Who Does Daredevil End Up with in Comics? His Love Interests Explained
Daredevil is one of the most notable Marvel superheroes. Matt Murdock’s story of how he became a superhero despite having a handicap that left him blind and a premature father’s death that left him with the desire to revenge him. In the end, Matt Murdoch became a much better man, bringing him the attention of many ladies of Marvel Comics. This article will look into Marvel Comics, see who Daredevil ends up with, and explain his love interests.
Daredevil ends up with Elektra in the comics, at least for now. Although Daredevil had many women in his life it was rare for them to stick around. From Foggy Nelson’s little sister Candace Nelson, Dakota North, Heather Glenn, and other “ordinary” women to superheroes like Black Widow, Black Cat, and recently She-Hulk. His “true” endgame was Karen Page, but she died at the hand of Daredevil’s mortal enemy, Bullseye. Recently, in Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil comic book run, Daredevil married Elektra … technically.
We will discuss this topic more by mentioning the most notable Daredevil love interests, explaining each partner and their impact on Marvel’s blind hero life, and concluding this topic. If you are interested, stay with us until the end.
Daredevil’s character in the comics
Since his first appearance, Marvel fans could see Matt Murdoch’s personality. He was the usual 1960s character – a man from a working-class family, driven, very close to his family, and motivated to help the ones in need. The Silver Age of Comics introduced many good-hearted characters with the chip on their shoulders, and Daredevil is one of them. Matt Murdoch is characterized as a good, brave, intelligent, secretive man with a lot of baggage in his life, which is why his relationships with people fail most of the time.
Superheroes usually lead double lives, acting differently on the streets and in their “normal lives.” Matt Murdoch needs to keep up “triple personalities” – Daredevil, the civilian, and the lawyer Matt Murdoch. The triple persona is something he needs to do to stop enemies from threatening his loved ones, and the Daredevil persona is mysterious, motivated, vicious, and fearless.
The streets do not forgive, and Daredevil knows it. Matt Murdoch, the lawyer, is intelligent and captivating in the courtroom, which helps him greatly in representing people in need in the face of the law.
We cannot explain Matt Murdoch’s personality as one man – he is layered and complicated, and those burdens affect his relationship with women massively. Murdoch is attractive, mysterious, and impossibly charming, which women find irresistible, hence why he had so many women in the Marvel comics.
One of the “heartbreakers” in the comics, Daredevil, had some mild and toxic relationships. For the sake of the article, we will mention the ones that affected his story in the comics and bring up the real face of the “Devil from Hell’s Kitchen.”
Who is Daredevil’s love interest in the comics?
As we already mentioned, Daredevil is a “ladies’ man.” The women find him attractive, and his mysterious persona helps him a lot of acquiring so many romantic partners, so no, Daredevil does not have one love interest – he has more than dozen. Nyla Skin, Moondragon, Dakota North, Heater Glenn, Black Cat, Echo, and many more.
Karen Page was Matt Murdoch’s first and long-standing love in the Marvel Comics
We will start with one of the most important women in Daredevil’s existence. Karen Page was Matt Murdoch’s first love interest in Marvel Comics and the woman whom Matt Murdoch really loved. Karen Page first appeared in Marvel Comics as a secretary to Matt Murdoch’s law firm in Hell’s Kitchen and quickly became involved with Murdoch. However, after Matt reveals Daredevil’s superhero persona to Karen, she leaves him.
The character was out of the Daredevil stories for years until the great Daredevil storyline called Born Again, where Karen Page is once again Matt Murdoch’s love interest, with a twist – she actually helps Daredevil and acts as his sidekick.
Karen Page is a different woman now, and her love for Matt is much more emphasized now that she knows who Daredevil is and the fact that she now knows every part of Matt Murdoch – the lawyer, the person, and the superhero. Murdoch and Karen Page broke up again in the 1989 Daredevil comic book but returned in 1991.
Her story was turbulent in those years, and one storyline suggests Karen Page became a pornographic actress addicted to heroin who sold Daredevil’s real identity to the Kingpin. Eventually, she returns to New York, meets with Matt once again, recovers, and they get back together.
They stayed together throughout the 1990s, helped her lover beat crime in New York, and ultimately died at the hands of Bullseye. Daredevil was devastated by her death, and he even considered suicide. Still, the memories of Karen and their time together propelled Matt to continue in his efforts to protect the people in need. That act showed how much her love meant to Matt Murdoch and how much Karen Page impacted her life.
Heather Glenn was one of the first Daredevil’s love interests that revealed his identity
In the 1970s, Daredevil writers decided to Matt Murdoch another love interest – a rich socialite Heather Glenn. She helped Matt a lot, especially when he opened Legal Storefront Clinic. Heather was a daughter of a rich businessman, Maxwell Glenn, the president of Glenn industries, but he was also operating illegally under the influence of the Purple Man.
Even though he tried to protect his secret identity and ultimately protect Maxwell Glenn, a businessman, committed suicide, leading Heather to become an alcoholic. Because of her addiction, Heather and Matt parted ways and separated forever.
Glenn was also in a relationship with Tony Stark, which prompted her to drink even more. She even told Tarkington Brown about Daredevil’s secret identity, which led the men to have a conflict.
Heather Glenn eventually committed suicide – her father’s depression and death were stronger than her love for Matt Murdoch.
One of the healthiest relationships happened with the San Francisco native Kirsten McDuffie
One of the probably best relationships Daredevil ever had in Marvel Comics came from a San Francisco-born lawyer, Kirsten McDuffie. She was seemingly a perfect match, and combined with Kirsten and Matt being lawyers, this was a great start for the romantic duo.
When they were together, Kirsten was Matt’s “light of his life” since he was always considered a complicated man with a dark past, and her positive attitude suited Daredevil well.
Everything looked great for the duo until the Purple Children made everyone forget that Daredevil and Matt Murdoch are the same people. After realizing that Kirsten’s mind has also been affected, he decides to break up with her and go back to his home in Hell’s Kitchen to start his life again.
Kirsten is heartbroken but lets Matt go, and they eventually meet again – she decides to represent Murdoch in court with Foggy Nelson after the hero is arrested for murder. After Elektra changes Murdoch’s mind about pleading guilty to the murder, McDuffie and Nelson don’t give up and eventually help with Murdoch’s release from prison.
Kirsten McDuffie and Matt Murdoch were great for each other, but in the end, Daredevil’s dangerous life, his Hell’s Kitchen home, and ultimately, Matt Murdoch’s sense of duty broke them up. Probably one of the healthiest Daredevil relationships in the Marvel comics.
Foggy Nelson’s little sister dated Murdoch at some point
Another relationship came with Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdoch’s best friend. Candace Nelson was one huge secret that Foggy kept from Matt Murdoch, and when she first appeared, Murdoch was surprised.
Candace Nelson is Foggy’s sister, whose identity was concealed for years after uncovering sensitive information about the military and her school. Her whole storyline revolved around uncovering the truth about the government institution and suspicious activities that were going on there. During that timeline, she dated Matt Murdoch for a short while.
They went on a few dates, and ultimately, Candace needed to leave. The relationship was not special, but Candace, Foggy’s secret sister, was significant at that point in Matt Murdoch’s life.
In the 1970s, Black Widow and Daredevil were romantically involved
One of the most iconic female superheroes in the Marvel Universe is Natasha Romanov, also known as Black Widow. The former Russian spy got involved with Daredevil; surprisingly, they were a good match. Marvel included Black Widow in Daredevil’s storylines from 1971 to 1974. While being together, the superhero duo fought crime together.
They felt so strong for each other that Matt Murdoch rejected the advances from Karen Page and decided to stay with Natasha. They moved to San Francisco at one point in the comics and were willing to live with Matt Murdoch as a normal couple.
They did break up, but their love for each other is still present today, and they stayed great friends who always helped each other. Black Widow and Daredevil are still remembered as iconic Marvel comic couples.
The relationship with Typhoid Mary is definitely in the “toxic tier” of Matt Murdoch’s romantic relationships
One of the strangest and most toxic relationships by Daredevil happened with Typhoid Mary, a supervillain who had conflicts with Spider-Man and Deadpool as well. Besides being attractive to women, Daredevil was a ladies’ man who could “pick up” any woman he wanted.
One of them was Typhoid Mary, who had split personality disorder, and one of her “personas” was actually killing people. Technically, Daredevil was dating Mary Walker, but she was only one person among the villain’s dozens of personalities.
Strangely enough, Daredevil was responsible for her condition – one time, he tracked the villain to the brother Mary was part of. During the scuttle, he accidentally pushed her through the window. She became a Typhoid Mary and vowed no man would ever hurt her. Typhoid Mary later admitted she was the victim of child abuse, which was noticeable in how she treated her victims. Mary also set Daredevil on fire, and let’s just say he regretted that relationship immediately.
Daredevil and Black Cat were an “item” in the comics for all the wrong reasons
Felicia Hardy was always on the edge of the good and bad regarding her tenure at Marvel Comics. Since her release in 1979, Black Cat was mostly part of Spider-Man’s storyline, where she was on every side of justice. At one point, she was a love interest of Peter Parker, and of course, Matt Murdoch managed to get involved with the “feline hero.”
Matt Murdoch and Felicia Hardy met in the Spider-Island comic book storyline, where Spider-Man recruited Matt Murdoch to prove Black Cat’s innocence in one of the events.
Black Cat thinks of a plan to trick the evil team Black Spectre and, at the same time, make Spider-Man jealous. To do that, she enters a short and casual relationship with Daredevil and, ultimately, proves her point – she tricks the Black Spectre organization and makes Peter Parker jealous. Truly a mission accomplished
Kingpin’s vigilante Echo fell in love with Daredevil and stayed close friends in the comics
Recently, we met Maya Lopez, also known as Echo, in the Disney+ TV series Hawkeye. In the comics, her connection with Daredevil is truly significant – both live with the handicap that “fuels” them to protect the people in need. For Maya Lopez, that wasn’t always the case. After being sent by Kingpin to kill his archnemesis, Daredevil tells her the truth about her father, who was killed by Kingpin, who then framed Daredevil for the murder.
After Murdoch tells Maya everything, she decides to seek revenge against Wilson Fisk and, ultimately, shoots him in the head. Eventually, Matt Murdoch showed Maya the way of fighting against crime and using her skills for good – the duo fell in love with each other.
Their relationship was unique since both of them had disabilities, which got them even closer. Daredevil and Echo eventually ended their romantic relationship but stayed close until she died and got resurrected as the Phoenix.
Hopefully, we will explore that relationship in the new Disney+ Echo series.
Elektra and Daredevil are an infamous couple that is active today
Of course, we cannot finish this article without mentioning Elektra, one of the biggest and most iconic Daredevil love interests. She has a violent nature and lives as a mercenary who does not stray from killing anyone in her way. Being the polar opposite of Daredevil did not help the couple in many ways, and their relationship was on and off for years. However, the duo always reached out to each other because of their understanding, and tragic pasts that marked them for the rest of their lives.
Besides, maybe Black Widow, not one woman could understand Daredevil’s loss as Elektra could, and conveniently enough, still does. In the new Daredevil comic book run that started in 2022. Daredevil and Elektra (who is also a Daredevil) got married in the comics. How? The writer Chip Zdarsky decided to marry the couple for the “greater good.”
The short explanation goes like this – Daredevil recently faked his death, and Elektra took over the mantle from Murdoch. During that time, Punisher took over the notorious assassin organization Hand, and now two Daredevils are trying to rebuild another ancient organization called Fist.
To revive the organization that will stop the Hand and Punisher, the duo needs to leave the United States to establish the Fist again, and one of the ways is for them to get married. Of course, the “wedding ceremony” included:
- The ancient traditions of the Fist.
- Dead souls of the Hand.
- Other mystical things.
This is the current relationship status of Daredevil, and once again, he is with his long-term love interest Elektra. The duo is married, but their relationship, which seemed to be more “rocky” than stable, is still alive. In the end, they are a great couple and always worked well together, which we cannot fault at all.