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Warning: Spoilers for Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band (2025) #3 ahead!
Daredevil has operated as a tag-team for a while now, with both Matthew Murdock and Elektra Natchios co-existing as the Devils of Hell’s Kitchen. This new status quo may not last, however, as Elektra’s latest adventure brings her to the brink of a deeply personal moment, in which she calls her tenure as Daredevil into question.
In Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #3 – written by Erica Schulz, with art by Valentina Pinti and José Luis Soares – the supervillain Muse kills Elektra. The fight is brutal and Elektra manages to take Muse with her, only to regain consciousness in Hell. When she does, however, she’s no longer dressed as Daredevil.
Instead, Elektra’s soul-self wears her traditional, red-wrapped Elektra costume and headscarf as she faces off once more against the spirit of Muse and his protégé in Hell, suggesting that Elektra does not truly see herself as Daredevil at heart.
Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #3 – Written By Erica Schulz; Art By Valentina Pinti & José Luis Soares; Color By Jonas Trindade; Lettering By Dee Cunniffe
The assassin Elektra Natchios has been Matt Murdock’s love interest for decades, but her switch from anti-hero to hero is relatively recent. When Daredevil is incarcerated in Daredevil (2019) #25 – written by Chip Zdarsky, with art by Marco Checchetto – Elektra comes to him, warning that the Hand is on the rise again and that she represents an opposing organization – the Fist – which needs him. To prove herself to Daredevil, Elektra dons the Daredevil costume for the first time, swearing to protect Matt’s territory while Daredevil is in prison. “I’ll be your Daredevil, Matthew,” she says, “because I tire of the darkness.“
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Since then, Elektra has made the shift to being Daredevil full-time, even after Matthew returned from prison; even after the 2019 run on Daredevil concluded and a new creative team took over, Elektra remained as Daredevil. She has made appearances as Daredevil in numerous Marvel crossovers, has mentored old and new heroes alike as Daredevil, and her own title has even been changed to Daredevil: Woman Without Fear. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as though Marvel was happy to keep Elektra as the distaff Daredevil with her time as a standalone character behind her.
Marvel Confirms That Deep In Her Soul, Elektra Does Not Believe She Is Daredevil
Her Tenure As The “Woman Without Fear” Could Be At An End
Elektra hasn’t appeared as herself for so long that her soul’s appearance in Hell actually comes as a shock. It has been easy to think of Elektra solely as Daredevil these past five years given her heavy marketing in that role, but having the depiction of her soul revert to her Elektra outfit implies that Elektra doesn’t truly consider herself Daredevil. Since Elektra only took up the mantle of Daredevil in an attempt to redeem herself in Matt Murdock’s eyes, this suggests that Elektra doesn’t truly feel she has redeemed her past life and misdeeds as an assassin.
While there is little doubt that Elektra will survive this encounter, it’s no longer clear if her time as Daredevil will do the same.
Whether she is known as Elektra or Daredevil, this former assassin of the Hand remains one of Marvel’s deadliest and most complicated characters. The conflict with Muse in Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band is rapidly turning into more than Marvel’s standard super-villain brawl: this is a battle for Elektra’s soul, with her very identity on the line. While there is little doubt that Elektra will survive this encounter, it’s no longer clear if her time as Daredevil will do the same.
Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.
“}]] Elektra is making a comeback. Read More