Key findings

• Wesley’s cool demeanor and manipulative tactics made him a formidable force until Karen Page’s bullet incapacitated him.
• Elektra’s complex relationship with Daredevil adds a spicy dynamic to the series with its dark, exciting and carefree attitude.
• The Punisher’s opposing brand of personal justice clashes with Daredevil’s moral values, leading to heated disagreements and conflicts.

The superhero whose traumatic childhood event gave him superhuman abilities. The costumed red devil or the man without fear who deserved a proper live-action portrayal. In 2015, the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil showed the heights that superhero TV series could reach, and gave the genre a quality that paved the way for other vigilantism TV series to also succeed on the big screen.

One of the best aspects of Daredevil was the dangerous villains he had to face, who made his life hell and left his city in need of repair. Here are 5 of the best from the series.

5 Wesley

Fisk’s right hand

• Full name: James Wesley
• Played by: Toby Leonard Moore

The epitome of pure pragmatic sociopathy, and a character who proves that you don’t need incredible superpowers or even an impressive intellect to be an effective villain. Sometimes you just need to be a dedicated man in a suit. As Wilson Fisk’s top aide, Wesley was his right-hand man and often acted as the figurehead of Fisk’s legal and business ventures.

James was a man who was skilled in risk management and kept a cool head under pressure. He was one of Fisk’s closest confidants. He was a master manipulator and could maneuver his way through many situations and control and influence others, especially those whose existence posed a threat to Wilson Fisk’s company. He also does not shy away from becoming violent and can use a weapon if necessary.

Wesley is the type of businessman who transfers the cold ruthlessness required in his profession to other areas of life, making him an easy fit in the upper echelons of a criminal empire. Unfortunately for Wesley, his cool demeanor and skillful bluff-calling were not enough to prevent his death. A bullet from Karen Page finished him off and knocked him out of the series.

4 Electra

Lover and rival

• Full name: Elektra Natchios
• Played by: Élodie Yung

The classic femme fatale parallel to the noble male superhero. DC Comics and movies have Batman and Catwoman, but Marvel and Netflix have a fiercer version of this dynamic with Daredevil and Elektra. As seductive as she is incredibly capable, Elektra is one of the most entertaining beings in the Marvel Universe.

Just like our hero Daredevil, Elektra has training experience with Stick and is connected to The Hand. In the series, the two meet again after years apart. Elektra goes back to her old ways and tries to seduce and manipulate Matt. Together they deal with conflicts with the Yakuza, defeat other fighters and rekindle old memories and love. Her dark, exciting and carefree attitude towards a fighter and vigilante makes her an interesting point of comparison with the far more stoic and righteous Daredevil.

Her romantic and sexual relationship with Matt Murdock makes her one of the most fascinating villains. She holds the key to Matt’s heart and a box full of his deepest and darkest feelings. She is willing to open and destroy both as much as she sees fit. With her signature twin sais and mastery of martial arts, Elektra’s appearance in any Daredevil medium is guaranteed to be an entertaining and brutal show.

3 The Punisher

The hero of another story

• Full name: Frank Castle
• Played by: Jon Bernthal

If there was ever a man who embodied the opposite of Matt Murdock’s vigilantism as Daredevil, it was Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. Although he is a “hero” in his own story and a superhero in his own right, The Punisher appears in Daredevil’s series as the darkest of villains. Frank Castle believes that to deal with villains properly, you have to deal with them permanently.

Why beat up an antagonist and send him to prison when you can just kill him and never have to deal with him again? While killing evildoers is the Punisher’s modus operandi, Daredevil sees it as a terrible miscarriage of justice, which leads to numerous disagreements in Season 2. He wants to clean up the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, but the way he does it goes against Daredevil’s wishes and will. Their different brands of personal justice cause a lot of trouble and strife in the world of street heroes.

One of the best scenes in the series is one of the best conversations between the Daredevil characters. It takes place on the rooftop, where Punisher and Daredevil are in a battle of wills over how best to take out the worst in the city. They may not agree, but in the end, they’re both talented vigilantes, with Punisher just as good as a villain as he is as a hero.

2 Bull’s eye

The most fitting villain

• Full name: Benjamin Poindexter
• Played by: Wilson Bethel

Netflix’s Bullseye is very different from the Marvel comics version. This version of Bullseye is much less quirky, much more problematic, but just as violent and terrifying as his counterpart on the page. Bullseye proves to be one of the most interesting live-action villains in superhero fiction. The series offers audiences a deep look into a sympathetic but highly unstable mind.

Bullseye’s years of trauma as a hardened survivalist not only make him a fearsome villain, but he is also described as a “psychopathic FBI agent.” As his name suggests, Poindexter is a talented marksman who can turn any object in his hand into a deadly weapon by throwing it with great force and masterful precision. With skills as sharp as his jaw when he donned the Daredevil costume, he proved to be one of the biggest thorns in Murdock’s side. During the third season, Bullseye showed that his instincts were almost on the same superhuman level as Matt’s, and his eyesight was far better than the Red Devil’s as he hurled precise objects at him with killing intent.

Fueled by the death of his parents, stays in troubled children’s homes, and the tricks he learned in therapy, Bullseye established himself as the most fearsome Daredevil villain of all time.

1 kingpin

Daredevil’s greatest rival

• Full name: Wilson Fisk
• Played by: Vincent D’Onofrio

The first character that comes to mind when you think of a Daredevil villain. And for good reason, as he is the most iconic Daredevil villain of all. The first entry on the list can only be considered a lackey compared to his criminal overload business as boss, the infamous Kingpin.

The man who held Hell’s Kitchen in his muscular, oversized hands. An emotionally abused child turned crime boss, Kingpin combines the gentle touch of a sensitive man with the brutal power of a psychotic gangster. Fisk doesn’t see himself as a villain. He really wants to make Hell’s Kitchen. The only problem is the way he chooses to do it. It’s not just about his personal power and control. Kingpin is a brute with great physicality.

Fans will remember some of his most impressive feats of strength from the series, such as the damage he inflicted on a man who only had a car door and the paralysis of Bullseye, who was crushed with his back against a chimney during the battle at the Presidential Hotel. Kingpin is a powerful fighter, a useful marksman, a man with all the power of the city, and by far the greatest Daredevil villain there is.