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How a failed Nick Fury series led Brian Michael Bendis to Daredevil
Before writer Brian Michael Bendis took over Daredevil, he almost rebooted a totally different character as part of the Marvel Knights line
NewsbyGeorge Marston, Contributing writer
Published on Mon Jul 20 2026
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Brian Michael Bendis’ run as writer of Daredevil is the stuff of legend, setting the character on a gritty, tragic path that still echoes in his stories today. But Bendis nearly wrote a totally different character as part of the late ’90s, early ’00s Marvel Knights line that gave characters a fresh coat of paint from the perspective of auteur creators.
Instead of Daredevil, Bendis almost wrote a Marvel Knights Nick Fury comic that never came to be, one of several false starts for the writer at Marvel, eventually finding his way to the Man Without Fear after his close friend David Mack was hired on to co-create the Marvel Knights Daredevil relaunch.
“My dear friend David Mack who I grew up with and came up with, he got Daredevil. He met [Marvel Knights editor] Joe Quesada at a show. And they connected, and Joe smartly saw that David, who is one of the greatest painters in comics, is actually also one of the best writers in comics, but his art is so spectacular that some people don’t see that right away,” Bendis recalls in an interview with Direct Edition.
“And Joe did, and he goes, ‘Hey, you write Daredevil, I’ll draw it,’ right?. For the Marvel Knights launch from many years ago. And I was like, ‘Hey, show them my shit. Like as soon as you get a minute, man. Boy oh boy.’ Because me and David’s relationship was just driving across the country to shows talking about Frank Miller’s Daredevil all day long. And so it was really amazing that my pal got Daredevil.”
However, plans changed, and instead of Mack writing the Marvel Knights Daredevil relaunch, the job passed to filmmaker Kevin Smith, who was then a rising star in comics as well. Smith’s initial Daredevil arc with Quesada on art became a smash hit. When Smith wound up departing the title, Mack was brought in as both writer and artist for a brief run before Bendis joined him as co-writer, eventually taking over writing duties completely with artist Alex Maleev coming on board.
“Originally they had hired me to do a Marvel Knights version of Nick Fury, and that didn’t pan out like it was supposed to, and I thought I was going to the back of the line,” Bendis explains. “I had some false starts with a Spider-Woman series and a Nick Fury series and they were all very fancy cool things that would have been awesome if they happened, but they just didn’t happen. I thought with Nick Fury, ‘I’m going back to the line again. Oh well.’ And instead [Joe Quesada] called me up and said, ‘Hey, could you do us a favor and take over Daredevil for a few months because we’re behind schedule. Kevin’s working on a movie. How about you and David do a run together?’ He worded it as if I’m doing him a favor. Daredevil with your best friend.”
Bendis’ famously canceled Spider-Woman title eventually made its way to print in a totally different format, being adapted into the Marvel MAX title Alias, with the original Spider-Woman Jessica Drew replaced as lead character by Bendis and Michael Gaydos’ original character Jessica Jones, herself now a staple of the Marvel Universe.
Bendis is returning to Marvel after several years away with a story in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man #1000, with more projects on the horizon.
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George Marston: George Marston is a media critic and journalist who has specialized in superheroes and comics for nearly two decades. Along with focusing on comics and superhero media at Newsarama, George has honed a critical voice exploring TV, movies, and video games with bylines at Total Film, SFX Magazine Online, Space.com, GamesRadar+, and more. During George’s time at Newsarama, the site received the 2020 Tripwire award for Best Comics-related Website / Publication. (They/Them)
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