After his brutal and bloody introduction in Daredevil #11 (by Charles Soule, Ron Garny, Matt Milla, and Clayton Cowles), Muse quickly became Daredevil’s most violent and terrifying villain he had ever faced. Using people as pieces for his artistic vision, Muse accumulated a massive body count across Hell’s Kitchen before Blindspot eventually stopped him. While it would seem that the brutal artist’s reign of terror was finally over, his grotesque work would live on in infamy, seeping into the very foundations of the Kitchen.
Hell’s Kitchen would be free of Muse’s terror until 2025’s Daredevil: Unleash Hell (by Erica Shultz, Jodé Luis Soares Pinto, Valentina Pintin, Jonas Trindade, Dee Cunniffe, and Cory Petit). The new series revealed that the twisted artist had returned from his apparent death and taken on a new apprentice. With new inspiration and artistic direction, Muse has come looking to proceed with his previous work and reinvent his style. This puts everyone in Hell’s Kitchen at risk of being included in his new art pieces.
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Who Is Muse?
Never explain, and never apologize
While Muse made a terrifying impact on the world of Daredevil, not much is known about the artistic villain. With his first piece being revealed in Daredevil #10 (by Charles Soule, Mark Waid, Ron Garny, Matt Milla, and Clayton Cowles) and introduction in the following issue, Muse seemingly has no rhyme or reason for the horrible things he does.
Using death and violence as his medium, Muse operates under the strict code of never explain and never apologize. After revealing his first piece, The Sanguinity, a mural painted with the blood of 133 people, Muse began his reign of terror across the city, with Daredevil and Blindspot quickly becoming the driving force behind his artistic direction.
Muse later created a horrifying scene frozen in time by killing a group of Inhumans and placing their bodies in a tableau, performing various mundane tasks.
Daredevil was able to sense something on the roof and came face to face with the twisted artist for the first time, who asked the Devil if he enjoyed his work. During their first encounter in Daredevil #12 (by Charles Soule, Ron Garny, Matt Milla, and Clayton Cowles), Muse could absorb all the sensory information around him, including sounds and smells.
This made it almost impossible for Daredevil to pinpoint his location. Muse was also able to stop the Devil’s baton mid-throw and break it in half. This first introduction of the character set the tone of just how menacing Muse would be and the violence that would unfold in the following issues.
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The Life of an Artist is Agony
Art is all about perspective
Daredevil #14 (by Charles Soule, Ron Garny, Matt Milla, and Clayton Cowles) gives readers their best insight into the character, as Muse takes the captured Blindspot to his workshop and fans get a peak behind the artist’s madness. Muse’s workshop is a legitimate house of horrors with multiple grotesque unfinished projects scattered around the room.
Muse explains that art doesn’t just appear but is a painstaking process of bad ideas that get sliced away to reveal the true art.
Muse doubles down on his beliefs after Blindspot tries to reason with him. He states that killing makes him strong and that no one else understands his preferred medium, so he has to be the one to do it. While it still doesn’t fully explain why Muse does what he does, it seems that is the point writer Charles Soule is trying to convey. Muse is pure evil, believing he has the right to exert his power over others and use people in whatever way he sees fit in his journey of self-expression.
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Muse’s Project is Put to an End
Muse still had so much to share with the world
Muse’s first murder spree eventually ended in Daredevil #14 when Daredevil saved Blindspot, and Muse was taken into custody by the Inhumans. While his project would be over, Muse gladly accepted his punishment, even breaking his fingers for Daredevil in retribution for taking Blindspot’s eyes. Muse would remain in the custody of the Inhumans until Daredevil #569, where he escaped New Attilan after seeing Daredevil being hunted by the police on the news.
With new inspiration, Muse returned to New York to begin work on his new project centering on the city’s heroes.
After Daredevil failed to locate Muse using his heightened senses, Blindspot took down Muse’s murals to lure him out. However, his plan worked a bit too well, and Muse appeared behind him and pushed him off a building. Blindspot was able to catch himself, and the two engaged in a rematch on a roof in Hell’s Kitchen, which resulted in Muse being burned alive. It would seem this was the end for the disturbed artist, and Muse would remain dead for some time. However, art often surpasses its creator, and Muse still had much work left.
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Muse’s Death Gave Him New Direction
Hell only made Muse’s creativity grow
Muse wouldn’t be seen again for nearly seven years, until 2025’s Daredevil: Unleash Hell (by Erica Shultz, Jodé Luis Soares Pinto, Valentina Pintin, Jonas Trindade, Dee Cunniffe, and Cory Petit). The first issue brought the villain back, and he was even more sinister than ever.
After Elektra brought down a drug lab and caused the building to explode, the resulting blast left a crack in the street below. This allowed a mysterious mist to escape from beneath Hell’s Kitchen. This mist was later revealed to be Muse, who then possessed a young artist to kill her teacher and become his new student.
Muse began his new ambitious project to fully cement his return by creating a Frankenstein depiction of Daredevil composed of various body parts and organs.
Readers later learn that after his death, Muse was sent to hell, where he learned of new and terrible directions in which he could take his art and broaden his horizons. While in Hell, Muse discovered that when an artist is criticized or rejected, a piece of their soul dies.
Muse found the rejected soul of a young artist named Morgan and used it to reach her living body. He manipulated her with the promise of teaching her how to realize her full potential. The issue further explained how this was possible, with Elektra revealing that Hell’s Kitchen was on a ley line, which makes it particularly sensitive to supernatural energy. This sensitivity to supernatural energy allowed Muse’s darkness to seep into the Kitchen upon his death and opened the door for his eventual return.
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The Mystery of Muse
Art is about constant reinvention
Despite his limited number of appearances, Muse quickly became one of the Devil’s most memorable villains, but one still shrouded in mystery. In keeping with his strict code of never explaining and never apologizing, Muse’s motives for his grotesque self-expression are purely his own. The source of his powers and their full capabilities have also been left purposely vague.
Muse has exhibited incredible strength, having ripped off the limbs of his victims by hand and being able to stop Daredevil’s baton mid-throw and crush it.
One of Muse’s primary abilities is his ability to absorb all nearby sensory information in what Daredevil calls a sensory vortex, making it impossible for Daredevil to locate him. Upon his return in Daredevil #596, Fisk’s assistant states that the superhero murals were painted with some unknown substance that they cannot even remove, indicating Muse also has some sort of transmutation abilities.
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Muse’s True Origin May Never Be Revealed
The meaning behind art is in the eye of the beholder
Many readers have long suspected Muse to be inhuman because he specifically targeted them in his early work. The opening credits of Daredevil #598 even refer to Muse as “The Inhuman Artist.” However, this has never been fully explored in the comics.
When asked about the possibility of Muse being an Inhuman, co-creator Charles Soule responded that he thinks Muse is a character that’s better not to be explained too much. Although the extent of his abilities is still undiscovered, his return in Daredevil: Unleash Hell has already shown that the mad artist has learned some new tricks in Hell.
Under Muse’s influence, his new student, Morgan, has been shown to borrow not only from her teacher’s perspective on creativity but also fromhis powers as well.
When discovering the Frankenstein Daredevil, Elektra determines that the body parts were separated by hand, and Morgan is later shown punching one of her victims so hard that his head explodes. While the extent of Muse’s powers is unknown, it’s clear that he can imbue Morgan with these abilities, telling her that his teachings come with many gifts.
While currently only in its second issue, the end pages of Daredevil Unleash Hell #2 (by Erica Shultz, Jodé Luis Soares Pinto, Valentina Pintin, Jonas Trindade, Dee Cunniffe, and Cory Petit) showed Muse fully taking over Morgan’s body. He will no doubt extend his powers further, which will have horrifying consequences for Daredevil and all of Hell’s Kitchen.
Daredevil: Born Again
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Showrunner
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Chris Ord
- Directors
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Michael Cuesta, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Chris Ord
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Charlie Cox
Matt Murdock / Daredevil
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Vincent D’Onofrio
Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
