Unless you read comic books, here's what you know about Daredevil: He's a superhero of some kind; he wears a red suit; and Ben Affleck plays him in a new movie. That's about it, right?
You'd never guess he has been toiling against injustice for nearly 40 years, right there in the shadow of more high-profile Marvel Comics buddies Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men. Since 1980, he has even become one of comic books' grittiest heroes, attracting big-name writers, hard-core fans and little attention from the outside world. Having Affleck don his suit could finally be his big break.
So, why not get to know the guy? We've scoured his past, reread his classic books, locked horns with his bad guys and grilled the women he has famously fought, wooed and, uh, saved. Be warned: Much of what happened in the comics also happens in the movie, so this primer contains spoilers. Not worried? Dig in.
The Basics:
His Deal: Daredevil is a blind vigilante who, like many blind vigilantes, fights crime in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. Created by Stan Lee (co-mastermind behind Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, etc.) and Bill Everett (Sub-Mariner), the first Daredevil: The Man Without Fear book came out in 1964. Our hero wore a yellow and black costume with little horns but soon switched to dark red duds, which he has been wearing ever since. Maybe it's about time he washed them?
His Powers: One day, young Matt Murdock runs into the street to save a man from getting squashed by an oncoming truck. But--oops!--a canister flies off the truck, dumping radioactive isotopes all over Matt. He wakes up blind--but with his other senses heightened to superhuman levels! He can hear heartbeats, smell the faintest odors and touch a newspaper to "read" it. He also has sonar sense, like that of a bat, where he can "see" objects.
His Cover: By day, he's Matt Murdock, respected lawyer and partner at the firm Nelson & Murdock. He fights for justice within the boundaries of the law, championing the weak and the working poor. Just the nicest guy. Really.
His Weapon: Daredevil dispenses justice using a billy club, which can break into two pieces connected by a long wire. He uses this to get around town, swinging from flagpoles and gargoyles. It's also good for slaying thugs. When he's regular joe Matt Murdock, the billy club is secretly part of his blind-man's walking cane. So, no, he doesn't need your help crossing the street.
His Mentor: Murdock learned his after-hours crime-fightin' ways from Stick, a blind, drunk pool hustler who's actually a member of an order of mystical martial artists. Stick trained young Murdock to master his newly heightened senses, using them to see what his eyes can't.
His Buddy: Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Jon Favreau plays him in the movie) was Murdock's pudgy law-school roomie. He always found himself on the receiving end of jokes, but the mockery ended when Murdock secretly "took care" of the bullies. When the two set up their law practice, little does Foggy know he's actually partnering up with a guy who runs around the streets at night in a tight red outfit.
The Women:
He never dated Gwyneth or J.Lo, but Daredevil has gotten around. In the Marvel universe, he's known as a bit of a ladies' man--though, sadly, things usually turn out badly. Okay, very badly. Here are a few of his hottest flames.
Elektra Natchios: Known simply as Elektra (played by Jennifer Garner in the movie), she's a bounty hunter and an assassin...a good one, too. She's also Daredevil's first love. She goes to work for an evil group of ninjas called the Hand and eventually ends up allied with Kingpin of Crime. It is then she runs into Daredevil, discovering that he is, in fact, Murdock--the only man she has ever loved.
In the books, they don't get a chance to patch things up, as Elektra is brutally murdered by Bullseye, another one of Kingpin's assassins. Not letting a popular character go down the drain, though, Marvel had her resurrected, and now she and Daredevil are allies and ex-flames.
Heather Glenn: Rich girl Glenn first meets Murdock when she lets herself into the apartment of an old boyfriend...only to discover that some blind lawyer lives there instead. The two quickly become an item and hit high-society events. She has some serious father issues (her dad committed suicide) but works through them enough to get engaged to Murdock. In the end, though, she proves too fragile and kills herself.
lack Widow: Also known as Natasha Romanova, she's a former Russian ballerina and Olympic-level gymnast turned master Soviet spy. She eventually defects and first meets Daredevil when she saves him from drowning after a fight with the Owl.
They have that whole adventurer's-lifestyle thing in common, and so they fall in love. Murdock even moves to San Francisco to be with her. Eventually, the relationship sours and Romanova leaves, but the two are now friends and help each other out in tight jams.
Karen Page: When this blond beauty starts as a secretary at Nelson & Murdock, Foggy immediately falls for her. But Page has the hots for Murdock. In the early days of Daredevil's career, she's his main squeeze and even finds out his secret identity.
When Page moves to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a star, she--of course--winds up a heroin-addicted porn actress with AIDS. Oh yeah, and then Bullseye kills her. That guy sure gets around, doesn't he?
Typhoid Mary: Twisted, kinky and clinically schizophrenic, she's a sexual predator for whom murdering men is a nearly orgasmic. How romantic!
Kingpin hires her to destroy Daredevil, starting with his fragile heart: Her alter ego Mary Walker, volunteer for the blind, seduces Murdock and ruins his rebuilt relationship with Karen Page. Her other personality, killer Typhoid Mary, meanwhile, pummels our hero into complete submission, leaving him for dead. It takes Murdock years to recover and, upon finally defeating her, he makes sure Typhoid Mary gets all the mental help she needs.
The Villains:
When Daredevil first appeared in 1964, he was basically a poor man's Spider-Man, and his roster of silly villains could have been thwarted by even, say, Ben Affleck. There was Killgrave the Purple Man, who turned people purple and controlled their minds--unless they were blind and immune to his