Matt & Elektra: Devil in a New Dress
Many a woman have come and gone in the life of Matthew Murdock. But few, if any, have been as permanent a fixture, or as multifaceted as the new co-Daredevil, Elektra Natchios.
Elektra has been many things since she was introduced in Daredevil #168. Daughter of a Greek diplomat, freelance assassin, assassin for the Kingpin, and leader of the Japanese death cult The Hand. She was even body snatched by a Skrull for a hot minute during Secret Invasion. But one thing she has always been is inextricably intertwined with Matt. From the moment they met in Columbia (retconned as a Hand recruiting mission in Woman Without Fear) to the moment her father was killed, they were inseparable; both of them were escaping the norms of their stations. The orphaned, handicapped law student and the aristocratic daughter of a diplomat. Both of them were only ever capable of truly being themselves with each other. He is the only man she’s ever loved, and she might be his one enduring love (Karen didn’t come back from the dead). Now she’s on a new path, a path that sees her donning the horns and abandoning her lethal ways.
In order to convince Matt to join her in a larger-than-life plan to take down the Hand once and for all, she decides to become Daredevil while Matt is in prison (quick side note: read Chip’s DD run). The purpose for this was to show Matt that he could trust her. That somewhere, below the world’s deadliest assassin and the wonderful hair (God bless Checchetto) is the girl he once loved. It wouldn’t be easy; it hardly ever is when you can list Wilson Fisk as a reference. She became the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, even modifying her trademark Sai to be non-lethal. This is all to convince the man she loves to help her start up a long-forgotten secret order and eliminate an eternal death cult. And it worked. She did it. It wasn’t a straight road, these things almost never are (read Devil’s Reign if you really want to know), but Matt agrees to join her. But to wear the horns is to invite metamorphosis. To become the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. It changes you, alters you. And she was no different.
Elektra had never been the most compassionate person. It comes with the assassin territory. But ever since she returned to Matt’s life, she’d been slowly evolving. Some of her actions, even pre-Daredevil, had an almost heroic feel to it. Her buying of Hell’s Kitchen to keep it out of the hands of evil billionaires, for instance. Now, you can look at these acts and think “tradecraft”, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Elektra is a woman used to getting her way and will stop at nothing to get what she wants, but then there’s her actions as Daredevil. Saving, housing, and training a young girl during the “King in Black” event demonstrated a level of compassion rarely shown by her. Her decision is to continue as Daredevil even after Matt got out of prison. She also has an unwavering commitment to Matt’s no-kill rule (that was tested heavily during Devil’s Reign). All these things show a trend. He’s gotten to her. Stick mentions it after she lays him out (Stick lives off being an ass). She’s still Elektra, but there’s more now. A part of her that thinks about more than just what she wants. And the same could be said for Matt. He’s become more decisive and wider thinking. No longer content to just stop muggings and assaults in dark corners in New York City, as seen by his decision to go with Elektra to try to defeat The Hand once and for all. Is part of it because of the absolute gauntlet that he has been through recently? Sure, absolutely. But the influence of Elektra on his new direction is unmistakable.
Matt and Elektra have left an indelible mark on one another. She’s died in his arms and saved him from the clutches of the Beast. She’s the only one who can truly understand the workings of his mind, an understanding only deepened having walked a mile in his horns. It only feels right that they confront the biggest challenge either of them has ever faced, together.
