WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil #21, by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Mattia Iacono and VC's Clayton Cowles, available now.
For nearly two years, Matt Murdock had all but stopped being Daredevil. In Daredevil #1, Matt made a mistake and accidentally killed a street criminal. Soon, Matt began to question himself, considering he no longer saw himself as the superhero he was supposed to be. Then, in Daredevil #5, Matt returned to his apartment to find New York's greatest superhero, Spider-Man, waiting for him. Peter Parker of course knew what Daredevil had done, and his visit was essentially one last common courtesy between old colleagues.
He gave Daredevil an ultimatum: quit, or Spider-Man would spread the word and have every superhero turn on him and stop him before he had the chance to do any further damage. Matt didn't fight back, however, and chose to quit.
For a time, Matt worked on bettering himself, both as a person and as a hero. And now, Matt made his triumphant return as the Man Without Fear in Daredevil #20, and the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man paid Daredevil a not-so-friendly visit.
In the last few issues of Daredevil, a literal war came to Hell's Kitchen when the rich and powerful Stromwyn twins hired several supervillains to lay waste to the New York City neighborhood. Bullseye, Crossbones and Rhino headlined a team that turned the Kitchen into a war zone, and everyone fought back -- even common civilians and villains like Wilson Fisk and Typhoid Mary joined the fight to protect the neighborhood. Most of the people who fought back did so with Daredevil masks, which showed Matt Murdock the importance of his alter-ego.
Inspired by his fellow man, Matt put on a horned mask once again, and he stopped the villains. Then, as the Battle of Hell's Kitchen came to an end, Daredevil publicly announced his return and surrendered to the police to face justice for what he did.
And in Daredevil #21, Matt is driven to the police station but before he can get there, he makes a stop by his home. Thanks to Foggy Nelson, Matt has agreed to face trial as Daredevil -- and Daredevil only. His secret identity will not be revealed, and his alter ego is the one who will face prosecution since Marvel superheroes already recognized legal entities. Accordingly, he heads back to his apartment to get his red suit out of storage.
But when he gets there, he finds Spider-Man once again waiting for him. "I told you," Peter says, "if you put it on again, I'd be back. I'm taking you in."
Matt, however, has no time or patience for Spider-Man. He tells him that Hell's Kitchen was burning and that Daredevil had to step up to protect the people. And besides the point, Matt tells him he's turning himself in already.
While these two heroes once shared a bond of friendship and mutual professional respect, there is clearly a lot of animosity between the two New York-based superheroes. Matt insists he is surrendering to the police, while Spider-Man keeps defying him, saying he can't be Daredevil anymore. While Spider-Man has always tried to save lives, the preservation of life has taken on an even greater importance in his life since 2011's Amazing Spider-Man #655, by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin, where he vowed that "no one dies" when he's around. Although he hasn't always lived up to that ambitious goal, the idea of a fellow superhero causing a death out of carelessness makes a sharp counter to it. And as Spider-Man notes again here, Daredevil's actions imperil all of Marvel's superhero community.
"You're not my moral authority," Matt snaps back. "You've put as many people in the hospital as any of us, and I don't see you being fingerprinted."
Then, Matt not-so-kindly asks Peter to get out of his apartment and, for a moment, it looks like the two superheroes are about to throw down. However, before a fight can begin, Spider-Man opts to leave. "If you're lying to me..." he warns, "I'll be back."
With Daredevil #5 and Daredevil #21, it's clear the series is setting up the rivalry between the two superheroes. Of course, we know that Matt Murdock is telling the truth, and that he will turn himself to the police, which he does by the end of the issue. But given that this is superhero comics, we also know that one way or another, whether he is found guilty or not, Matt will eventually return as Daredevil, protector of Hell's Kitchen. And when that happens, Spider-Man might be there to stop him.