"Daredevil: Born Again" is one of the most anticipated Marvel Studios projects. After guest appearances in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "She-Hulk," Charlie Cox is returning to Ol' Hornhead full-time — and it's not just him. Jon Bernthal will be returning as Frank Castle/The Punisher, reprising his role from both Netflix's "Daredevil" and its "Punisher" spin-off. It's unclear if Frank will be a friend or foe to Matt Murdock this time around.

Daredevil and Punisher is a long-standing rivalry; while Matt stands on the edge of a cliff, Frank has fallen far off it. Writers who've pitted the two against each other include Frank Miller, Garth Ennis (whose "Punisher" run was the basis for "Daredevil" season 2 episode "New York's Finest"), and most recently, Chip Zdarsky.

Zdarsky is the author of the ongoing run on "Daredevil," where his writing is complemented by Marco Checchetto's gorgeous art; his penciling uses hatch marks to bring out detail, resulting in both jaw-dropping close-ups and the dynamic action a superhero book needs.

Zdarsky's "Daredevil" is influenced by Netflix's "Daredevil," particularly how it explores Matt's character both via his Catholic faith and legal vocation; Matt even starts wearing his original black costume (featured prominently in the Netflix series) after "retiring." Like the Netflix series, Zdarsky centers on three special relationships in Matt's life: Wilson Fisk, Elektra Natchios, and Frank Castle.

Know Fear

Like most superheroes, Daredevil has a code against killing. It's extra important for him since he's a lawyer and a Catholic, meaning murder goes against all his beliefs. Usually, superhero stories explore heroes killing via Trolley Problems; if you kill one criminal you'll save other people later. That's the Punisher's logic. but Zdarsky opts for something different by having Matt break his code unintentionally. While foiling a robbery in issue #1, Daredevil accidentally inflicts a fatal injury on one of the three criminals, Leo Carraro. Zdarsky has his cake and eats it too; he preserves Matt's integrity but can explore the ramifications of Daredevil's actions with a sharper-than-usual edge.

Matt is wracked with guilt when he learns what happened. Daredevil also gets both the law (NYPD Detective Cole North) and other heroes (Spider-Man) on his back. Only one person is congratulating Matt — Frank Castle. The Punisher's ethos is killing as the solution, befitting a former soldier, and he has chastised Matt for his impermanent methods more than once.

Unaware that Carraro's death was manslaughter, not murder, Frank is happy that Matt has "seen the light" and saves him from being arrested by North. Matt, who considers Frank a psychopath, is disgusted with himself; their encounter is what finally gets him to confront his culpability. The guilt never leaves him and, eventually, he agrees to accountability via a prison sentence (though due to some legal technicalities, it is Daredevil who serves the term, not Matt Murdock — he even gets to keep his mask). Elektra becomes Daredevil in the imprisoned Matt's stead.

After this one-off fight, the Punisher drops out of the run and stays gone for a while. However, his presence in issue #4 opens up the thematic can of worms that Zdarsky plucks from as the story goes on.

Who Does The Law Help?

The defining theme of Zdarsky and Checchetto's "Daredevil" is legality versus morality. Daredevil has always been preoccupied with this. Going back to his 1964 debut issue (by Stan Lee and Bill Everett), Matt Murdock chose to avenge his father's death with a costumed identity because while he couldn't break the law, "Daredevil" could. In "Daredevil #11," Spider-Man pointedly says to Detective North, "You need to stop thinking about illegal and legal, and start thinking about right and wrong."

So does Matt. His character arc is about him recognizing how the law doesn't serve justice, but power; evil people with resources get protection much more easily than innocent ones with none. Exemplifying this, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime himself, has become the mayor of New York City. During the "Devil's Reign" crossover event, he outlaws superheroes while deputizing criminals to hunt them.

Zdarsky is the rare writer who does "Social Justice superheroes" well, because he's willing to dig deeper. Rather than a preserved status quo with virtue-signaling speeches, reinvention is necessary. That's why Matt realizes he has to redefine what it means to be a superhero.

The Punisher finally re-enters the picture in the epilogue of "Daredevil: Woman Without Fear" (a mini-series centered on Elektra as part of "Devil's Reign"). Now, he's the leader of the Hand, the evil Ninja cult that's often menaced Daredevil and Elektra, and has a new skull insignia to boot. One explanation for this reinvention is that Marvel wants to distance itself from the old Punisher iconography due to the way real-life cops have appropriated the Punisher and fueled police brutality. However, in "Daredevil" (relaunched back to issue #1 in July 2022), Zdarsky spins this story in his favor, setting up Matt and Frank as opposites again.

The Red Fist Saga

At the end of "Devil's Reign," Matt fakes his death and assumes leadership of the Chaste, the Hand's mortal enemies; Elektra and North join him in his crusade. Other writers might use this to sidestep political themes in favor of a beat-em-up, but Zdarsky turns the Chaste versus the Hand conflict into an ideological one.

Matt decides that instead of beating up criminals, he's going to reform them. So in "Daredevil" #5, he and the Chaste raid super-villain prison the Myrmidon, free the inmates, and offer them new purpose as soldiers of the Chaste; Dr. Leonard Samson is on-board to offer the criminals therapy and complete their rehabilitation. Rather than fighting liquor store robbers, Matt and the Chaste are after more systematic evils; in issue #7, they stop a SWAT team trying to evict the tenants of an apartment complex (Matt's advice to the cops? "If your job is protecting property over people, then get a new f***ing job.") This impugns real-life law enforcement and addresses how Marvel's superheroes usually just defend the status quo. Zdarsky isn't the first Marvel writer to acknowledge this, but he, Al Ewing (in "Immortal Hulk"), and Jonathan Hickman (in "X-Men") are the only ones who've changed their lead characters' goals in response to it.

The Punisher, who's still out to purge the world of "evil," sees Daredevil working alongside criminals and won't stand for it; he declares letting Daredevil live now is "like putting a gun in a killer's hand." Issue #8 finally saw the Chaste and the Hand clash. Daredevil declares that God has sent him to be Frank's "Punisher," but the battle ended in a stalemate. The next one, though, will doubtlessly see a last man standing.

Jump On Now

Zdarsky recently announced on his Substack that his "Daredevil" saga ends in August 2023. This bittersweet announcement isn't shocking; he's been writing "Daredevil" since 2019 and if you've been following the run, the signs of a wrap-up have been there.

Plus, Zdarsky has got other items on his plate; since July 2022, he has been writing "Batman" for Marvel's Distinguished Competition. Doing so, he joined Frank Miller, Ed Brubaker, and Brian Michael Bendis as comic craftsmen who've written both Daredevil and Batman. He's also got his creator-owned series to attend to over at Image Comics; the on-hiatus "Newburn" with Jacob Phillips (a neo-noir about a mob fixer) and "Public Domain" (about the family of a fictional comic writer).

Before this August finale, though, you can catch up on Zdarsky's "Daredevil" via the online reading service Marvel Unlimited or the various collected editions that have been released. You can also probably find recent issues in stock at local comic shops. I can't recommend adding these final issues to your pull list highly enough. If you're a "Daredevil" fan, Zdarsky and Checchetto's comics will tide you over before "Born Again" premieres in 2024 on Disney+.

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