Romance has always been a part of superhero comics. In fact, some famous couples have influenced more comic book lore than any supervillains. Famous couples include: Superman and Lois Lane, Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, and Batman and Catwoman. But there’s another couple — perhaps lesser-known but just as enduring on the page — who have made an unforgettable imprint on each other’s lives, through both the passionate highs and volatile, deadly lows: Daredevil and Elektra.
Introduced 17 years after the Man Without Fear’s debut in 1964, Elektra arrived on the scene a little later than some of her other superhero love interest counterparts, but then again, everything about her was a radical shift from how love interests and women at large were written in comics at that point. Created by Frank Miller in his seminal 80s run on Daredevil, Elektra was sensual and ruthless in a way that wasn’t common, with a bloodlust and moral flexibility that ran counter to Matt Murdock’s rigid code and the anger he suppresses within himself. Despite her status as one of the most revered antiheroes in comics, she’s only been adapted twice: once by Jennifer Garner in 2003’s Daredevil and its critically reviled spin-off Elektra, and again by Élodie Yung, who brought her to life in the original Daredevil Netflix series. Now, just like the character’s comic book history, Yung’s Elektra has been resurrected for season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again – which just might adapt a pretty recent and major status quo change for the character.
