My first encounter with the comic book hero Daredevil was as a child in the 1980s, in the eponymous Marvel Comic series. I think I originally read those comics as I awaited the titles that I really wanted: those featuring Batman, Superman or Spider-Man. As I matured, so did those titles. Now we have the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its stable of television shows and movies featuring those heroes, as well as graphic novels with storylines and artwork that are grittier and far more realistic than those of my childhood.
I continued to read comics over the years, although as life intruded I was nowhere near as avid a reader as I was when I was a teenager. I became more selective in my titles: Batman remained constant but I found that I gravitated more toward Daredevil as I grew older.
I liked that Daredevil didn’t have a wide array of superpowers. He was a blind superhero with enhanced sonar capabilities, but other than that he was just a normal man, known as Matt Murdock. He grew up in a rough part of New York City, Hell’s Kitchen, raised by an Irish father who was a boxer, “Battlin” Jack Murdock; and much like Batman, he becomes a vigilante to avenge his father, who was killed by mobsters.
In the early 1990s, I also attended Fordham University at its Lincoln Center campus, which sits on the border of Hell’s Kitchen, increasing my interest in Daredevil’s story and its setting. I also enjoyed the adaptation of the series by Netflix (2015-18), and was excited when Disney+ announced “Daredevil: Born Again,” with the same actors and characters I had loved.
It was during the Netflix series that I began to realize just how Catholic a hero Daredevil was, perhaps because it coincided with my reconnection with my own faith. The television show’s new title—”Born Again”—evokes spiritual rebirth, and I was curious as to whether Matthew Murdock was still Catholic in the comic book series. In 2023, Marvel did its own soft reboot of the Daredevil series, as Saladin Ahmed took over the writing of the series from Chip Zdarsky. Like the television series, Daredevil was born again, with a Daredevil No. 1 released in September of 2023.
I was stunned to find out that not only was he still Catholic: He was now Father Matthew, Catholic priest.
In the comic book series, Matthew Murdock has literally been brought back to life by God and is now living a quiet life as a priest working for the Saint Nicholas Youth Home in Hell’s Kitchen. It is a Daredevil comic book, so of course Father Matthew’s peaceful life is soon interrupted, first by thugs who threaten one of his wards, forcing him to channel his fighting skills, and then by incarnations of the seven deadly sins, who begin to possess those close to him. We are even treated to a double page spread of Father Matthew with a bandana over his head and eyes to mask his identity, channeling the look of those first episodes of the Netflix series, but wearing a clerical shirt and wielding two candlesticks as batons.
As the story arc progresses, we see Matthew’s traditional Catholic guilt, now even more magnified by his priestly vocation, as he wrestles with his violent nature and his vow of celibacy. By issue No. 19, Matthew is in a full-blown vocational crisis and has walked away from the priesthood much to the disappointment of his young wards. Issue No. 20 goes on sale in April, and I am eager to see where Ahmed takes the storyline.
Perhaps Father Matthew will soon become the lawyer Matt Murdock again to restore his traditional civilian role that he had in other iterations of the Daredevil story; the storyline certainly seems to be headed that way. But I can’t help hoping that they explore his vocation a bit longer, that we delve deeper into what it means for a superhero to be a Catholic priest and to wrestle with the duality of that along with his vigilante activities. Indeed, there is no reason why Matthew can’t be both priest and lawyer, or why he can’t explore what it means to love within the vow of celibacy. That would not only be very countercultural, it could bring a depth to the comic book that might prompt some much-needed introspection in today’s world of the short-form video.
“Daredevil: Born Again” has now launched on Disney+, and the show has released six episodes so far in what is to be a nine-episode first season. The show has not wasted any time establishing Daredevil’s Catholic roots, from the crumbling church in the title sequence to Matt Murdock proudly proclaiming that he attended Xavier High School in lower Manhattan to Matt standing outside a Catholic Church wrestling with his dual personas as we hear the Liturgy of the Eucharist taking place in the background. The most recent double episodes solidified his Irish Catholic roots and again focused on the theme of his struggles with faith juxtaposed with his violent nature, with one episode beginning with him praying to Saint Yves, patron saint of lawyers, while reliving his recent clash with an Irish gang
The original Netflix series had also established Matt Murdock’s Catholic identity from the outset. When we meet the adult Matt Murdock in the pilot episode, he is in a confessional booth reconnecting with his faith and seeking absolution for his violent persona. The show was refreshing in its open portrayal of Daredevil’s Catholic identity, replete with many scenes of Matt in dialogue with two characters, Father Lantom and Sister Maggie.
I particularly loved Matt’s discussion on vocation with Sister Maggie in the second episode of Season 3 (though with one striking mistake: a person becomes a novice, not a novitiate; the latter is the institution!). Despite some other errors around Catholic dogma and a proper understanding of the faith, the series as a whole took a very mature approach to exploring a Catholic identity within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I can only hope that in comic books and television shows, creators continue to explore new depths of Daredevil’s Catholic identity. Perhaps, as Daredevil experiences a resurgence in the public spotlight, plotlines that engage themes of faith, justice, reconciliation and redemption through a Catholic lens might encourage many to re-examine their own faith.
