Summary
Insomniac’s Marvel Universeis due to get bigger with the launch ofMarvel’s Wolverine, taking the series - which has only consisted ofMarvel’s Spider-Mangames so far - outside of New York with a cast of new characters pulled from the comics. While theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames have been no stranger to some more mature themes,Marvel’s Wolverineseems to be pushing this further with thehiring ofSpec Ops: The Linewriter Walt D. Williams to pen a story far darker than the T-ratedtitles that came before it, and because of this, I feel it’s time for Marvel to turn its attention to one of my favorite heroes from the grittier side of the Marvel Universe who has been largely overlooked in gaming:Daredevil.
Daredevil is undoubtedly one of my favorite street-level heroes in the Marvel Universe - I’ve even cosplayed as him on a few occasions - largely in part due to how he is a complex character who is built of contradictions. Matt Murdock is a defense lawyer by day, but a vigilante by night, and is a practicing Catholic who dons the guise of a devil to take on his foes. While there have been some lighter elements to Daredevil, the character has largely become part of more mature story arcs that deal less with cosmic beings like other Marvel heroes and more with helping his neighborhood, whether it’s by protecting the vulnerable through the law through his legal practice with Foggy Nelson, to taking on their oppressors as his masked alter-ego.
Marvel Games Have Ignored Daredevil For Too Long
Despite Daredevil’s 50+ year legacy as a Marvel superhero, the devil of Hell’s Kitchen is largely skipped over in gaming in favor of the usual heroes.
An Early 2000s Daredevil Game Was Unceremoniously Canceled
Daredevil may have appeared in many team-up titles, such as theMarvel Ultimate Allianceseries, but outside of a Game Boy Advance side-scrolling beat-‘em-up tie-in for the 2003Daredevilmovie, he hasn’t had the chance to headline his own title.A third-person beat ‘em up game,Daredevil: The Man Without Fear,was in the works at 5,000 Ft. Studios for the PS2, Xbox, and PCthat would have loosely followed Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’sElektra Lives Againcomic run, with Fisk being assassinated and the gangs of New York fighting for territory. I remember seeing print ads for it in comics in the early-to-mid 2000s, around the time of the first Marvel superhero movie boom, indicating that it was at least close to completion, but unfortunately, thegame was unceremoniously canceledand seemed to disappear until a prototype build surfaced last year.
Marvel’s Spider-Manopens with Fisk being arrested, and he also warns the web-slinging hero that there will be chaos without him ruling over the city’s crime, mirroring the scenario seen inDaredevil: The Man Without Fear.
10 Best Video Games Featuring Daredevil
Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, has appeared in more than a dozen video games over the last three decades, but which are the best ones to play?
Daredevil Would Be Extremely Well Suited To Gaming
All Of Daredevil’s Abilities Translate Well To Gameplay
I am surprised that in the twenty years sinceDaredevil: The Man Without Fear’s development ended, Marvel hasn’t explored the potential Daredevil has as the lead of his own game, especially with how well his powers adapt to gameplay.Daredevil: The Man Without Fearshowed thecharacter’s radar senses working like a kind ofBatman: ArkhamDetective Mode to track opponents, objectives, and more, while Daredevil can easily jump across the city with the agility seen in some of Insomniac’s other titles, such asMarvel’s Spider-Man,Sunset Overdrive, or even theleaked footage fromMarvel’s Wolverine, making him a natural fit for the world Insomniac is building.
The trailer forDaredevil: The Man Without Feareven showed Daredevil’s parkour incorporating grinding on railings like something out of aTony Hawk’s Pro Skatergame orSunset Overdrive. While this is fitting for the 2003 version of the character as it was pulled straight out of the Ben Affleck-starring movie, it does make me wonder just what the soles of his boots are made from. As for combat, superhero games have taken a lot from theBatman: Arkhamgames in this department with its Freeflow combat, and there is a coolArkham Knightmod bymenkimedithat puts Daredevil in the place of Nightwing to show how this combat could work in practice, replacing Nightwing’s Escrima sticks with Daredevil’s billy club, although it would be great to factor in more of boxing background the character is known for in his own game to truly make it feel separate.
Matt Murdock’s day job as an attorney could also set it apart from other superhero titles in a big way, taking from the non-superhero sections of theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames - say what you will about them, but I felt they did serve their part in the wider story and I quite liked seeing the world of superheroes from a different perspective - to investigate situations to build a legal case, or even using anL.A. Noire-esque interview sequence in which he could use his heightened senses to determine who is telling the truth before springing into action as Daredevil. With such mechanics, the decisions made as Matt Murdock could carry more weight, as getting a case wrong could see witnesses being put in danger or criminals being set free, setting up additional side missions for Daredevil to sort out.
Every Superhero Confirmed To Be In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Universe
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, much like its predecessors, has several references to other heroes who inhabit Insomniac Games’ Marvel Universe.
Plenty Is Already Falling Into Place For Daredevil To Appear In Insomniac’s Universe
The Nelson And Murdock Legal Practice Appears In Marvel’s Spider-Man
Daredevil - or more accurately, Matt Murdock - has beenteased several timessince the firstMarvel’s Spider-Mangame, in which Peter Parker had a business card for Nelson and Murdock: Attorneys at Law in one of his many backpack collectibles. Upon opening this, Peter recalled the time a blind man gave him it and offered Spider-Man some help, wondering how a blind man knew he was Spider-Man in the first place. Players could also visit the exterior of the Nelson & Murdock law firm in Hell’s Kitchen, with its plaque displayed prominently by the entrance.
InMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, upon helping Flint Marko (AKA Sandman), Peter’s “lawyer friend” is mentioned, which seems to be another very obvious nod to Matt Murdock.
Since then, one of Daredevil’s major villain groups,The Hand, also appears to have been teasedthrough an Easter Egg inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, and the Insomniac leaks have revealed that the ninja cult will be appearing inMarvel’s Wolverine. This makes sense as Wolverine has a long history with The Hand in the comics, from his time fighting them in Japan in the acclaimed1980sWolverinecomic runby Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, to the mutant even being brainwashed and serving as one of the group’s assassins at one point inEnemy of the State. With The Hand existing in Insomniac’s Marvel Universe, it only feels like a matter of time before Daredevil appears, perhaps alongside the likes of Elektra or his former mentor Stick.
There’s also a question of what will happen when Wilson Fisk gets out of prison. The Kingpin of Crime was apprehended inMarvel’s Spider-Man’s opening moments, but has clearly been plotting during his time in the R.A.F.T., as shown inMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. While Fisk did start out as a Spider-Man villain in the comics, over time, he has become more synonymous with Daredevil, appearing as the main antagonist in both the 2003 movie and the more recent streaming series, so aDaredevilgame could certainly focus on the fallout of his release, potentially in a similar way to the canceledDaredevil: The Man Without Feargame with different gangs having fought to gain territory over the years, and how Fisk’s return could shake things up.
Now Is The Perfect Time For A Daredevil Game
The Character’s Popularity May See Another Resurgence With The Launch Of Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil has always had a fanbase as a character, but this has certainly grown in recent years. While the 2003 Ben Affleck-ledDaredevilmovie was largely criticized at the time - I’d argue that theDirector’s Cutwas an improvement, but there was still a lot it got wrong, and some of its goofier moments certainly felt out of place, even more so when placed alongside a dark mystery about the murder of a sex worker -the character’s popularity seemed to increase significantly with the launch of the far superior TV-MADaredevilshow on Netflix, which got to explore both sides of the Matt Murdock character in far greater depth, along with the likes of Foggy Nelson and Karen Page.
The fan backlash to Netflix’s cancelation of the show, and outcry from rumors that likely led to the push to redo Disney+’s revival,Daredevil: Born Again,to bring it more in-line with the original after already filming four episodes, shows that there’s certainly enough of an audience out there for a game.Depending on howDaredevil: Born Againis received when it launches next year, there could be yet another spike in popularity, and if the show continues for more seasons, Insomniac could strike while it’s still “on air” - or whatever the equivalent is in the streaming space - and capitalize on this property.
Unfortunately, while many games were revealed in the Insomniac leaks, from a canceled live-service multiplayer title,Spider-Man: The Great Web, to anX-Menfollow-up toMarvel’s Wolverine,Daredevilwasn’t among them.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Senior Creative Director, Bryan Intihar, did previously tease the character on a few occasionsthough, even endingPlayStation’s listening party in which he and the game’s composer John Paesano discussed several tracks from the game’s soundtrack with an abrupt “Where is Daredevil?” so I feel it’s still inevitable that the character will appear in some capacity.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s upcoming DLC - which was leaked through the game’s official New Game Plus patch, not the Insomniac leaks - suggests it will be dealing withBeetle as a main villain, and could be tied to Tombstone as it is the Janice Lincoln version of the character, who is Tombstone’s daughter. Therefore, there’s a possibility that a slightly more grounded storyline like this - rather than the symbiote storyline that looks to be continuing at some point with Cletus Kasady’s inevitable Carnage transformation - would be a good way to introduce The Man Without Fear inInsomniac’s Marvel Universeas he steps in to assist the web-heads, even if I would be a bit disappointed thatDaredevilis reduced to a supporting role in gaming yet again.
Sources:menkimedi/Nexus Mods,PlayStation/YouTube
Insomniac’s Marvel Universe
Insomniac’s Marvel Universe is a collection of games set in a standalone universe by the popular PlayStation developer Insomniac Games. The franchise began with the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man and has since expanded to include more characters from the Spider-Man universe, with Wolverine preparing to join in with his own feature title set in the same world. The series also consists of several crossover events, including comic books and representation in some of the later movies, such as Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.
