Over the years, Daredevil has battled a number of dangerous foes, but the blind Marvel Comics hero's most implacable adversary has been Wilson Fisk, New York City's former Kingpin of Crime. Recently, however, Fisk traded his underworld throne for something even more powerful: legitimate authority. He campaigned for New York City’s highest elected office, won, and in the current “Mayor Fisk” arc, writer Charles Soule and his artistic collaborators have chronicled “Hizzoner’s” reign.

So far, it's been a turbulent one. Matt Murdock has been using his superhuman senses, combat skills and legal acumen to try and take the new mayor down, while Fisk has responded by using his authority to have Daredevil declared an outlaw. Things are about to get even more chaotic, because in Daredevil #597 it was revealed that the Inhuman serial killer known as Muse has escaped from prison and he's about to embark on a bloody rampage that will force both Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk to turn their attention to him. Then, in March's Daredevil #600, everything will come to a head as Soule and artist Ron Garney bring the “Mayor Fisk” arc to a close with the milestone issue.

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CBR spoke with Soule about the remaining chapters of the “Mayor Fisk” arc; his take on Fisk's right hand man, James Wesley; what Muse's return means for both the book and Daredevil's protege, Blindspot (Samuel Chung), and the role New York city's other costumed crimefighters will play as the three way war between Daredevil-Wilson Fisk-and Muse races towards an explosive climax.

CBR: In Daredevil #597 you introduced a new wrinkle in Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk's long running rivalry that found Matt working as Fisk's Deputy Mayor. I couldn't help but think of the old line from The Godfather Part II: "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." Was that your intention? What inspired this development?

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Daredevil #599, by Ron Garney and Matt Milla

Charles Soule: One of the fun things about the Daredevil/Kingpin dynamic is that they both think they're smarter than the other guy. So, they'll make choices based on that idea which don't always work out the way they expect. This twist was designed to just put them in close proximity to each other, get Murdock into City Hall, and amp up the cat-and-mouse feel to them. It certainly gave me a ton of great story beats to play out.

While the public believes Matt to be one of Fisk's most trusted advisors his actual right hand man is James Wesley, a character created by Frank Miller during his run on Daredevil and who played a large role in season one of the Daredevil Netflix show. Matthew Rosenberg reintroduced Wesley back in his recent Kingpin series and you've made use of him in several Daredevil issues now. What's your sense of Wesley? What do you find most interesting about him?

I think he's a guy who knows exactly who he's working for - he has no illusions about Fisk being "good" - he just likes being around someone who's so effective. I also think there's an element of feeling almost proud that Fisk trusts him to execute his most complex assignments. A lot of that is just in my head - I haven't put it on the page yet - but it's always good to know what your characters are thinking and why they act the way they do.

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The climax of issue #597 saw a new player enter into your story in the form of returning serial killer Muse. What can you tell us about his role in this story? What's it like bouncing him off of both Daredevil and the Kingpin?

Muse is great because he's an agent of utter chaos. He's completely unpredictable. You don't know what he's going to do next, or even why he does anything, except that he really likes making his art, his art is often horrible and disturbing, and he will do truly dire things to anyone who gets in his way. He's out there in the city, a problem for both Kingpin and Murdock to solve, although they'll have different approaches. Muse also has a strong role in this run as a whole, and bringing him back lets me amp up some earlier plot threads too.

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Speaking of earlier plot threads, in the initial Muse story the serial killer ripped Blindspot's eyes out. He later got them back thanks to the supernatural machinations of the Hand, but is Sam ready for another confrontation with Muse? Does he suffer from any emotional scars or trauma from what Muse did to him?

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Daredevil #599, by Ron Garney and Matt Milla

Endless. I mean, you can draw a direct line from Muse to the death of Sam's mother, to all the pain he went through in China, and more. I'll go into this in more detail in future issues, but yeah. Muse being back is a huge deal for Blindspot, and will affect the character very directly.

What can you tell us about the tone and action of these next few issues? It feels like you're telling a story that's one part street level superhero action, one part political thriller, and one part crime thriller. Is that a fair description of what we'll see in these next few issues?

That's exactly right. It's very high-stakes, with the entire city at stake in multiple ways and for multiple reasons. The Kingpin and Daredevil are playing their usual chess game, but it's not just about the two of them - there are literally millions of people who will be affected by the outcome. I'm very happy with the way the threads all came together for this. It feels right - like this was always where my story wanted to go.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Daredevil #599, by Ron Garney and Matt Milla

We've already seen a number of cameo appearances pop up in the "Mayor Fisk" arc, but it feels like we're going to see a number of major Marvel heroes and villains in this story in a big way before it's over. Can you talk about, hint, or tease some of the guest stars we'll see?

There are a ton - we're just getting started. The biggest sense of how that will work comes at the end of Daredevil #599, but it's all building to Daredevil #600, which is a big, awesome Marvel Universe free-for-all that brings in a ton of characters I love to write, all centered around the big Daredevil/Fisk conflict.

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In Daredevil #597 you worked with artist Stefano Landini who had a real gift for the street level action and the tones you're juggling. Will Stefano draw the remainder of this arc? Or is Ron Garney set to return?

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Stefano has been fantastic, but Ron Garney's coming back with #598, and he'll stay on the title through DD #600. Ron started the run with me, and he's defined the look and feel of it, I think (along with Matt Milla on colors, who's brought every issue of the entire run to life - he's so great.) I'm really glad Ron's bringing us to the finish line on “Mayor Fisk” - this story is his as much as mine, and he's for sure the right guy to be drawing these big moments. (That takes nothing away from the other incredible artists who have worked on the run, though!)

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Daredevil #599, by Ron Garney and Matt Milla

In March, "Mayor Fisk" comes to a close with the milestone anniversary issue Daredevil #600, which you mentioned earlier. How does it feel to tackle such a big issue? What can you tell us about it? Which creators will be involved

I know these milestone issues often work as sort of a jam piece, with a bunch of artists drawing a page here or there, looking at the history and legacy of the character. We took a different tack here, by just delivering a huge chunk of beautiful story that wraps up a bunch of plot threads but also feels like an incredible tale in and of itself. It's me, Ron, Matt, and of course, the book's secret weapon - Clayton Cowles on letters. There may be a little extra surprise involved beyond that, but I was just focused on making sure #600 was as amazing as possible.

Everyone involved in this book has absolutely noticed that a bunch of fans seem to be checking out "Mayor Fisk" and enjoying it - we're getting lots of great feedback, issues are going back to print, all that amazing stuff. We see it, and it feels wonderful. We've worked really hard on the story, so thank you to everyone checking it out. I promise it's just the beginning.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Daredevil #599, by Ron Garney and Matt Milla