Before Creating The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s First “Regular Gig” at Marvel Was an MCU Superhero We All Respect

SUMMARY

• Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Rises might be his most iconic work, but his run with Marvel is still making fans squeal as it's is adapted into the MCU.
• The writer was responsible for the creation of iconic Daredevil characters like Elektra and Stick, and also wrote the seminal Born Again storyline for The Man Without Fear.
• Born Again not only influenced a good chunk of Daredevil Season 3, but also shares it's name with Daredevil's upcoming MCU outing.

Frank Miller is one of the most celebrated writers of comic books, and his run with Batman is one of the best-received works to come out of DC. The Dark Knight Returns is considered one of the most seminal Elseworld stories to come out of DC canon, going so far as to influence the product that WB felt comfortable pitting against the MCU.

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. || Credit: Marvel Comics

However, Miller, like most comic artists has worked for both DC and Marvel, and his first regular gig might give us some insight as to why his world leans towards noir aesthetics and street-level vigilantes. Creating characters like Stick and Elektra, who would go on to become staple characters of Matt Murdock’s comic book mythos, Frank Miller has had a huge impact on one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.

Frank Miller’s work influenced the best of Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio in a scene from Daredevil Season 3 || Credit: Netflix

Born Again, drawn by David Mazzucchelli and written by Frank Miller, is one of Daredevil’s most seminal stories. With his panache for deconstructing superheroes by breaking them, Miller was able to do this with a story where Matt Murdock’s identity is revealed, which causes a slew of his near and dear ones to end up in a lot of danger.

Elements of the storyline were adapted in Season 3 of Daredevil, which has been arguably called one of the best products to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it was questionable whether this was a part of the mainline MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home and shows like Echo, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again have legitimized the events of the Netflix series (and the rest of the Defenders IP) to be canon in the Marvel Cineamtic Universe, and not just adjacent to it.

With the new season also sharing a name with Miller’s run on the story, it can be seen the amount of influence the writer had on the character, taking the duties for the series in the mid-eighties, when Daredevil sales were in decline, with Marvel trying all they could to improve them going forward.

Daredevil: Born Again is already showing some quirks that might be taken from Frank Miller’s run with Daredevil

Daredevil || Credit: Netflix

Despite the quirky and lighthearted take on the character that made its debut in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, it seems that Daredevil: Born Again will be taking the character to a very dark place, which is Frank Miller’s bread and butter. The title itself gives away how much Miller’s work is going to influence this season, which is further confirmed by the existence of the likes of The Punisher, and White Tiger, who have been confirmed as being part of Born Again.

Further, it must be noted that Kingpin has been running lose in the marvel Cinematic Universe, which means that Wilson Fisk has found a way to circumvent the treats and promises Matt made to him at the end of Daredevil Season 3. What more, the character is aware of Matt’s identity as Daredevil, and is above targeting Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, some of Daredevil’s closest confidants.

This is further compounded by the fact that Wilson Fisk will be finding his way to the mayor’s seat in New York, allowing him to go down the diabolical route that he did in the comics. Matt Murdock might find himself on the run, desperate, and paranoid as Wilson Fisk brings the American justice system down on the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, as he did in Frank Miller’s run with Daredevil.

Daredevil: Born Again will debut on Disney+ on March 4, 2025

Written by Anuraag Chatterjee

Articles Published: 1011

Anuraag Chatterjee, Web Content Writer
With a passion for writing fiction and non fiction content, Anuraag is a Media Science graduate with 2 year's experience with Marketing and Content, with 3 published poetry anthologies. Anuraag holds a Bacherlor's degree in Arts with a focus on Communication and Media Studies.