Marvel’s Daredevil is a Christian. Born Again has a lot to live up to

As the only character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose Christian faith is a central aspect of his story, Daredevil: Born Again offers not just the adventures of a gritty crime drama, but a real exploration of spiritual struggle. Giles Gough explains why we should pay close attention

Comic book movies/TV shows as a genre are essentially all the other genres at a dress up party. Of course you’ve got action, adventure and sci-fi. But you’ve also got teen comedy, political thrillers, and in the case of Daredevil, we have crime drama, arguably the grittiest one anyone has seen since The Wire. The Netflix Daredevil show was the story of a man trying to fight crime in the courtroom and on the streets, while at the same time wrestling with his own personal demons. But just in case the original TV show somehow passed you by, let’s find out very quickly who Daredevil is. 

Who is Daredevil? 

Created by Stan Lee, Bill Everett and Jack Kirby in 1964, Daredevil, (aka Matt Murdock), is a superhero with a twist. Matt Murdock was blinded in an accident involving a chemical spill as a child. However, the same chemicals that robbed him of his sight also enhanced his remaining senses, to essentially give him a ‘radar awareness’. He is orphaned when his single father is killed by mobsters, and grows up to don a red devil costume, (complete with horns) and fight crime. What makes the choice of devil imagery even stranger is that Matt Murdock is a practising Catholic.

Daredevil has been a mainstay of the comics since his inception, and when the Marvel Cinematic Universe came into being, it really wasn’t long before there was a demand for Daredevil to be seen. A deal was struck with Netflix to produce a number of TV series based around more ‘street level’ superheroes, and Daredevil was the first of these. The show was cancelled after only three seasons not because of a lack of interest, but because the advent of Disney Plus meant that Disney wanted all its Marvel properties under one roof. But fan desire for the crime fighter/really good lawyer never subsided and Daredevil: Born Again is a response to that fan reaction.