at least one story where Marvel Comics attempted to turn the "Devil of Hell’s Kitchen" into an out-and-out villain. In fact, according to Marvel Senior Editor Tom Brevoort, Daredevil’s heel turn almost came about for the most petty of reasons, and could have done lasting damage to the character if it were actually followed through on.

In a post on his Substack newsletter Man With A Hat, Tom Brevoort described the time when Marvel was actively working toward a villainous turn for Drredevil. “A decade-plus back, when we were working on the SHADOWLAND crossover,” Brevoort explained, “there was a real push internally to make Daredevil an out-and-out villain.”

Shadowland was a 2010 crossover series featuring Daredevil using his position as the new leader of the Hand to build a temple in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen and attempt to take over all of New York City.

Marvel Wanted To Turn Daredevil Into A Villain After Losing The Film Rights To The Character

According To Longtime Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort

In Shadowland, Daredevil dons a darker costume and begins acting more like a villain, including taking a sai and killing the villain Bullseye in the same manner Elektra was murdered. According to Brevoort, all this happened because Marvel didn’t own the media rights to Daredevil during this era. Brevoort stated:

“At the time, Fox controlled the media rights to the character and it didn’t seem like they’d be coming back any time soon, and there was an interest in beginning to build up Moon Knight as a similar player that could be exploited across other media.”

It is incredible to think Marvel would essentially torpedo one of their own characters because they didn’t control the adaptation rights. This would also negatively impact the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, who had their profile lowered in the 2010s when their media rights were still held by 20th Century Fox.

If Marvel had turned Daredevil into an outright villain, Brevoort noted that it could have done lasting damage to the character. He also explained how Editor Stephen Wacker worked quietly behind the scenes to thwart the plan.

“The DD editor of the period, Stephen Wacker, had to work very carefully and very quietly to prevent Matt Murdock from crossing any lines-of-no-return in that story. And it’s a good thing that he did. Because only a couple of years later, those rights did come back to Marvel and we wound up doing three seasons of a television series (plus DEFENDERS) And so, had we gone for it during SHADOWLAND, we would have had a lot more work cut out for us in suddenly needing to redeem Matt so that he could be a headliner again.”

As Tom Brevoort correctly pointed out, Marvel was able to regain the rights to Daredevil only a few years after Shadowland's release, and it is a good thing Daredevil didn’t step too far over the line, as it could have negatively affected the Netflix Daredevil show.

Marvel Wanted To Raise Moon Knight’s Profile At The Expense Of Daredevil

In The End, Daredevil Remained A Signature Marvel Hero

It is also notable to learn that Marvel wanted to promote Moon Knight in Daredevil’s stead, which certainly fits with where the Fist of Khonshu was at that time in Marvel’s publishing hierarchy. Moon Knight was given a very high-profile relaunch a few years before Shadowland, with his 2006 solo series being his first ongoing title in decades While it might have been exciting for Moon Knight to have taken on a fully-villainous Daredevil, thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and Matt Murdock’s character wasn’t irreparably damaged.

Tom Brevoort’s behind-the-scenes story shows how the film/TV side can sometimes negatively affect the comics, but thankfully, Daredevil managed to avoid those pitfalls, and came out stronger on the other side.

In Shadowland, it was eventually revealed that Matt Murdock had been possessed by the demonic Beast of the Hand. A consortium of heroes, including Moon Knight, were able to defeat Daredevil and exorcise the Beast from his soul. Not long thereafter, Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin would begin a groundbreaking run on Daredevil, which returned the character to a more carefree, swashbuckling persona. Tom Brevoort’s behind-the-scenes story shows how the film/TV side can sometimes negatively affect the comics, but thankfully, Daredevil managed to avoid those pitfalls, and came out stronger on the other side.

Source: Tom Brevoort, Substack (Man With A Hat)