Kingpin Spills the Marvel Universe's Darkest Secrets in Daredevil Event

CBR

By Jeremy Blum

Published Sep 7, 2021

Devil's Reign #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto picks up where the duo's Daredevil run ends and pits the Kingpin against a host of heroes.

Kingpin plans to expose shocking truths that will reverberate throughout the superhero community in Devil's Reign, a new six-issue series embroiling a host of characters in the Marvel Universe.

First teased at the end of August, Devil's Reign #1 arrives in December courtesy of writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto, both of whom worked on Daredevil. The series features the Kingpin -- also known as Wilson Fisk, the current mayor of New York City -- using his full political powers against the city's superheroes and revealing a variety of secrets designed to destroy them.

The cover of issue #1 offers a glimpse of the characters involved in the event, encompassing Captain America, Daredevil, Elektra, Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Miles Morales and Ben Reilly, who is set to fill in as Spider-Man for a hospitalized Peter Parker. Multiple villains will also appear, including the likes of Crossbones, Kraven, Taskmaster, Typhoid Mary, Rhino, Shocker and Whiplash.

The revelations of Devil's Reign were first teased in a story within the Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1 special. The teaser showed Jessica Jones learning that Fisk was likely behind the deaths of several private detectives, and ended with a cryptic scene showing the Kingpin suffering from a vision that showed a plethora of dead superheroes.

"Our Daredevil plan just kept getting bigger and bigger, to the point where it would clearly affect the Marvel Universe in huge ways," Zdarsky said. "Thankfully, Marvel recognized this as well and gave Marco and I the opportunity to tell the story on a massive stage with Devil's Reign! This is a proper Marvel event springing from the pages of Daredevil and I think all Marvel readers will love what’s coming!"

Checchetto added that he was especially proud of Devil's Reign for stemming from the work he and Zdarsky had done on their recent Daredevil run, and said that reading the script had left him "speechless."

"As a fan, I can tell you that I am happy to see Daredevil among the protagonists of this event," Checchetto explained. "I have the opportunity to draw so many characters that I love so much, heroes and villains, and I'm trying to give everyone the dignity and respect they deserve. It will be great."

Checchetto and Zdarsky's Daredevil run, which started in 2019, has seen Matt Murdock imprisoned and Elektra Natchios donning the horned mask and red suit to defend Hell's Kitchen. The series is set to end with Issue 36 on Nov. 17, with the Kingpin supposedly wedding Typhoid Mary.