Captain Marvel Fires Back at Daredevil’s Critique of Superheroes
Written by on May 29, 2023
Warning: Spoilers for The Avengers #1While Daredevil may think that a superhero is “just another cop,” Captain Marvel disagrees. There is a new Avengers line-up in Marvel Comics and a new self-titled series to feature them. This time, Captain Marvel sits atop the cast as the Avengers’ leader, while former Civil War II rival Iron Man serves as her co-chair.
The two take a moment to discuss their expectations for their squad and what the team needs to be for the sake of their future in The Avengers #1 by Jed MacKay, C.F. Villa, Federeico Blee, VC’s Cory Petit, Carlos Lao, Martin Biro, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort, and C.B. Cebulski. “You ready to start policing the world?” Tony Stark asks. Carol simply says, “No” before going on to describe what the Avengers cannot be. She seems to resent the phrase “policing,” as “The Avengers aren’t cops, or at least we shouldn’t be.” Instead, she likens the Avengers more to firefighters. Like firefighters, the Avengers are willing to burst through a blazing fire at a moment’s notice. Just like firefighters, the Avengers are heroes who are capable of extraordinary feats to save people, and thus, that’s simply what they have to do with no questions asked.
Captain Marvel’s “Response” to Daredevil
Whether intentional or otherwise, the analogy about cops feels like an interesting rebuke to something Daredevil said weeks earlier. Daredevil #8 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Matthew Wilson, VC Clayton Cowles, and Edward Devin Lewis, features Elektra and Matt Murdock fighting off the entire Avengers team. During the fight, Daredevil suggests to Spider-Man that a superhero is nothing more than “just another cop.” He says this to justify what he is doing on the Mymidon prison island, breaking supervillains out as a means to rehabilitate them by offering them redemption as members of his Fist. In his mind, taking a chance on rehabbing more than a dozen villains is more reasonable than letting them stew in prison where they’re destined to break out and do more crimes.
A Superhero is More Than Just Another Cop, According to Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel philosophy on what the Avengers should be indirectly responds to Daredevil’s qualms with superheroism. Daredevil’s criticisms lie in a hero’s ineffectiveness in driving villains to actually change, or even putting a permanent stop to them. While Matt’s argument arguably has merit, Carol’s counterargument doesn’t focus on the potential rehabilitation aspect.
What she does focus on, however, is the savior aspect of heroism. She focuses on the root part of being an actual hero, saving people, which is an interesting distinction. It seems that both Daredevil and Captain Marvel agree that superheroes cannot be just superpowered versions of the police. Where they differ, though, is the methods that they take to prevent heroes from being viewed as such. Whereas Daredevil goes to extreme lengths to avoid this from happening, Captain Marvel thinks heroes should simply focus on saving people and protecting them. Sure, there’s an argument that cops are still sworn to protect people themselves. However, while some citizens view police as intimidating authority figures, superheroes like Captain Marvel can help citizens by simply being there when they’re needed, no different from everyday heroes like firefighters.
The Avengers #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
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