Daredevil: Born Again's Muse Evolved From Comics

Summary

Daredevil: Born Againhas teased Muse from the very first episode. The graffiti artist has been terrorizing several influential people with his art in New York, and while he was initially perceived as any other street artist, the masked man turned out to be a serial killer.

Muse is definitely the most gruesome villainto be featured in theDaredevilseries — he is a sadistic individual who likes to paint with the blood of his victims. Using this Marvel villain to revive theDaredevilseries is a brilliant decision in itself. However, the true stroke of brilliance is how the writers tweaked the overall personality of the Marvel character to fit him into the universe ofDaredevil: Born Again.

Muse Does Talk In Comics, Unlike The MCU Version Of The Character

The Mute Muse IsExactlyWhat We Needed InDaredevil: Born Again

Muse became asignificant character in Marvel Comicsafter appearing inDaredevil(Vol. 5) #11 in 2016. He is a serial killer who likes to paint the walls of New York using the blood of his victims. Muse’s obsession with such a kind of art becomes the reason for the disappearance of over a hundred people in the comics. So,Muse’s introduction in the TV show is very similar to how he appeared in the comics. The TV show also does justice to the character by giving him a comic-book-accurate costume, which, for sure, looks incredible on television. That being said,the Marvel Cinematic Universe does make some changes to Muse to make the character fit well inDaredevil: Born Again’sdark universe.

While Muse isn’t exactly a talkative character in Marvel Comics,he still speaks when the situation demands. The villain agrees with the “action speaks louder than words” policy, but he does unleash some cheeky or philosophical remarks to taunt his enemies. In fact, in the comics, Muse doesn’t go silently in his final moments and says, “so much beauty left.” You could say that while Muse wasn’t an extremely talkative character in the comics, he still filled some gaps with interesting dialogue.TheMCU, however, decided to make Muse mute, which, honestly, is a bold and better fit forDaredevil: Born Again.

“You’re a real man of the people now” - Matt Murdock to Wilson Fisk.

Daredevil: Born Againtreads on the eerie and darker sideof New York, and a mute Muse goes incredibly well with the show’s overall theme. Firstly, keeping the character mute adds to the mystery around his real identity. For now, the show has done an incredible job of confusing the fans with Muse’s identity, and honestly, that wouldn’t have been possible if Muse were given some dialogue.

Aserial killer who doesn’t speak is even harder to track for Matt Murdock, who uses his heightened senses to track down people. Daredevil will have to rely on heartbeats, breathing, or drops of blood to track down this sadistic killer or figure out who exactly he is behind the mask. That’s the kind of challenge Matt needed to pick up his costume after a long break.

Muse is a menacing villain in Marvel Comics, but for some reason, the mute version of him in the MCUis even scarier. He doesn’t have to utter a single word to flaunt the demons residing within him; instead, he unleashes those demons into the world through all the brutal killings and, of course, his art.

Daredevil: Born AgainDoesn’t Make Muse A Superhuman

A Powerless Villain Helps The Show Stay Grounded

In Marvel Comics, Muse has superhuman strength and speed. He is an expert combatant who can also stay undetected by absorbing all the sensory information around him.Daredevilwasn’t exactly fighting a regular human wearing a strange, bloodied, white mask in the comics. But surprisingly, the MCU version of Muse doesn’t hold such superpowers — he is a regular human wearing a strange, bloodied white mask. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though.

The MCU has more than enough TV shows and movies playing at a cosmic level, so it’s a good thing that the studio refrained from paintingDaredevil: Born Againwith the same brush. Fans loved Netflix’sDaredevilfor its grounded and brutal setting, and they were hoping that the MCU wouldn’t give the show a Disney makeover.

Fans wanted astreet-level story with grounded and realistic action, and fortunately, a powerless Muse helps the show achieve just that. That’s not to say that Matt couldn’t handle an enemy with superpowers, but keeping the battles on a human level gives fans the best version ofDaredevil.

Similarly, Wilson Fisk is playing a political game to grow in power. He isn’t a superhuman who can make New York bow down to him due to his powers; instead, he is a cunning individual who manipulates others to get their hands dirty for him. So, in a puzzling world where Matt Murdock, Frank Castle, and Wilson Fisk have only dealt with enemies on a human level,a “superhuman Muse” wouldn’t have been a great fit. Muse’s superpowers could have changed the power dynamic in the story, which wouldn’t have landed well withDaredevil: Born Againfans.