Summary
One of the biggest events of the year for the Walt Disney Company occurred this past weekend, D23. The special event featured a wide-spread look at the coming years of content across a variety of different mediums that fans can expect, featuring the many brands under their umbrella. One of the most popular sections of this event was about the slate of upcoming Marvel Studios productions, and one of the most anticipated projects that was featured was none other thanDaredevil: Born Again. The upcoming Disney+ and Marvel Television production is set to bring Matt Murdock into theMCU,and while memorable foes like Wilson Fiskand Bullseye were featured in the trailer shown at the conference, a new villain was also spotted, Muse.
While Muse doesn’t have as extensive of a history in Daredevil comics, the villain has had a great impact on the hero nonetheless. A disturbed and deadly foe who poses victims to imitate his “great works of art”, the foe presents Matt with a new form of evil to fight, presenting a villain that isn’t the typical gangster or superpowered foe, but instead a monster who kills not for profit or power, but some disillusioned form of art. So who is Muse exactly, and what could hebring to theMCU’sDaredevil: Born Againseries?
Muse’s Comics History, EXPLAINED
One of the interesting things about Muse that sets him apart from other villains in Daredevil’s rogues gallery is his mysterious past. Similarly to how Batman’s Joker has no official identity or past, only speculation, Muse has never officially been identified. He first made an appearance after sending the vigilante Blindspot,who had trained with Daredevil, to the address of his first work of art. Upon arriving, Blindspot discovered a bloody mural painted at the address, which featured the blood of over 100 missing people.
Weeks later, he personally defaced his mural and led investigators to a second building, where they found the bodies of six Inhumans posed with props to make them appear to be doing mundane tasks. Matt, working as the assistant district attorney at the time, discovered the crime scene, and sensed Muse watching the police discover his masterpiece. Muse used a dummy grenade to escape onceMatt put on his Daredevil costumeand pursued him. Muse gradually showed his unique abilities of not only super strength and speed, but his ability to act as a vortex, pulling in all sensory information around him at once.
Muse would go on to target the courtroom where a case was being made to keep people away from his mural, and a confrontation with Muse to stop the kidnapping of the judge led to Blindspot being taken instead. When Daredevil found them, Muse gouged Blindspot’s eyes out before fleeing, distracting Matt with a room with the still living 100 missing people hanging from the ceiling. However, Inhuman authorities caught Muse on the rooftop, where an angry Matt pulled off Muse’s mask, revealing a sunken and chilling face. Later, Muse would escape and leave murals of different vigilantes, which would onlypush Fisk’s anti-vigilante law efforts, and a now healed Blindspot would defeat Muse. When he refused to kill Muse, the villain simply walked into a fire, seemingly ending his reign of terror.
Muse Enters the MCU
The leaked footage at D23 showed Muse briefly, but his appearance raises some interesting questions about the direction Daredevil will take as he officially joins theMCUgoing forward. With the Punisher and Fisk set to appear as well, Muse’s story makes sense to bring to life now.The Punisher was framedby Muse for slaying police officers when Muse was making one of his Punisher murals, and the D23 footage shows murals in the city being showcased.
Muse would test Daredevil in new ways. He would be the first threat he faced with powers, not born of supernatural means but thekind of powers Avengers level heroesusually deal with. Yet the greatest test would come in Muse’s actions, as most of the foes Matt Murdock has faced thus far have been criminals, gangsters, and the highly trained forces of The Hand. Yet Muse represents a wild card, an agent of chaos who commits these atrocious crimes all in the name of his “art”.
Muse could also become the superpowered threat that gives Wilson Fisk the ammunition he needs to outlaw superheroes in New York City, making Daredevil, Punisher and others like them criminals on the run. Whatever direction theMCUdecides to take with Muse, it’s clear that the inclusion of the villain is meant to push Matt Murdock to a new breaking point, and including characters like Fisk, Bullseye,and even introducing White Tiger into the mixwill surely allow a chaotic villain like Muse to make a lasting impact on the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
