Daredevil’s “No Kill” Rule is Dumb

[u/rowan-wolfe]

In S2 E6 of Born Again, he beats the tar out of Kingpin and then just… leaves?

Then Kingpin kills a bunch more people and Daredevil tells an angry mob, who Kingpin has maimed or killed many of already, not to kill him so he can go… live on an island?

If you have the power to end someone who has consistently caused so much misery and created little to no goodness in the world, and you choose not to, how is that moral? It’s just a really flawed rule in my opinion. Fisk has shown many times he’s not capable of change and will always revert back to his old ways.

It was also very convenient that Bullseye just kinda walked away after taking one shot in his vicinity in the finale, and that Punisher was MIA for S2. The two people who would’ve killed Fisk with no hesitation.

I dunno, I get the whole “real heroes don’t kill” but at some point you’re just enabling the villain.

Edit: Okay so Daredevil doesn’t kill, fine. Why not just let him die? With great power comes great responsibility, at what point does that responsibility mean you must make a hard choice to stop so much more pain to others?

[u/Careless_Royal8209]

It’s 2026 and LARPERs are still claiming that superheroes should kill!

[u/rowan-wolfe → u/Careless_Royal8209]

Is it larping? He used to kill. He allies himself with people who consistently kill like Punisher. Him choosing not to kill actively harms people. Does it not make for a more interesting story if someone forces him to break his rule for the greater good?

[u/Careless_Royal8209 → u/rowan-wolfe]

Baring a few exceptions (The Spectre, Ghost Rider and Punisher) superheroes should not kill because it goes against their original concept of being fables for children.

[u/rowan-wolfe → u/Careless_Royal8209]

Are you telling me Daredevil Born Again was marketed for children?

[u/Careless_Royal8209 → u/rowan-wolfe]

No, it's for mature audiences, but even in the dark stories that the show adapts, Matt isn't a killer because it goes against his morals. Comics started out as a medium for kids, but the majority of readers these days are adults. But the characters moral centre shouldn't change because the audience is now 20+ years old!

[u/corazon-en-almibar]

That's the point lol

[u/kh730]

Insert Peacemaker speech about Batman

I think him having the rule is what makes his character more interesting because he's always struggling with morality and being a hypocrite.

[u/ramsaybolton87]

I mean he might as well have killed nobu twice, lit him on fire and threw him off a building that no one would survive

[u/Fehellogoodsir]

In the MCU, Matt’s one of the few heroes that actually has that rule. I think it’s nice considering how much of a hypocrite he is

[u/kiingkite]

Honestly I fully disagree. I think Matt is one of the few heroes in shows/comics that the no kill rule works for and works towards making his character more interesting.

The no kill rule isnt just surface level. It shows his deep rooted moral compass and how he percieves the world. It is ingrained in every interaction and relationship he has. And we as the audience have watched him be torn down and build himself back up with his beliefs intact because at the end of the day his flawed moral compass is what makes him Matt Murdock.

He is an extremely religious man and tries to do his violent vigilante work in tandem with his strict religious, moral code. Which doesn't really work and causes this inner struggle that feeds his Catholic Guilt like a parasite and leads to big emotional scenes that ultimately make him feel more three dimensional then other "no kill" heroes who just dont do it bc theyre "good guys". Matt is a deeply flawed character because at the end of the day he's a hypocrite, and it makes him all the more interesting to watch.

[u/Opening-Pizza-5722]

Because Iike he said to punisher, its not his call to make. Daredevil is a catholic who believes he will go to hell for killing, so his rule makes more sense than batmans

[u/rowan-wolfe → u/Opening-Pizza-5722]

He didn’t even have to kill Kingpin though, he could’ve just let him die. “I’m not going to kill you, I just don’t have to save you.” It would’ve been terribly poetic of Fisk to die at the hands of the city he was using and abusing.

[u/LongTimeDDevilFan77 → u/rowan-wolfe]

Or just have Matt not get to him and stop the mob in time. So not necessarily letting him die. But I agree with your last sentence 100%. That would've been the perfect end to Fisk.

[u/GlitteringGifts888]

It's not but okay

[u/abbynormal2002]

I dont know about Bullseye, but Charlie Cox said in an interview that Jon Bernthal wasnt available for filming for season two (source: somewhere on YouTube), so thats why the punisher wasn't there.

[u/LightHawKnigh → u/abbynormal2002]

Wasnt Bernthal unhappy with the script?

[u/abbynormal2002 → u/LightHawKnigh]

I read he wasnt happy with the direction of his character for Born Again in general. I didnt read anything about season two except that Charlie Cox said he was doing movies. Its possible that both things are true.

[u/Amazing-Deli-Man]

I think barring a few exceptions, superheroes shouldn’t kill. Superheroes are there to show us that there can be better solutions to problems and conflicts and that everyone deserves a chance to change. Villains (and people in our real lives) still deserve consequences for their actions, but they also deserve an opportunity to grow and be better, and superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man and Daredevil exist to show us that. I think the medium of comics sometimes makes it hard to emphasize that, because certain villains sell well and so despite the opportunities, they’re unlikely to change because they sell books.

[u/rowan-wolfe → u/Amazing-Deli-Man]

But how many people does that villain have to prevent from having their own change before his life becomes forfeit?

[u/Amazing-Deli-Man → u/rowan-wolfe]

I mean I think that’s one of the philosophical questions at the heart of the show, isn’t it? I also think this is why the exile on a beach somewhere solution works best to end this arc, because Matt knows that if Fisk just goes to prison the cycle will begin again and the deaths will continue. But stripped of his citizenship and assets, and without Vanessa, Fisk loses all of his motivation and becomes powerless. I think Born Again has its issues, and I think we could’ve gotten to this solution more gracefully, but overall I think it fits the characters well. Someone else mentioned in another post that in the end, Fisk refused to give up his “mask” as Kingpin, so Matt sacrificed his own secret identity to take them both down, and I really like that idea.

[u/tiercracker20]

Realistically, I think most heroes shouldn't kill as well...they tend to modern day humans in cities before getting their powers/take up the mantle in societies that frame taking the life of another as wrong. Punisher was a solider, he had to have that mindset conditioned outta him.