Was Daredevil inspired by this Golden Age DC superhero?

Daredevil is coming back on the small screen in a big way with the highly anticipated release of Daredevil: Born Again in March of 2025, which was recently teased during the Looking Ahead trailer Marvel dropped. The character of Daredevil has remained a fan-favorite amongst both hardcore and casual fans alike, with many touting him as one of the best characters in Marvel Comics canon.

But what if I were to tell you that Daredevil bears many striking, almost uncanny, similarities to a DC hero that appeared decades before The Man Without Fear leaped onto the comic page? That's right! Come with me to learn about a somewhat lesser-known but equally awesome character named Doctor Mid-Nite

Doctor Mid-Nite's game-changing origins, explained

There have been a few characters who took on the mantle of Doctor Mid-Nite over the years, but let's discuss the origins of the original Doctor Mid-Nite, who first appeared in All American Comics No. 25 in April of 1941. Dr. Charles McNider was a brilliant surgeon who was one day tasked to save the life of a criminal in order for said criminal to testify against another criminal by the name of "Killer" Maroni. During the operation, one of Maroni's men went to the victim's location and threw a grenade to finish him and everyone else off. While everyone else perished in the room, McNider survived, but not unscathed as he was blinded by the explosion.

Never one to simply give up, McNider spent his days working out and writing, until one night while contemplating what to do next with his life, an owl crashed through his window. McNider discovered that he could see perfectly in the dark, but whenever any light source was around, he would once again lose his sight. He proceeded to tend to the owl's wounds, and gave the bird the name Hooty. With the realization of his night vision, McNider decided to use this ability to hunt down the criminals that made him blind in the first place, and after creating special googles that would help him see during the day (and acquiring a costume), Doctor Mid-Nite was ready to take on crime!

Doctor Mid-Nite went on many adventures after his first appearance, eventually becoming a member of the first superhero team in comics, the Justice Society of America. Two significant characters have taken up the mantle of Doctor Mid-Nite since: The first was Beth Chapel, who was a key character on The CW's Stargirl, and Pieter Cross.

Though popular among DC Comics readers, the character of Doctor Mid-Nite has remained somewhat obscure to mainstream audiences throughout his existence (albeit for the occasional return to prominence in shows like DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Stargirl), but the fact remains that he is considered the first disabled superhero in American comics, so that alone should make him a very important character in the world of superheroes.

Daredevil and Doctor Mid-Nite's similarities

Both Daredevil and Doctor Mid-Nite have very similar abilities, but there are a few key distinguishing factors that separate the two. Before getting into the factors, let's discuss what abilities they do share: the most obvious being that they're both blind, they have no special powers such as super human strength or speed, and both are trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat.

One of the factors that makes these characters different from each other is in their gadgets. Daredevil has a very modest list of gadgets, his most famous being his Billy club that serves as his walking cane during his day job as Matt Murdock and a weapon and mode of transportation when he's Daredevil.

As for Doctor Mid-Nite, he also has a few gadgets to help him in his fight against crime, one is his Infra-goggles, which allows him to see at all times of the day, his blackout bombs which create smoke so dark that no one can see through it except him, a device called the Cryotuber which allows Mid-Nite to take control of an assailants' nervous system, and finally his Mid-Nite Gauntlets, which carry various chemicals and equipment.

Did Daredevil draw inspiration from Doctor Mid-Nite?

While both characters share similar tools and abilities as well as the fact that they're both blind, they are distinct characters in and of themselves. Both characters became blind because of a tragedy, but the context in which their origins occurred are very different. Even their blindness is different for each of them, including how they adapt to it. For Daredevil, his other senses became enhanced, and with training from the mysterious master named Stick, he learned to use his blindness to his advantage that makes him more capable than regular people. Mid-Nite's blindness only affects him during the day, which he can alleviate with his googles. They also have distinct occupations in their civilian guises, with Matt being a lawyer and McNider a surgeon.

Daredevil likely wasn't directly inspired by Doctor Mid-Nite, but even if he were, that still doesn't affect these characters from being their own entities. Plus, I think Doctor Mid-Nite has attributes in common with Batman, too, such as the fact that both characters operate during the night, and they both have secret caves.

But I'll leave it to you guys. Do you think Daredevil is took inspiration from Doctor Mid-Nite? Who do you think would win in a fight between the two?