followed Matt Murdock and a Russian mobster, who were both trapped and on the run from Wilson Fisk's corrupt police officers. The episode was saturated in dialogue that probed the heart of Murdock's ethics as a vigilante and explored the tragedy of the supposed villain he is interrogating for information. The two characters slowly started to form a camaraderie as the Russian mourned the loss of his beloved brother, and Matt wrestled with how far he was willing to go in the name of justice for Hell's Kitchen.

Daredevil Season 4 time jump avoid MCU problems

Daredevil brought the similarities of its heroes and villains to light far more than it ever focused on their differences. The series never attempted to shy away from Matt's darkness. In fact, it embraced his more violent and callous nature, in a strange contrast to the gentler, genuinely sympathetic antagonist Kingpin, who was already in the MCU. The Russian asked Matt how righteous it truly was to drop a man from a roof into a coma, despite the fact he might still be breathing at the end of it, and Matt saw the bleeding heart of an enemy who was mourning his lost brother, and who took his last stand sacrificing his life for Matt's. These explored themes show how Daredevil beat the MCU to its Phase 4 transformation.

Daredevil represented Marvel's first foray into proper adult territory, shedding the skin of the Saturday morning cartoon heroes and bad guys for an array of characters who were conflicted and often strayed beyond the recognizable lines of hero and villain. The introduction of the Punisher in season 2 certainly cemented its reputation for complicated portrayals. Matt was, without doubt, a heroic figure, tormented by a righteous conscience. It doesn't make it any less surprising when he hauled his wounded opponent around without heed to his screams of agony. The Russian was noted as a sadistic, brutal figure by Kingpin. However, there was an element of the self-sacrificing and borderline heroism about him as he tried to warn Matt against a path similar to his own to save himself from loss. Eventually, he fought an onslaught of Fisk's police officers with his last breath so that Daredevil could escape.

The MCU has taken an interesting direction with its choice to shrug off the morally black-and-white cape, which its initial films were more closely aligned with. The exploration of non-traditional comic book stories is an exciting step for the MCU, and it's a welcome continuation of what the Netflix shows, including Daredevil, first started. It's only fitting for Matt Murdock to enter the MCU on the stage Daredevil first set.

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