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Web-Head Meets Hornhead: The 7 Best Spider-Man/Daredevil Team-Ups

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Web-Head Meets Hornhead: The 7 Best Spider-Man/Daredevil Team-Ups

Though they may seem like opposites (at least in demeanor), The Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil, The Man Without Fear have enjoyed a fruitful partnership dating back to 1964. Despite coming from widely different backgrounds, the superpowered duo is much more alike than they are different. Both have powers centered around incredible agility along with remarkable perception and senses. Each have experienced the loss of a father and teacher. They’ve attempted to balance love, life, and fighting crime, and they both even feature red as the primary color in their costumes. It’s really no wonder that Daredevil and Spider-Man have teamed up to protect their home turf of New York and beyond.

The two crimefighters have enjoyed a great partnership at several junctures in Marvel Comics’ history over the decades. Marvel fans were also delighted to see this potential hinted at in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, when Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock of Netflix fame helped Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) with some huge legal trouble in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Because this brief cameo is likely pointing to the two working together in the MCU’s future, it’s not a bad time to take a look at some of the best occasions that the duo joined forces throughout comics history.

RELATED: Every Animated ‘Spider-Man’ Series, Ranked

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Daredevil/Spider-Man (2001)

This particular run for the Marvel Knights imprint found Daredevil and Spider-Man as close friends forced to protect a man they never expected: The Kingpin of Crime. At this point in the duo’s careers and relationship, they know nearly everything about each other, including each other’s secret identities. However, Spidey and Daredevil’s partnership takes on a new dimension as they attempt to protect the dastardly Wilson Fisk from the likes of Stilt-Man, the Gladiator, Copperhead, and the Owl. The arc ends in an interesting, macabre horror conclusion that pushes them to the psychological edge as well, which is quite the undertaking for the duo. Despite their struggles, the two’s bond comes out stronger in the end, with the two agreeing that despite their differences, they’re both still very much alike.

This series also features cover art from Alex Ross, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) photorealism comic book artists of all time.

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Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)

Speaking of Kingpin, Web-Head and Hornhead teamed up in the 90s to take him down in one of Spider-Man’s most beloved animated runs. Not only is Daredevil’s origin story explored in this cartoon medium, but the persona of Matt Murdock is significantly at play as well. When Peter Parker is wrongfully imprisoned for selling secret defense plans by Richard Fisk, son of Kingpin, J. Jonah Jameson believes that Parker is innocent. He hires Hell’s Kitchen’s own Matt Murdock to represent Peter as his defense attorney. This inevitably leads Murdock to don his Daredevil costume and investigate the situation further.

Although this team-up does end with the two battling Kingpin to clear Peter’s name, the duo also notably butt heads in the animated series. Since neither initially know the other’s identity, Daredevil and Spider-Man come to blows while attempting to find evidence. After escaping an explosion at Fisktronics, the two agree to work together while still keeping their identities concealed.

You know, if they’d both revealed their identities at that point, they likely would’ve realized that they were already working together outside of crimefighting, but that’s dramatic irony for you.

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Daredevil Issues #305-306

The original series of Daredevil comics ran from 1964 until 1998, and Spider-Man jumped in during issues #305 and #306 for a quick team-up. Although the issues can be considered a little campy due to being released in 1992, their villain is anything but. Known as the Surgeon General, the antagonist of this short team-up was a woman who would harvest the body parts of men that she lured in romantically. The superhero duo tries some unorthodox tactics to catch their killer, as one panel showcases Peter Parker sporting a fake mustache and using himself as bait to tempt the Surgeon General.

However, the tone of the issues soon takes a very dark turn, as a battle between heroes and villains leads to the Surgeon General harming civilians in a crowded nightclub in order to slow Daredevil and Spider-Man down. As she racks up her kill count, the sequence concludes with a fast-paced chase that shows the two heroes’ excellent teamwork.

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27-30

This particular story in Spider-Man’s history is a bit goofy but allows the wall-crawler to experience what Matt Murdock must have experienced before developing his Radar Sense. After being blinded by the Daredevil villain known as The Masked Marauder, Spider-Man is left to fend for himself without his vision. Although Spidey’s senses are vastly improved, a lack of vision is still a considerable hindrance. While Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense is working just fine, detecting danger is much harder to do without his sight. Fortunately, a certain blinded crimefighter is waiting in the wings to show Peter Parker a thing or two.

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As Spidey fumbles in his attempts to battle criminals and stop the Masked Marauder, Daredevil does his utmost to assist him in how to battle and traverse the city without sight. Spider-Man’s vision does slowly return, but this particular story is a fun and interesting role reversal featuring the New York superhero duo.

Spider-Man/Kingpin: To The Death (1997)

Someone is gunning people down, and they appear to be none other than The Amazing Spider-Man. Peter Parker, though, clearly hasn’t turned his coat to join the side of criminals. The media goes into hysterics over Spidey taking a Punisher-esque approach to fighting and a group of heroes (including Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Luke Cage and the X-Men) even attempt to bring the real Spider-Man in for his alleged crimes. After he manages to escape, Daredevil offers to help clear Spidey’s name. As expected, the trail leads to superdrug-induced criminals posing as Spider-Man, and who else would orchestrate this scheme other than Spider-Man and Daredevil’s most common enemy, the Kingpin of Crime.

Bringing together the talents of Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Tom DeFalco, and Dan Green, this collected volume is a tale of desperation and Daredevil/Spider-Man doing the utmost to save each other while also stopping calamity. It’s a bonafide superhero team-up classic.

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Daredevil Volume 5 Issue #9 (2016)

Even though this is only one issue, it accentuates all of the best beats between Spider-Man and Daredevil’s relationship. Spidey, the wisecracking optimist, and Daredevil, the brooding cynic pair up once again to pull off a casino heist. Sporting a new black costume reminiscent of his Shadowland days, Daredevil finds a way to remove knowledge of his secret identity from the world’s consciousness (in a strangely similar way to Spider-Man: No Way Home, but utilizing The Purple Children) and plans to continue his crime-fighting crusade. In a bid to bring down several of New York’s most notable local villains, Daredevil enlists the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to steal a highly-coveted briefcase collecting all of the villain’s information. The two dash through locations in Macau and Hong Kong before coming to a significant impasse.

Since Spider-Man doesn’t recall that Daredevil is indeed his friend Matt Murdock, he’s reluctant to hand the briefcase over without understanding Daredevil’s intentions. Although Murdock originally intends to lie, the struggle for how to best combat crime and keep true to his moral compass gives way. He tells Spider-Man his plan to take down the major players in New York, and also explains that regaining his secret identity and keeping it obscured is part of his plan. Spider-Man hands over the case, but remarks on his way out that Daredevil should be careful with the “black costume phases,” as they never end well for heroes.

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #110 (1986)

On the topic of bad phases with black costumes, arguably the greatest Spider-Man/Daredevil moments come as Peter Parker is struggling with letting his emotions overtake him. The duo pursue a murderer known as the Sin Eater, who our favorite wall-crawler discovered is actually his friend Detective Stan Carter. When the villain remarks that he and Spider-Man aren’t so different, Spidey goes into a fit of rage due to Carter’s betrayal and senseless taking of lives. As Spider-Man savagely beats Carter, he comes dangerously close to killing him for good. Fortunately, Daredevil intervenes and attempts to calm his longtime friend down.

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Unfortunately, Spider-Man isn’t so easily persuaded and refuses to calm down. In a last-ditch effort to prevent Spider-Man from becoming a murderer, Daredevil puts himself between his friend and the murderous Sin Eater. Spider-Man’s rage continues, leading to him and Daredevil battling on New York’s streets. All the while, they argue over crimefighting philosophy and morality, the core of two characters who have both been dangerously close to the point of no return as heroes. Though the fight continues, Daredevil’s senses eventually prove to give him the upper hand while Spider-Man fights inhibited by his anger. Daredevil manages to knock Spider-Man out, and worries about the Sin Eater’s effect not only on his friend but himself as well.

Later, at Ryker’s Island, a prison riot breaks out that includes the Sin Eater. Daredevil dives into the fray to stop the riot, but Spider-Man initially refuses to help. However, Daredevil is soon overcome by the sheer number of opponents, and Spider-Man’s heroics instincts overcome him, jumping in and saving both Daredevil and the Sin Eater (who was at the risk of being choked to death). Daredevil deduces that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, and then confesses to him out of trust that he is Matt Murdock. The two return to Peter’s home out of costume and further debate how criminals should be treated. Murdock believes that even the worst of the worst deserve a fair trial by their peers, which Peter struggles to agree with.

Fortunately, a well-timed call by Peter’s Aunt May brings the heroes to an understanding. Her tenant Ernie has shot three men in a panic, worried he was going to be mugged. Matt Murdock offers to provide all legal help possible, and Peter Parker finally understands his fellow hero’s angle. Peter resolves to put his faith in the law and believes he can instill that same confidence in May.

This story touches the utmost depths of these characters. It separates them by their moral contrasts but brings them together due to their poignant misery over a terrible situation. Though they don’t come together until the very end, Spider-Man and Daredevil never let their differences get in the way of saving lives. At the end of the day, that’s what these heroes are both about, and this issue emphasizes it like no other while providing plenty of action and cooperation between The Big Apple’s most steadfast heroes.

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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

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Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

Hitting the three-quarter-century mark usually means a retirement home, a nursing facility, or if you’re lucky to be blessed with relatively good health and savings to match, living in a gated community in Arizona or Florida.

For Sylvester Stallone, however, it means something else entirely: starring in the first superhero-centered film of his decades-long career in the much-delayed Samaritan. Unfortunately for Stallone and the audience on the other side of the screen, the derivative, turgid, forgettable results won’t get mentioned in a career retrospective, let alone among the ever-expanding list of must-see entries in a genre already well past its peak.

For Stallone, however, it’s better late than never when it involves the superhero genre. Maybe in getting a taste of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with his walk-on role in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel several years ago, Stallone thought anything Marvel can do, I can do even better (or just as good in the nebulous definition of the word).

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The property Stallone and his team found for him, Samaritan, a little-known graphic novel released by a small, almost negligible, publisher, certainly takes advantage of Stallone’s brute-force physicality and his often underrated talent for near-monosyllabic brooding (e.g., the Rambo series), but too often gives him to little do or say as the lone super-powered survivor, the so-called “Samaritan” of the title, of a lifelong rivalry with his brother, “Nemesis.” Two brothers entered a fire-ravaged building and while both were presumed dead, one brother did survive (Stallone’s Joe Smith, a garbageman by day, an appliance repairman by night).

In the Granite City of screenwriter Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room, Season of the Witch), the United States, and presumably the rest of the world, teeters on economic and political collapse, with a recession spiraling into a depression, steady gigs difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, and the city’s neighborhoods rocked by crime and violence. No one’s safe, not even 13-year-old Sam (Javon Walker), Joe’s neighbor.

When he’s not dodging bullies connected to a gang, he’s falling under the undue influence of Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), a low-rent gang leader with an outsized ego and the conviction that he and only he can take on Nemesis’s mantle and along with that mantle, a hammer “forged in hate,” to orchestrate a Bane-like plan to plunge the city into chaos and become a wealthy power-broker in the process.

Schut’s woefully underwritten script takes a clumsy, haphazard approach to world-building, relying on a two-minute animated sequence to open Samaritan while a naive, worshipful Sam narrates Samaritan and Nemesis’s supposedly tragic, Cain and Abel-inspired backstory. Schut and director Julius Avery (Overlord) clumsily attempt to contrast Sam’s childish belief in messiah-like, superheroic saviors stepping in to save humanity from itself and its own worst excesses, but following that path leads to authoritarianism and fascism (ideas better, more thoroughly explored in Watchmen and The Boys).

While Sam continues to think otherwise, Stallone’s superhero, 25 years past his last, fatal encounter with his presumably deceased brother, obviously believes superheroes are the problem and not the solution (a somewhat reasonable position), but as Samaritan tracks Joe and Sam’s friendship, Sam giving Joe the son he never had, Joe giving Sam the father he lost to street violence well before the film’s opening scene, it gets closer and closer to embracing, if not outright endorsing Sam’s power fantasies, right through a literally and figuratively explosive ending. Might, as always, wins regardless of how righteous or justified the underlying action.

It’s what superhero audiences want, apparently, and what Samaritan uncritically delivers via a woefully under-rendered finale involving not just unconvincing CGI fire effects, but a videogame cut-scene quality Stallone in a late-film flashback sequence that’s meant to be subversively revelatory, but will instead lead to unintentional laughter for anyone who’s managed to sit the entirety of Samaritan’s one-hour and 40-minute running time.

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Samaritan is now streaming worldwide on Prime Video.

Samaritan

Cast
  • Sylvester Stallone
  • Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton
  • Pilou Asbæk

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Matt Shakman Is In Talks To Direct ‘Fantastic Four’

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According to a new report, Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct the upcoming MCU project, Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios has been very hush-hush regarding Fantastic Four to the point where no official announcements have been made other than the film’s release date. No casting news or literally anything other than rumors has been released regarding the project. We know that Fantastic Four is slated for release on November 8th, 2024, and will be a part of Marvel’s Phase 6. There are also rumors that the cast of the new Fantastic Four will be announced at the D23 Expo on September 9th.

Fantastic Four is still over two years from release, and we assume we will hear more news about the project in the coming months. However, the idea of the Fantastic Four has already been introduced into the MCU. John Krasinski played Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The cameo was a huge deal for fans who have been waiting a long time for the Fantastic Four to enter the MCU. When Disney acquired Twenty Century Fox in 2019 we assumed that the Fox Marvel characters would eventually make their way into the MCU. It’s been 3 years and we already have had an X-Men and Fantastic Four cameo – even if they were from another universe.

Deadline is reporting that Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct Fantastic Four. Shakman served as the director for Wandavision and has had an extensive career. He directed two episodes of Game of Thrones and an episode of The Boys, and he had a long stint on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There is nothing official yet, but Deadline’s sources say that Shakman is currently in talks for the job and things are headed in the right direction.

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To be honest, I was a bit more excited when Jon Watts was set to direct. I’m sure Shakman is a good director, but Watts proved he could handle a tentpole superhero film with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Wandavision was good, but Watts’ style would have been perfect for Fantastic Four. The film is probably one of the most anticipated films in Marvel’s upcoming slate films and they need to find the best person they can to direct. Is that Matt Shakman? It could be, but whoever takes the job must realize that Marvel has a lot riding on this movie. The other Fantastic Four films were awful and fans deserve better. Hopefully, Marvel knocks it out of the park as they usually do. You can see for yourself when Fantastic Four hits theaters on November 8th, 2024.

Film Synopsis: One of Marvel’s most iconic families makes it to the big screen: the Fantastic Four.

Source: Deadline

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Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase Star in ‘Zombie Town’ Mystery Teen Romancer (Exclusive)

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Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have entered Zombie Town, a mystery teen romancer based on author R.L. Stine’s book of the same name.

The indie, now shooting in Ontario, also stars Henry Czerny and co-teen leads Marlon Kazadi and Madi Monroe. The ensemble cast includes Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch of the Canadian comedy show Kids in the Hall.

Canadian animator Peter Lepeniotis will direct Zombie Town. Stine’s kid’s book sees a quiet town upended when 12-year-old Mike and his friend, Karen, see a horror movie called Zombie Town and unexpectedly see the title characters leap off the screen and chase them through the theater.

Zombie Town will premiere in U.S. theaters before streaming on Hulu and then ABC Australia in 2023.

“We are delighted to bring the pages of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town to the screen and equally thrilled to be working with such an exceptional cast and crew on this production. A three-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner with book sales of over $500 million, R.L. Stine has a phenomenal track record of crafting stories that engage and entertain audiences,” John Gillespie, Trimuse Entertainment founder and executive producer, said in a statement.

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Executive producers are Trimuse Entertainment, Toonz Media Group, Lookout Entertainment, Viva Pictures and Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates.  

Paco Alvarez and Mark Holdom of Trimuse negotiated the deal to acquire the rights to Stine’s Zombie Town book.

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