The everyday pressures of being a superhero have pushed plenty of heroes to the edge of their morality before, leaving them teetering on the precipice of becoming the kind of villain they usually fight. However, few heroes have crossed that line as effectively as Daredevil did in the Shadowland crossover. Upon trying to take control of the Hand and use them for good, Daredevil turned into such a deadly and dangerous threat that the heroes of the Marvel Universe were forced to fight a nearly hopeless battle against their former friend.
Now, we're taking a closer look at Daredevil's fall from grace, what all he did as a villain in Andy Diggle, Billy Tan, Victor Olazaba, and Christina Strain's Shadowland series and how Matt Murdock came back from the brink.
HOW DID SHADOWLAND CORRUPT DAREDEVIL?
After battling the Hand frequently over the years, Daredevil was able to bring down the power structure of the organization. However, rather than let someone like the Kingpin claim control of the clan, Daredevil defeated him and took command of the Hand for himself. Daredevil reasoned that he could try and transform the Hand into a force for good. But thanks to the machinations of Snakeroot -- a deceitful and devious splinter group within the Hand -- Daredevil soon found himself pushed to the edge by the actions of murderers like Bullseye.
Murdock eventually convinced the five warlords of the Hand to become his followers so that his rule could extend over the entire Hand. Upon returning to New York with a unified army behind him, he constructed a massive fortress and prison in the heart of New York that quickly became known as Shadowland. He found allies in the form of White Tiger, Black Tarantula, and Typhoid Mary, who quickly joined his new Hand. When Bullseye challenged Daredevil to a duel, he found himself fighting a more ruthless Matt Murdock than he'd ever seen before. Murdock even used Bullseye's own sais to kill him - fully corrupting the hero and allowing the demon known as the Beast to partly possess and influence him further.
The new murderous Daredevil proved more than willing to expand his control by force by taking criminals hostage and holding them prisoners within Shadowland, enacting his form of justice on the streets of New York. When other heroes like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist stood in his way, they found themselves fighting against Daredevil and his forces. As Daredevil's chaos spread throughout the city, longtime allies like Ben Urich and Elektra begin to truly doubt Daredevil. A group of heroes approach Matt and try and reason with him, but they're interrupted by Kingpin's plan, which involves unleashing Ghost Rider against the Hand.
A suspicious and paranoid Daredevil feared the heroes turned fully against him and ordered his clan to attack them with lethal force. The heroes are only saved by the timely arrival of the Punisher, who covers their escape and joins their cause with the understanding that someone is going to have to kill Daredevil to stop him. Meanwhile, the Beast exerts more and more control over Matt, granting the corrupted hero enhanced strength and power. His dark influence even begins to spread out across Hell's Kitchen, turning the populace against each other and even gnawing at the heroes.
Elektra and Wolverine join with the other heroes, and Elektra is able to sneak the group into Shadowland to confront Murdock. The assault works, and they prevent the Beast from resurrecting Bullseye as his new champion. However, the influence of the demonic power makes Daredevil increasingly impervious to harm, with Wolverine even stabbing him in the chest to no effect. Murdock was fully consumed by the Beast and its influence, which transformed him into an actual demonic-like figure who proved almost unstoppable.
The Beast even defeated Ghost Rider in battle, but Foggy Nelson broke through the Beast's hold to the small part of his old friend that was still inside Daredevil. This gave Iron Fist the chance he needed to unleash a full-power attack against him, using his healing chi to fully awaken Matt. This moment of clarity allowed Murdock to seemingly sacrifice himself to force the Beast out of his body. Daredevil is initially believed dead but quickly disappears. Later on, he's revealed to have departed to try and come to terms with what he had become.
Shadowland was the latest in a long line of dark choices for Daredevil. For an extended period, Murdock's life had been grim and dark, with him having his identity revealed to the public, becoming Kingpin, losing his wife, going to prison, and finally losing his sense of morality as well. But this trial ultimately put Daredevil back on the right path: Murdock would soon leave New York and head to San Francisco, giving him a chance to reinvent himself as a more overtly heroic figure once more. While Shadowland might have pushed the hero into becoming a monstrous villain, it also set him up to become a true hero again.