BIOGRAPHY -- Page 38
It was a huge blow when the annulment papers arrived at Nelson & Murdock a few weeks later. Milla didn’t just want a divorce, she wanted acknowledgement that Matt’s mental health meant the marriage never happened. Foggy counseled Matt to give Milla what she asked for. Refusing to respect her wishes would make things worse, and she might come back on her own if he gave her the space she wanted. Matt’s difficult decision was made more complicated when he arrived home to find Natasha Romanova naked in his bed. The Black Widow claimed she was between assignments at S.H.I.E.L.D. and wanted to spend time reconnecting. Matt didn’t buy her explanation but, while he resisted her advances, he accepted her company. Daredevil and the Black Widow took to the streets following a tip from Ben Urich and stopped a weapons deal by Jigsaw down by the water.
Murdock’s odd, unofficial status as “Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen” led to an awkward exchange the next day. Out on bail, Billy “Jigsaw” Russo came by to pay his dues to the kingpin. Fisk had always asked for a percentage as payment for doing business in his territory, so Jigsaw assumed that was what Murdock wanted as well. Matt refused to humor Jigsaw and had him escorted out by security. At lunch, an assassin named Quinn took shots at Matt and Natasha as he was trying to explain his “relationship status” to her. After Quinn was chased off, Natasha finally explained 
one of her enemies in a position of power wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to turn her over in a “political exchange.” She thought she could hide in plain sight next to Matt in his non-stop media coverage, keeping anyone from targeting her unnoticed. Unfortunately, Quinn just made the attack look like a gangland shooting so that Murdock’s enemies would be blamed instead of the Widow’s.
Back at his loft, Matt had Natasha help when Jigsaw invaded his home looking for revenge over the disrespect. Jigsaw was turned over to the authorities and Quinn was soon captured with the help of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha’s problems were solved, and she wished Matthew the 
best in unraveling the troubles of his heart. Matt met with Milla and told her he didn’t want to end their marriage. Whatever issues might be involved with his mental health, he still loved her and wanted their relationship to continue. Still, he signed the papers as she asked and left the final decision in her hands. [Daredevil (2nd series) #61-64]
Matt had a surprisingly personal visit from FBI Agent Angela del Toro one evening. It turned out del Toro was the niece of Hector Ayala and some unknown source had deposited the amulets of the White Tiger into her possession. She originally joined the “Murdock task force” to better understand the man who witnessed her uncle’s final moments, and now she felt pressured to take 
over Hector’s legacy. Matt’s hearing told him she was being sincere and this wasn’t a bizarre entrapment exercise, but he still couldn’t openly acknowledge his identity to a federal officer. Instead, he arranged for Angela to meet “Daredevil” independently for guidance on possibly becoming the next White Tiger. Daredevil sparred with del Toro and gave her some history on the Tiger amulets, but their relationship was certainly going to become complicated going forward.
Alexander Bont finally got parole and was furious to learn his antagonists Matt Murdock and 
Daredevil were one and the same. He acquired a supply of Mutant Growth Hormone in prison and planned to go down in a blaze of glory, revenging himself against everyone who wronged him. Bont discovered Melvin Potter had a daughter and threatened the child to force Melvin back into the Gladiator costume. By preparing a deliberate trap, the reluctant Gladiator captured Murdock so that Bont could get his satisfaction. Bont used MGH to boost his strength and beat on Murdock for a while. When that wasn’t enough, he tried parading “the Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen” through the streets to show the people he was in charge again. Instead, it drew out Agent del Toro, who tried to protect Matthew. While she fought with Gladiator, Bont swallowed more MGH to fight with Murdock, but Matt didn’t even fight back. He could hear the old man’s heartbeat and knew the MGH was too much for Bont’s system to take. Sure enough, Alexander Bont overdosed and died while screaming for his revenge. Matt was forgiving towards Melvin, but Melvin was scared to talk with his daughter on the line, and the authorities threw him back into prison. [Daredevil (2nd series) #66-70]
The Hand had never forgotten their vendetta against Matt Murdock. During a major enterprise by the Hand and Hydra, Wolverine was killed and then resurrected under the Hand’s control. He was their advance agent charged with killing other heroes for the Hand to revive as their pawns. Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. spread out to guard the more powerful heroes, but their freelancer Elektra knew the ways of the Hand and made a stakeout of Matt Murdock’s apartment. Wolverine and a fist of the Hand assaulted Daredevil in his home, but Murdock fought them off and injured Logan. Wolverine was teleported to safety, but the Hand ultimately got what they wanted… using Daredevil as bait to lure out Elektra. Elektra was killed and resurrected again under the dominion of the Hand. [Wolverine (3rd series) #23-24]
Daredevil didn’t forget Captain America’s efforts to reach out to him. When the Avengers were targeted by an escalating wave of chaos, many of their past members came out in a show of support during the crisis. Despite having no official standing with the team, Daredevil appeared to fight alongside them as well. However, their losses were too great, and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes chose to disband. [Avengers (1st series) #501-503] S.H.I.E.L.D. also faced some fallout when 
Nick Fury’s secret war came back to haunt him and his chosen agents. Lucia von Bardas survived the castle’s destruction, and assembled tech-based criminals to seek her revenge. Luke Cage was struck into a coma, and Matt Murdock was attacked at his home. Bardas was defeated, but Nick Fury was ousted from a seat of power with S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Matt, Natasha and other heroes with no ties to the new S.H.I.E.L.D. [Secret War #1-5]
A man named Lawrence, who stole secrets from the Hand and was banished, ended up in New York, willing to sell his obscene and forbidden knowledge for a price. The Jester bought a sample of these black arts to use against Daredevil during his next bank robbery. His temporary boost evolved into a demonic, fetal entity which vomited up from Jester’s throat and escaped from Daredevil’s shocked attention. In the days that followed, the entity moved from host to host as it tried to return to Lawrence, who continued running from the power he couldn’t control. The entity found Lawrence and took him as a host just before Daredevil found Lawrence. The demon broker fled into a church support group in Hell’s Kitchen called “The Devil Among Us,” as people gathered to make sense of Matt Murdock’s influence over their neighborhood. Murdock followed Lawrence into the meeting, hoping to retrieve him without anybody getting hurt.
As Murdock and Lawrence silently gauged each other, the meeting went on as many civilians shared their stories. These included a woman who saw Murdock’s declaration at Josie’s, the son of the man who bombed Matt’s old brownstone years ago, a friend of Milla’s whose daughter committed suicide after seeing Jester’s demon at the bank, the wife of a serial killer who became the next host after Jester and a woman who was the killer’s only surviving victim. Lawrence 
eventually called out Murdock for sitting and listening to these testimonials like a voyeur, startling everyone who missed the Devil in their midst. In the end, Lawrence killed himself rather than let the demon escape him and seek another host. Matthew apologized to the people at the meeting for their evening, and for his unintended effect on their lives. He could only claim to be doing the best he could. [Daredevil (2nd series) #71-75]
In a macabre twist, Death-Stalker became unstuck in time and arrived in the present day. Learning about his own death and his mother’s failed attempt to claim vengeance, Sterling made plans to force Daredevil into an impossible situation. He killed a number of innocent people while also kidnapping their surviving family members, bringing them as hostages to the cemetery where he died. Death-Stalker intended to kill his pawns if Daredevil didn’t allow Sterling to kill him instead. Meanwhile, Nick Fury alerted Captain America that S.H.I.E.L.D. had Death-Stalker’s cybernetic gloves in custody and detected surges from them since his return. S.H.I.E.L.D. feared that, if Death-Stalker died in the present before he died in the past, it could unleash a temporal 
paradox which would undo the universe. Death-Stalker drugged Daredevil with a powerful hallucinogen when he arrived at the cemetery, driving him into a murderous rage until Captain America arrived and administered an antidote. Once he was beaten, Death-Stalker tried to destroy everything by turning his gloves on himself, but this only reversed his travels, sending him back into the past with no memory of his ordeal. [Daredevil & Captain America: Dead on Arrival #1]
Nelson & Murdock were hired by Reed Richards on behalf of the Sentry, an uber-powerful super-hero who believed he had killed his wife and committed himself to imprisonment on the Raft. Matt and Foggy traveled to the island prison to meet with their client, bringing Luke Cage as bodyguard alongside the Raft’s official S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison, Jessica “Spider-Woman” Drew. They were on the island when Electro staged a power outage and jail break, leaving eighty or more super-villains free to make their escape. Numerous foes from Carnage to Jigsaw to Mister Hyde to Purple Man threatened the party, and they only survived thanks to the reinforcements of Captain America, Iron Man,and Spider-Man also responding to the crisis. Even so, roughly half of the super-criminals escaped the Raft that night.
Nevertheless, Captain America was inspired by the evening’s events to reform the Avengers. He wanted to bring together the heroes from the Raft to serve as the new membership, but Matt’s concerns about joining were the same as before. He didn’t want the spotlight of his media and legal woes drawing attention from what the Avengers were trying to do. Daredevil was the only 
hero who declined the invitation. [New Avengers (1st series) #1-3] Cap kept after him, especially when one of the villains, Silver Samurai, fled into seclusion with the Japanese underworld and the Hand. Matt wouldn’t bend, but he put Captain America in touch with Maya Lopez. At his recommendation, she became Ronin, the Avengers’ new agent in Japan. [New Avengers (1st series) #11]
[Note: Reports are that Ronin was originally meant to be Daredevil, using a second identity as a solution to join the Avengers without getting them involved in his legal mess. When a USA Today article essentially leaked the story in advance, Bendis pivoted and made Echo into Ronin instead.]
Nelson & Murdock were hired to defend Dr. Gilbert Wiles, a scientist accused of murdering his business partner, David Garrett. In fact, Garrett had been struck by a brick when a force known as the Uni-Power arrived at their laboratory and bonded with the incredible Hulk. Advanced Idea Mechanics had been financing Garrett’s side of the business, and Matt’s senses caught a cloaked terrorist monitoring the trial. He chased the invisible A.I.M. agents as Daredevil and wound up bonded to the Uni-Power himself, becoming “Captain Universe.” The Uni-Power not only enhanced his existing senses, it even restored his sight. Temporarily overwhelmed by new 
sensory input, Matt had to re-center his senses to wield the Uni-Power properly, and the terrorists got away. Matt goofed around with Foggy a bit over his temporarily restored vision before finding a way to track down A.I.M. The Uni-Power departed him to continue its quest, but Matt pretended he still had his sight when Foggy caught up with him. Foggy had dug out a photo he once took of Matt and Milla together, and Matt didn’t have the heart to tell his best friend he wouldn’t be able to see his wife for the first time. [Captain Universe / Daredevil #1]
Hammerhead and his new advisor, the Jackal, made the latest play for the Kingpin’s old territory. Their efforts to control the rackets drew out the Punisher, and Daredevil fell into old patterns trying to stop the criminals while also preventing Castle from murdering all of them. The Punisher was wilder the usual and almost went completely ‘round the bend after accidentally shooting a civilian, breaking his own code. While attempting to find informants willing to testify against Hammerhead, Daredevil came up against Bushwacker, with upgraded cybernetic arms and a grudge to settle. Hammerhead and Jackal went to prison, but Jackal had paid off the right people and continued running his organization from inside Salamanca Federal Prison. When the Punisher’s rampage was finally stopped, however, he was sentenced to Salamanca, leaving him and the Jackal to settle scores behind bars. [Daredevil vs. Punisher #1-6]