Warning! Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1 and 2Daredevil: Born Again has already increased the network of people who know Matt Murdock’s true identity in just two episodes. Matt Murdock’s secret identity is one of the worst-kept secrets in the MCU, with a wide variety of different people being clued in to the blind lawyer actually being the vigilante Daredevil. With the Netflix Daredevil continuity being worked into the MCU, even more people remain in the know when it comes to Daredevil’s real name.
Between the Netflix series and the recent developments of the MCU, there are a great deal of people in on Matt’s secret. Some of them are (or were) close friends of the crime fighter, whereas others, like the recently-returned Bullseye, are villains who might weaponize the knowledge against Matt as leverage. Even barring people who may only suspect Matt’s true identity even if their knowledge isn’t confirmed outright, such as Spider-Man or Madame Gao, there are few people in Matt’s life not aware of his alter ego.
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Wilson Fisk
Matt Murdock’s greatest enemy
Image via Disney+
Being Daredevil’s archnemesis, it’s only fitting that it didn’t take Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, long to figure out the masked vigilante’s true identity. Initially, Wilson Fisk only knew Daredevil as the masked figure disrupting his business, soon dragging him into a storied rivalry that would turn into a bitter personal vendetta. Fisk later meets Matt in his civilian guise at an art exhibit, introduced by his love interest, Vanessa.
Arguably, Fisk’s hatred of Matt Murdock the lawyer was always far greater than his hatred for the masked man hindering his criminal operations, especially after he threatened Vanessa as a way of getting through to him. Fisk eventually learns his two enemies are one and the same when he sees video evidence of the blind man fighting off opponents with impressive skill, seemingly making the connection on his own. In Daredevil: Born Again, Kingpin has already made it clear to Matt that he knows who he really is.
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Karen Page
One of the first civilians to learn the truth
Foggy and Matt first meet Karen as a terrified victim of a crime, eventually forming a friendship and professional partnership with her that culminates in the creation of their own law firm, Nelson and Murdock. While a love triangle between the three sometimes stoked tension, the real strain on their relationship came when Karen learned the truth about Matt’s activities outside the courtroom. Karen is one of the few people Matt voluntarily chooses to relinquish his identity to, highlighting his trust in her.
Karen is initially shocked by the revelation, hurt and betrayed that such a close friend and potential romantic partner could lie to her so comprehensively. However, the two are quickly able to reconcile, with Page eventually becoming a trusted confidant in Daredevil’s escapades. In fact, Matt’s hanging up the cowl in the early parts of Daredevil: Born Again is a driving factor in the two of them drifting apart.
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Foggy Nelson
Matt Murdock’s best friend
Despite being Matt Murdock’s best friend for years, Foggy doesn’t learn the truth about his legal brother-in-arms for a decent amount of time into Matt’s superhero career. Nelson learns that his trusted friend was the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen all along by accident, stumbling into Matt’s apartment just as he makes his way back from a classic tear-down Daredevil fight. Taking off Daredevil’s mask, Foggy is stunned, loudly questioning if Matt is even blind in the first place.
Though Matt is eventually able to convince Foggy of the legitimacy of his blindness, he isn’t as readily accepting of vigilante justice as Karen ends up being. Foggy feels that Matt’s going outside the law with his abilities stands in polar opposition to everything they believe as lawyers, and he isn’t necessarily wrong. The falling out caused by the revelation briefly dissolves the Nelson and Murdock law firm, but after a hefty amount of time to reflect, Foggy comes to appreciate Matt’s superhero endeavors.
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Elektra
Matt’s dangerous old flame
A deadly assassin and fellow student of Stick, Elektra Natchios was an agent of the Chaste, a shadowy organization dedicated to fighting the crime syndicate and terrorist organization known as The Hand. On a mission to recruit Matt Murdock, she falls in love with him, although the two are then separated for many years. They eventually reunite when Elektra is sent to New York once more to follow The Hand’s activities there, where she soon learns that Matt is Daredevil.
Elektra is almost proud of Matt for his adoption of the Daredevil persona, claiming it to be a side of the darkness within him she was always attracted to. The two end up fighting The Hand side-by-side, eventually resulting in Elektra’s death, resurrection, possession, and second death. To say Matt Murdock has had a complicated romantic past would be an understatement.
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Cherry
Matt’s new “hatchet man”
Image via Disney+
In the first ten minutes of the first episode, Daredevil: Born Again has already introduced a new character aware of Matt Murdock’s secret identity as Daredevil. Initially, Cherry is a New York City Police Department detective on the brink of retirement, hanging out at the same bar Murdock, Nelson, Page, and many other associates of the New York City law scene frequent. Cherry seems to bemoan law enforcement’s place in a world constantly kept in check by masked superheroes like Daredevil, White Tiger, and Spider-Man.
Eventually, Cherry finds himself face to face with one such hero, Daredevil, who Matt quickly becomes in the wake of Foggy’s assassination and the resulting brawl with Bullseye that claims many lives at the bar. Cherry comes to the rooftop to find Matt unmasked in his costume, realizing that one of his colleagues is none other than the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Cherry goes on to become a private investigator working closely with Matt, digging into Wilson Fisk’s run for mayor.
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Frank Castle
Daredevil’s ideological flip side
While Daredevil maintains one of the strictest no-kill rules in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Punisher is a much more liberal and twisted dispenser of vigilante justice. Frank Castle was once a decorated soldier, coming back to a loving family only to see them murdered before his eyes. This prompts him to take up arms against the criminal elements of New York City, gunning down perceived wrongdoers with relentless aggression. This soon puts him at odds with Daredevil, who he confronts and has multiple heated debates with.
When tried for his crimes, Frank Castle seems to recognize Matt Murdock’s voice in court as the same one he spoke to in a devil costume on the rooftop. It was only confirmed that Castle knew Matt Murdock was Daredevil thanks to the trailers for Daredevil: Born Again, which show Castle calling Murdock in his civilian guise “Red”, his cheeky nickname for the demonic-styled hero. It’ll be interesting to see how The Punisher develops in the MCU now that he definitively has this knowledge.
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She-Hulk
One of Daredevil’s many romantic flings
Few superheroes have as much success with the ladies as Matt Murdock, as proven by his brief appearance in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Jen Walters first encounters Matt Murdock on the opposite side of a court case taking him to Los Angeles, doing a better-paying job in order to keep the lights on for his pro bono work. After socializing a bit after hours, She-Hulk learns that Matt is a colleague in superhero work as well, ripping his mask off after a brief fight.
Once She-Hulk and Daredevil work out that they’re on the same side, the two engage in a friendly relationship. Though Matt comes with Jen to the Banner family barbecue, their relationship seems to last only as long as Matt’s time in L.A., eventually heading back to his beloved home city on the East Coast. Murdock’s time in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a remarkably lighthearted period in the hero’s often dour life.
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Stick
Daredevil’s old master
Not only does Stick know that Matt Murdock is Daredevil, but without his training, he might have never become the vigilante. Stick initially takes Matt in under his wing after the murder of his father, teaching him to overcome his blindness and become an incredible martial artist. While Stick’s dedication to the fight against The Hand ultimately proved greater than any sentimentality, he eventually returns to New York City to see his old student once again.
Stick seems to easily learn that Matt is Daredevil upon his return, tracking him down upon coming back to New York with ease. Stick initially recruits Daredevil to work with him in fighting the hand, but as always, Matt’s insistence on refusing to kill continues to be a massive wedge in their relationship. Sadly, Stick is eventually killed by Elektra, marking one less person who is aware of Daredevil’s secret identity.
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The Defenders
Plus Colleen Wing and Misty Knight
Mostly a solo vigilante, Daredevil does occasionally work with other superheroes, most notably in the Netflix series The Defenders. Here, Daredevil joins the roster of The Defenders alongside Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, all of whom eventually learn of Daredevil’s real name as a consequence of working with him. The finale of the show’s sole season leaves the rest of the team presuming Matt is dead, though he miraculously manages to survive.
Due to their proximity to members of The Defenders, Detective Misty Knight and temporary Iron Fist Colleen Wing also learn of Daredevil’s secret identity. This is confirmed at the start of season 2 of Luke Cage, in which Misty mentions Matt by name while discussing the events of The Defenders. It remains to be seen if The Defenders or their allies will ever come back into play now that the Netflix continuity has been absorbed into the MCU.
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Father Lantom And Sister Maggie
Daredevil’s moral guidance
A devout Catholic, a recurring scene in Daredevil was Matt Murdock’s confessionals, frequently taken to alleviate his mind of guilt and talk to someone freely who had no choice to maintain secrecy. That someone was Father Paul Lantom, an ordained priest of the Roman Catholic Church who works at the Clinton Church Matt Murdock would frequent. Matt would rely on the man of god for various moral and ethical advice, eventually making his violent activities and vigilante alter ego clear to the priest.
This implication comes to an obvious head when Father Lantom, Sister Maggie, and several other nuns help nurse Matt Murdock back to health after a particularly deadly outing as Daredevil. However, the shocking revelation that Sister Maggie was actually Matt’s long-lost mother, a secret Father Lantom knowingly kept from Matt, alienated him enough to never return. At least the convent is trustworthy enough not to divulge Matt’s secret to anyone else, doubly so after the tragic murder of Father Lantom.
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Claire Temple
The one and only night nurse
Matt Murdock’s religious leaders aren’t the only ones who have been tasked with patching up his unspeakable wounds. Early on in the Netflix series, Daredevil enlists the help of one Claire Temple after yet another brutal fight, using her skills as a nurse to heal Matt’s body after finding him lying in the gutter. Claire goes on to have a romantic relationship with both Matt and Luke Cage, learning of the latter’s secret identity in the process of nursing him back to health.
Though Claire sees Daredevil’s bare face early on, she doesn’t even learn his name until after she’s already been kidnapped and tortured in an attempt to hurt him. The moment in which Matt finally introduces himself properly is one of the most poignant beats in the original series. Ideally, Claire can return to the MCU at some point in the future.
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Ray Nadeem
The closest law enforcement has come to catching Daredevil
Ray Nadeem is perhaps the one Marvel Cinematic Universe character most defined by his proximity to Matt Murdock’s secret identity as Daredevil. A normal FBI Agent, Ray Nadeem was assigned the case of his life when he was sent to provide Wilson Fisk, officially an incarcerated convict, with whatever he wanted in exchange for valuable information concerning other criminals. This eventually resulted in Nadeem realizing that Fisk had already deeply infiltrated the FBI, using the organization to fuel his own agenda.
It’s quite impressive how Nadeem is able to piece together that Matt Murdock is Daredevil all on his own, hilariously presenting his theory to Foggy Nelson. He even surmises that Nelson and Karen Page are willingly aiding and abetting Daredevil in his vigilante behavior, which is also true. Luckily for Matt, Nadeem isn’t able to do anything with this information before being killed by Benjamin Poindexter.
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Bullseye
Seems to be aware of Daredevil’s true face
Though he previously operated as Daredevil himself, Benjamin Poindexter seemingly spent most of his time in Daredevil season 3 unaware of the true identity of the man he was impersonating. It’s only in Daredevil: Born Again that the man now known as Bullseye seems to be aware of Matt Mutrdock being the true identity of the Devil’s of Hell’s Kitchen. As much is proved early on in the first episode, in which he heartlessly kills Foggy Murdock in a seeming attempt to get back at his old enemy.
It makes no sense for Bullseye to target Foggy unless he knew who Daredevil really was, but why his vengeance has shifted towards him rather than the man who broke his spine, Wilson Fisk, remains a mystery. Hopefully, the subsequent episodes of Daredevil: Born Again will be able to work out exactly how Benjamin Poindexter became aware of Daredevil’s secret identity and why he is suddenly more infatuated with taking revenge on him over Kingpin.