Marvel’s Daredevil is a superhero who believes in God.
I’m not a serious comic book fan. I grew up reading Archie, Betty and Veronica, and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
I DO, however, love God, a well-told story, sci-fi and the supernatural.
When I found “The Defenders,” a mini-series on Netflix about four Marvel superheroes — anti-heroes, to some — it took me a while to catch on. The pace was a little slow and I wasn’t sure if I would grow to love Luke Cage, the Iron Fist, Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
I tried to watch both the miniseries and the four individual series about a year ago, But this spring I came back to “The Defenders,” and really got into the cameraderie and the humor amid the action. I have become a fan of all four heroes, but one storyline really caught me: Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and vigilante superhero by night, who believes in God and who agonizes over whether he is good. His moniker, dubbed him by the New York City community he protects, is “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.”
- A superhero who openly believes in God, goes to church and even goes to confession?
- A flawed man who was raised Catholic but doubts God after his eyesight is taken as a boy?
- A dangerous man who hurts people for what he perceives as the greater good?
I was amazed at what I was seeing. A fully developed character with religious traditions. This show really takes risks (especially in season 3 — no spoilers!).
I knew I had to tackle this subject in my faith and values podcast, Positively Joy, with guests who knew about not only Daredevil but also religion and faith. I found them in Anthony Brown Jr. and Kade Poulson, comic book experts and men of faith themselves. Brown and Poulson first met in Oklahoma and started a podcast called the Infinite Danger Room. We virtually were introduced by Matt Price, also on the IDR podcast, and former features editor at The Oklahoman.
These guys were legit. We spoke via Zoom for an hour on Daredevil, comics traditions, Bible characters, scripture and more. They made up for my lack in comic book history, with insight into the lore and the labyrinth of plot lines from the comics to the books to the Netflix show.
I didn’t want to lose any of it, so I split the conversation into two podcast episodes, which you can listen to below.
I think my favorite part of the show is when Anthony compares Daredevil to Saul, the Roman persecutor of Christians, who had an encounter with God and is converted and changes to Paul, the follower of Christ.
But then, Kade suggests he’s more like King David “the warrior king,” who is a good man but comes running to God when he has failed Him. David is the author of most of the Psalms.
Did I say these two are legit?
I asked both men their favorite scripture, and they didn’t disappoint. Anthony quotes several, but settles on a favorite. Kade has his favorite, too, and you’ll find that in part two of our conversation.
I don’t want to give much more away, so I hope you’ll listen and enjoy.
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