8. Daredevil (Matt Kelly)
There was a time when it looked like Matt Murdock would never make it into the MCU. Until very recently, the rights to Daredevil were held by famed Fantastic Four destroyer 20th Century Fox. And even though DD heroically reverted back to Marvel in 2013 along with other Marvel Knights Ghost Rider, Punisher and Blade, the plans moving forward were dicey. People still had a bad taste in their mouth from the leather and see saw filled Evanescence music video that was the 2003 film. It wasn’t until ten years later that Marvel struck an important deal and the man without fear would join the network without fear. Netflix saved Daredevil.
In a time when all of the movie MCU is ramping up to a galactic confrontation with a reality bending space tyrant, Daredevil represents the man on the street. The other MCU characters don’t have jobs. The other MCU characters don’t wear masks (at least not to hide their identities). Even Avengers everyman Hawkeye is relatively out of touch with the real world because he is too busy fighting evil robots on floating cities. Daredevil is an absolutely necessary balance.
He gets hit and he bleeds. He gets shot and rests for an episode. His allies aren’t gods or aliens or other superheroes. He hangs out with his best friend from college and a nurse who patches him up when he falls off a roof. When Matt starts being Daredevil he wears an exercise shirt that anyone can buy (and I have) and a black bandana. He helps people on the street and before the Spider-Man Summit with Sony, this was the only street level hero Marvel was willing to give a shot.
It might surprise you, but if you have watched every minute the Marvel Cinematic Universe has to offer, you have spent a lot of time with Daredevil. With two thirteen hour long episode seasons focusing almost exclusively on our hero, Daredevil ranks second in MCU screen time behind only Phil Coulson. As I am writing this article, we have a combined 533 minutes of Matt Murdock. If you add Iron Man and Captain America’s MCU screen time together, they still need 100 more minutes to hit Daredevil’s screen time. And the Daredevil stories never get boring. They explore endless facets of the character and an incredibly colorful group of rogues and allies.
If you want to get into the comics, there are a million places to start. Daredevil Yellow is a colorful modern retelling of the origin. The Man Without Fear is Frank Miller’s much darker version of that story. Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubraker, and Kevin Smith have all taken a crack at the character. There is a great recent storyline called Dark Nights where a helicopter transporting an organ is downed in a snowstorm and Daredevil takes it upon himself to deliver the heart himself. It is a great window into both the character’s morality and humanity.
The best thing about MCU Daredevil (as well as comics Daredevil) is that he cares about you. Because of a special mixture of ninja destiny and Catholic guilt, Daredevil wants to help people.  Sure, Iron Man is saving the president, and Thor is making sure the Dark Elves don’t destroy all of reality, but who is looking out for me if I get robbed? That’s Daredevil. In a universe that keeps expanding, what we always need more of are heroes looking out for the little guy.
Best Line: “This is my city! My family!”
Favorite Moment: Tie between the hallway fight with the Russians, and the conversation on the roof with Frank Castle.
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