The phrase is imitation is the best form of flattery. Marvel must have a lot of flattery for DC because a good handful of their characters were emulations of DC characters. It is a common belief among the comic book community that Marvel subtly to blatantly borrowed some ideas from DC. One of the most obvious ones is Deadpool heavily borrowing elements from Deathstroke. Of course, Marvel isn’t the only one to do it. But it is a fun exercise to see which Marvel characters are inspired by DC characters. A good start is to see which of DC’s most famous characters have a Marvel counterpart. One of their biggest ones, if not the biggest, is Batman. Marvel has a few Batman-esque characters. One that matches pretty well is Daredevil. But while many other emulations are strikingly similar, is it fair to say that Daredevil is Marvel’s Batman?
If someone were to say that Daredevil is Marvel’s Batman, they wouldn’t entirely be wrong. From the start, they both were in the same area where their father died. They were isolated. Young Matt Murdock and young Bruce Wayne felt alone in their world. Once they got a little older, they trained their bodies and mind to be great fighters. Both strike fear into their enemies. Both are nocturnal predators. To drive the fear into their enemies that much more they both adopt motifs that promote fear in their own right; a bat and a devil. Even though as Matt Murdock and Bruce Wayne they help their cities by serving as a respected lawyer and philanthropist, those are just masks. Both men feel more alive, more at home, more comfortable as Daredevil and Batman. On alternating nights, their enemies could be corrupt politicians, malicious mob bosses, bloodthirsty mercenaries or murderous, mystical cults. With as many similarities, if Daredevil and Batman were to cross paths they would have great amount of respect for each other. It’ll be looking at a mirror. So there is strong support to why fans would say that Daredevil is effectively serving as Marvel’s Batman.
Both men obviously have their differences. No disrespect to Daredevil, but Batman is meant to be a force of nature. Due to his vast wealth, resources, intelligence and versatility, Batman is much more than a street level vigilante. His tactics and tenacity often put him on a collision course with enemies beyond the stars. Daredevil does venture into that type of territory once in a while but often stays on the streets of New York. Even though Batman is often seen as the character that continues to fight no matter the odds – and gets respect among his allies and fans – Daredevil’s own tenacity might triumph over Batman’s own. Batman takes a large arsenal of gadgets, tools, vehicles and armor to the fight. Daredevil does not have that luxury. Daredevil takes his fighting skills, enhances senses and stick. Daredevil is able to fight a full-on war on crime without the abundance of resources that Batman has. As much as Batman is seen as being resilient, Daredevil has his own special resilience. Fans want to praise Batman for doing what he does because at the end of the day he is just a man. A mortal man. But Daredevil is more of a mortal man than he is. Daredevil does have some drawbacks especially compared to Batman. But that doesn’t impede him at all. It arguably drives him even more. When a situation doesn’t seem favorable for Batman, he could reach into his utility belt or call Alfred to drop something off. Again, Daredevil can’t rely on that. He goes into battle with what he naturally has. And it gives him an edge. That’s a huge difference between each vigilante. The arsenal and abundance of resources Batman has is a crucial trait to Batman. Daredevil being limited but still getting the job done, still keeping up with his superpowered allies, still getting up to keep pace with his stronger enemies without being as enhanced is crucial to his trait too. That is a strong dividing line between Daredevil and Batman.
Of course, Daredevil has his own set of abilities like enhanced senses. He uses these with great effective. So much in in fact, it’s not an issue that he is blind. His enhanced senses make up for that lost sense. Makes him appear extraordinary. Does that make him entirely separate from Batman? Batman himself has the training and discipline to make him appear extraordinary as well. Daredevil does in fact have powers but Batman has more training and versatility to even the playing field.
So is Daredevil Marvel’s Batman? Not entirely. The characters do have their own traits that are exclusive to them. Daredevil has his faith that is a huge driving force to his character. He is fully aware of the law due to his experience being a lawyer. Batman is wealthy, vast. At the same time though, there is too many similarities between them two to ignore. Batman is seen as a man that has these expensive toys and fights alongside godly people to fight other godly people every other week. But that’s not always the case. Batman does get in the grime. Uses what’s only on his body to figure a way out for himself as Daredevil does. These men punch above their weight. At home fighting in the sewers to stop crime as much as they are comfortable fighting on skyscrapers. There is a darkness, a monster, demons in them that they use for positive results. So Daredevil may not be Marvel’s Batman but he is the closest thing to Batman that Marvel has.
