With Jessica Jones third and final season now out, Marvel Television's partnership with Netflix has officially come to an end. Daredevil, the inaugural series was also one of Netflix's most acclaimed original programs set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and ran for three seasons on the premium streaming service. With Charlie Cox starring as Matt Murdock, the hero defended the streets of Hell's Kitchen from a host of villains who were, collectively, not just the best antagonists on Marvel Netflix but Marvel Television to date.
Now, CBR is taking a look back at the primary villains that Daredevil battled across each of the eponymous series' three seasons and why they were among the best Marvel Television had to offer.
The Kingpin
The overarching villain of the entire series was Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio. Matt Murdock's own fledgling years as a crime-fighting vigilante during the first season was mirrored by Fisk's rise to power in the New York City criminal underworld, as he expanded his enterprises through violence and backdoor alliances and deals. While Murdock and Fisk both experienced their own unhappy childhoods, Fisk's was especially traumatic, which led to him murdering his own father brutally.
While not a major player Season 2, Fisk's presence continued to permeate through the season, culminating in a confrontation between himself and Matt in prison. Upon securing his release by feigning cooperation with the FBI, Fisk quickly determines that Matt is Daredevil and systematically dismantles both his life and that of FBI operative Benjamin Poindexter to create the villainous Bullseye. He was brutally violent and beat Matt within an inch of his life on multiple occasions, and he was also a master manipulator, D'Onofrio's portrayal of Kingpin was a faithful, terrifying incarnation of the longtime Marvel villain.
The Hand
The ancient, mystical ninja cult known as The Hand has played a role throughout most of the Marvel Netflix series, including the first two seasons of Daredevil and the first season of Iron Fist, which culminated into the crossover television miniseries The Defenders. Led by a shadowy group of seemingly immortal figures, the organization has a nefarious designs for Manhattan involving something resting under the heart of the city for millennia.
Hinted at throughout Season 1 of Daredevil by their leaders Nobu and Madame Gao, the Hand serves as the major antagonists for the second half of Season 2. A resurrected Nobu attempts to prepare the ultimate weapon for the cult, dubbed Black Sky, in Season 2, which leads to a confrontation between Daredevil, Elektra, and Punisher on the rooftops of Manhattan in some of the best fight sequences in all of Netflix Marvel. Victory came at a heavy cost, with the Hand killing Elektra and making off with her body; Elektra's death and villainous resurrection haunting Matt throughout The Defenders and the final season of Daredevil.
Bullseye
As Matt Murdock desperately tries to keep his world from completely falling apart during Season 3, Kingpin quickly rises back to power and begins shaping a troubled FBI operative to do his lethal bidding while discrediting Daredevil with the general public. Agent Poindexter is one of the agency's top marksman and quietly possesses the ability to throw common objects with deadly accuracy, but harbors a deep psychotic streak that Fisk takes advantage of.
The series' incarnation of Bullseye is the most hands-on opponent during the final season of Daredevil, disguising himself in a replica of Matt's costume to carry out murderous rampages in a nod to Frank Miller's run on the character. With an extensive look at Poindexter's backstory, he is one of the most complex, fully realized villains in the MCU both on Netflix and the big screen and one of the most personal foes that Matt Murdock has ever faced.
Now available on Netflix, Season 3 of Marvel’s Daredevil stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Joanne Whalley as Sister Maggie, Wilson Bethel as Benjamin Poindexter, Jay Ali as Rahul “Ray” Nadeem and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.