Daredevil's newest miniseries is a bone-chilling exploration of Matt Murdock's inner sense of heroism in the face of a bleak and pointless future. Coupled with some of Marvel's most unsettling artwork in years, this macabre tale is instantly one of Daredevil's most iconic. It's horrific, depressing, and bleak, but it's starting to look like one of the best Matt Murdock stories to date.

As Daredevil regains his powers and finds his new confidence, the miniseries’ villain festers in wait while playing with his living, mangled puppet from the days of capes and heroes.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1 (2025), by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven, is a gut-churningly depressing take on what Daredevil’s life would look like decades after losing his powers and retiring.

In this horrific future reality, the world has been consumed by war, leaving all its heroes extinct or dying. Cities have crumbled into disarray while no vestige of the old world’s leadership is to be seen. However, while living out his elderly years providing help to the hungry, a mutagenic explosion re-activates Daredevil’s powers before the issue reveals the utter horror that is the miniseries’ main villain.

Matt Murdock Is Made an Everyday Hero in a World With Nothing to Live For

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1 (2025): Written by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven; Art by Steve McNiven; Lettering by VC’s Clayton Cowles

The issue opens on a frigid winter’s day as an elderly Matt Murdock talks to the Kingpin’s grave. Matt finds some solace in the fleeting joys that his few remaining friends have. The world has been locked in an authoritative post-apocalyptic reality, but realistically, even the faceless government feels old and decaying. Frankly put, everyone and everything is dying. This issue sets up a depressing and nihilistic future that chokes the hope out of all its characters, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. Because, despite the world’s exhaustive state, Matt Murdock persists.

In the face of such a morose environment, Daredevil’s fleeting thoughts of wisdom and frequent acts of kindness stand out as beacons of hope in a hopeless world. This isn’t just a retelling of an Old Man Logan story, it’s explicitly a Daredevil story. As Matt now navigates both the tarnished landscape and the cruelty it has bred, without his powers to guide him, his struggle becomes both sympathetic and empowering. While Daredevil hasn’t been able to fight injustice physically, Matt Murdock remains an open optimist for those around him, even as despair consumes him.

Cold Day in Hell's Villain Is Utterly Disgusting

The Series' Art Tells the Story Without a Need for Words

My praise for the story aside, the themes and narrative setting of the issue couldn’t have succeeded without Steve McNiven’s artistic talents. In the best way possible, the art feels gross. It’s unsettling, aged, sickly, and perfect for the story Cold Day in Hell is telling. Even without the comic’s dialogue, one could easily follow along with the horrors Matt Murdock must now endure and the even greater evils lurking in the shadows. Because beneath this toxic and broken future, there exists a foul evil with a bizarre fascination for the heroes of old.

While the villain’s identity has been concealed by age, wrinkles, and sickly shades of translucent skin and rotting flesh, the character’s full terror remains center stage. As Daredevil regains his powers and finds his new confidence, the miniseries’ villain festers in wait while playing with his living, mangled puppet from the days of capes and heroes. The creative team has openly remarked that writer and artist Frank Miller and "The Dark Knight Returns" series have influenced this story, and it shows. Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell is already shaping up to be one of Daredevil’s best stories yet. Whether you’re a long-time reader or new to the franchise, Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell is a perfect Matt Murdock story that is as chilling and depressing as it is exciting.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1 releases April 2, 2025, from Marvel Comics.