Warning: contains spoilers for Daredevil #28!
Hell’s Kitchen’s new Daredevil, aka Elektra Natchios, just gained a tragic new apprentice thanks to the King in Black. Elektra is filling in for Matt Murdock while he serves prison time after being convicted of manslaughter, officially taking on the name and look of Daredevil until he is eventually released. The latest superhero outing from Natchios came during the King in Black’s invasion of Earth. While fighting Knull’s symbiote army, the new Daredevil saves the life of a young girl in need, and now it seems Elektra is taking her on as her new apprentice.
In Daredevil #27 by Chip Zdarsky with art by Marco Checchetto and Mike Hawthorne, Elektra’s Daredevil encounters a girl named Alice who is running for her life from her recently Knullified mother. Elektra fights off the symbiote-possessed woman along with other King in Black soldiers including Typhoid Mary, and she is successful in preserving the lives of herself and Alice but with a devastating cost. Alice’s mother perishes after crossing Mary, which understandably leaves Alice in a great deal of pain.
In Daredevil #28, Elektra is shown training in her gym before bringing a tray of food to a grief-stricken and bed-ridden Alice. When Alice begins to blame herself for her mother’s death, Elektra tells her to shut up. She admits that she doesn’t have the stomach for grief or self-recrimination, but that, “When you’re finally angry? Meet me in the gym.” While Elektra and Alice’s exchange ends with the new Daredevil’s challenge, the setup is apparent and the implications could mean a brand new superhero entering the Marvel Universe.
Alice’s life has everything a character needs in an origin story. The girl’s mother was possessed by the universal embodiment of darkness – something for which Alice blames herself – only to tragically die at the hands of a super-villain. Alice is then taken in by an already established and well-known hero who is now offering to teach the potential protege how to fight the way she herself was trained. Given how deadly Elektra has proven herself to be over the years, it is safe to say Alice would be a force to be reckoned with if she were to take the new Daredevil up on her offer.
One reason why Elektra may want an apprentice is due to the apparent war that she believes is coming with the ninja assassin group the Hand. For the past few Daredevil issues, Elektra has warned Matt that the Hand are rebuilding for a potentially world-ending attack. In Daredevil #25, it is revealed that Elektra and Stick found a book that she says is the key to taking down the Hand once and for all. Matt Murdock, while an enemy of the Hand, seems completely disinterested in helping Elektra in her mission, and it seems like she could use all the help she can get. Whether or not Matt changes his mind and helps Elektra fight the Hand, Alice could become a useful addition as the new Daredevil’s apprentice, and certainly needs a mentor to help her live with the fallout of the King in Black‘s attack.
