Daredevil Is The Most Sinister Villain Of One Of Marvel's Best Multiverse Comics

Lawyer by day and costumed vigilante by night, Daredevil remains one of Marvel Comics' most popular and recognizable heroes. Created by Bill Everett and Stan Lee in 1964, Matt Murdock is blinded when a childhood accident douses him in radioactive chemicals. In true comic book fashion, they grant Matt superpowers, including heightened agility, exceptional reflexes, and a radar sense that acts as an intense form of echolocation — all of which come through in Matt's best-known incarnations, and especially when Marvel Cinematic Universe star Charlie Cox is wearing the mask and engaging in his famous hallway fracas.

In the ever-expanding Marvel comics multiverse, however, there are less altruistic Matt Murdock variants who instead embrace the devil in Daredevil. Look no further than Earth-65, a kaleidoscopic remix of the prime Marvel Universe where Gwen Stacy is bitten by a radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker, becoming the the hero known as Ghost-Spider (though originally Spider-Woman, and most popularly referred to as Spider-Gwen). There, Matt Murdock is not Daredevil, but has, in a matter of speaking, become his worst enemy –- the Kingpin.

Debuting in 2014's "Edge of Spider-Verse" #2, Matt is introduced as Wilson Fisk's lawyer, hiding his criminal identity behind the imposing patsy. As told in "Spider-Gwen" (vol. 2) #28, his origin mirrors his Earth-616 counterpart's (still blinded in the chemical spill, still trained by Stick) until his master dies in battle. Matt is recruited by the Hand to be one of their ninja assassins, eventually rising to the top of New York's underworld. Disenchanted with his seemingly unstoppable power, the Kingpin is contemplating his own end when he glimpses Spider-Gwen swinging across the city.

Matt becomes determined to turn the teenage vigilante into his successor, using Vulture and Rhino to discover Spider-Gwen's secret identity and threaten her father, NYPD Captain George Stacy. Gwen heroically resists Matt's attempts, even after bonding with the Venom symbiote and becoming an incredibly brutal version of herself. Eventually, she realizes that Matt sees her as both a kindred spirit, and a solution to the boring patterns behind his power. Gwen, however, must make her own choices regarding his overtures.

Recently, a major change rocketed Spider-Gwen across the Spider-Verse, making her a permanent resident of Earth-616, the mainline Marvel universe. Now that Gwen shares a universe with the heroic incarnation of her archenemy, it remains to be seen whether this evil variant of Matt Murdock will also return.