A classic Daredevil villain is back, and he has been changed in a way that completely eliminates one of the hero’s greatest strengths. In the most recent issue of Daredevil, Matt Murdock has a lot on his mind as he looks for Elektra and watches over a police detective who experienced some severe trauma in the line of duty. However, all of this has been interrupted by the return of one of his classic villains, a man known as Mister Fear. This was a villain whose entire power was almost ineffective against Daredevil, who has always been known as the Man Without Fear. However, that has now all changed.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In Daredevil #8 (2026) by Stephanie Phillips and Lee Garbett, Mister Fear returned, and his new scheme is to take away everyone’s fear. One of Daredevil’s greatest weapons is striking fear into the people he fights, and he will lose this because Mister Fear is spreading a new drug around Hell’s Kitchen that eliminates all fear from the people who take it. This is a monstrous change that will push Daredevil to his limit.
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Mister Fear is a legacy villain who made his first appearance in Daredevil#6 (1964) by Stan Lee and Wally Wood. He was one of Daredevil’s first villains, a man who owned a wax museum and who created a chemical known as Fear Gas, which evoked fear in anyone who inhaled it. If this sounds like Scarecrow from Batman’s rogues’ gallery, it is exactly the same. However, this villain didn’t last very long, and he died when a man named Samuel Saxon wanted to take over the role and killed him. That said, Saxon wasn’t the only person who took the role, as a man named Lawrence Cranston also became Mister Fear with the original villain’s tech.
Saxon debuted in Daredevil#49 (1968) by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, and he soon took over as the second Mister Fear before he ended up defeated and left for dead. Since that time, he has been resurrected as the robotic villain Machinesmith. Cranston debuted in Daredevil#88 (1972) by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan, and he became the third Mister Fear three issues later. He is the Mister Fear that most readers know, and he was a member of the Thunderbolts years later when Wilson Fisk re-formed the team. This is the Mister Fear who has shown up again in Daredevil’s new issue.
Cranston has a strong connection with Daredevil, as he attended the same law school as Matt Murdock and hates Matt, who always showed him up at school. He believed that Daredevil and Murdock were the same person, and he made Matt’s life hell. He now has a new plan, and it is nothing like his original schemes. For most of his career, Cranston followed in the footsteps of the original Mister Fear, infusing himself with the Fear Gas so he could induce fear into others without even needing to use the gas itself. Now, he is eliminating fear.
Daredevil Faces a City Without Fear in New Storyline
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Daredevil was looking out for Dominic Forte, an NYPD detective who was dealing with some trauma after being tortured by Omen. Forte says he doesn’t need help, but he is still seeing things based on that incident with the Omen. This is when Daredevil told Forte that it’s normal to feel anxiety or fear, and Mister Fear showed up on the monitors behind them. Forte was working on a murder case, and Mister Fear was the responsible party. Mister Fear said that he loved the “gimmick” they shared, but it was time to change. Mister Fear said that everyone is scared now thanks to the real world, which made him obsolete.
Instead, Mister Fear now says that he will control the fear by taking it away. He is selling a new drug on the streets, and when people take it, they have no fear at all and will do anything without even thinking about it. This, of course, is dangerous. When Daredevil tried to bust a drug processing plant, the workers all attacked him, and none of them were scared at all. They were on the drugs and fought until Daredevil had to knock them all unconscious. When Daredevil threatened one to tell him where Mister Fear was, the man just laughed, saying he wasn’t scared of what Daredevil would do to him.
The issue ended with Mister Fear showing up at the university that Matt Murdock teaches at. He had a gun pointed at Dr. Sari Ellison’s head and said he was ready to learn. It isn’t clear whether Mister Fear still knows that Daredevil is Matt Murdock thanks to all the mystical changes involving Daredevil’s secret identity over the years, but it is assumed he doesn’t, and he is just here for revenge again. Meanwhile, there is nothing that Daredevil can do to stop the people Mister Fear puts between them, thanks to the classic villain taking away the one thing that the hero uses to defuse situations without resorting to violence.
What are your thoughts on Mister Fear’s new scheme in Daredevilcomics? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
One Comic Gave the MCU Its Biggest Villain But Snuck in Another Fan Favorite, Too
More Comics
Comics
15 hours ago
Batman #15 Kicks Off Its Newest Story By Being a Clinic on How to Create an Amazing Comic (Review)
<img src="https://comicbook.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/11/Ex-Machina-Wildstorm-brian-K-Vaughn.jpg?w=300" alt="One of DC’s Best Comics Deserves a Prestige HBO Series, Not a Place in James Gunn’s DCU”>
TV Shows
1 day ago
One of DC’s Best Comics Deserves a Prestige HBO Series, Not a Place in James Gunn’s DCU
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
DC
1 day ago
Wonder Woman’s Most Important Ally Just Got a Major Power Upgrade, and It’s About Time
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
Comics
1 day ago
DC Comics Has Changed Darkseid’s Arch-Enemy and It’s Going to Enrage Kirby Purists
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
Comics
1 day ago
5 Batman Villains Defined By Their Tragic Origin Stories, & 1 Has His Own Horror Movie
