The first episode of Daredevil: Born Again showed the human side of The Man Without Fear. Despite being a hero of honor and not wanting to kill, Bullseye crossed a line when he shot Foggy Nelson, so he did too. Matt Murdock pushed his enemy off the roof. He reacted in a way that a lot of people would. Despite his moral code, we have to remember that Matt is a human with feelings, and he just heard his best friend's heart stop beating.
Killing your enemy isn’t something protagonists normally do. For example, it took decades for Logan to kill Sabretooth, and Batman is stuck with a similar decision in Hush 2. However, things are vastly different in the Marvel Comics universe, and writer Saladin Ahmed proves it in Daredevil No. 19.
Daredevil No. 19 creative team
- Writer: Saladin Ahmed
- Artist: Aaron Kuder
- Colors: Jesus Aburtov
*** WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DAREDEVIL NO. 19! ***
During Chip Zdarsky’s run of Daredevil, Matt went to Hell (literally) to save his friends. Unbeknownst to Matt, he returned with seven devils that represented the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth). Daredevil defeated six of them with a scripture from the Bible and a lot of patience. It was different with Wrath (who was possessing an orphan from the St. Nicholas Youth Home). Matt was having issues with his faith, so Bible passages didn’t work. And during the final battle, he admits to himself that Wrath is one of the things that's kept him alive. That made the Devil more powerful.
After a couple of battles, Wrath captured Bullseye and Foggy Nelson and gave Dardevil the choice of saving one of the two. After reading a ton of Batman comic books, I assumed that he’d save the villain and Foggy would die. Well, that assumption was wrong. Matt attempted to save them both, but knew only one of them would survive. Bullseye’s body hit the pavement with a splat. Matt said he expected him to be gone when he “looked,” but his radar senses detected a “red smear below.” Bullseye is dead… for now.
Let’s be honest. Does anyone here expect Bullseye to stay dead? He’s been killed more times than most villains and keeps coming back. His return isn’t just because he’s a popular villain. Saladin Ahmed's series has Matt’s superhero life jumping from regular goons and people with powers to the supernatural and spiritual.
While in Hell (because Bullseye isn’t going to Heaven), he will likely be returned with the help of one of the Seven Deadly Sins (likely Pride, Greed, or Envy). They're petty and will want revenge for being exorcized from their host on Earth. At some point, an issue of Daredevil will end and Bullseye will likely be looking over at his foe, leading to another bloody battle between them. When that happens, Bam Smack Pow will report it.
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