so.fi

Peter is doing fine on his own as a vigilante, or at least he thought he was, until a guy he has teamed up with a couple of times and knows nothing about, except that he is damn scary, asks him if he is okay.

Or: Another Peter sees Matt again fic, in which Matt tries to help the kid and his friends point out that he needs help, too.

For context: I asked why there is Daredevil hate online after Brand New Day. The guy is not even in the film, so how can people form an opinion on him when he isn't even there?

Actually, I'm aware of the hypocrite / self-righteous argument and I stay far away from fan-content like that because at least when you look at Netflix Daredevil and Born Again I don't see it at all and you've already pointed out why, but I'll elaborate anyway:

I get where it is coming from. It's in the conflict between Frank and Matt, where yes, Matt can act like that a bit. He can appear arrogant and self-righteous, because confronted with the Punisher he sees exactly what he does not want to become. In many other scenes we have however seen him contemplate murder several times for the greater good. From the very beginning of the original show it is absolutely clear that Matt has a very twisted relationship with violence. He likes it, he thinks it is necessary and he also feels bad about it. He has to draw a line somewhere, so he doesn't become like The Punisher. And I think Karen is right by the way when she says that crossing that line would do something to him. His upbringing and his religion would make him hate himself for failing which he does a lot anyway.

A hypocrite is someone who asks others to stick to a moral code they don't follow themselves. So, no. That is not the case. If anything Matt is more strict with himself than he is with his clients or with Karen or Jessica. Some also use the word arguing that Matt acts like he is better and yes, he is trying to be and he thinks Frank could be better, too. The whole point of their conflict is that we have two very broken men carrying a lot of trauma who seek out violence and while Matt argues with Frank to pull him back from that edge he'd never actually deny that he is struggling to do as he preaches if he talks to anyone else.

I think that maybe over the years the no killing rule has become more solid for Matt. He doesn't doubt it as much anymore and he sticks with it. At some point in Born Again he even says that he thought he wasn't tempted by the darkness anymore. Big mistake. Which is why after losing Foggy and actually trying to cross that line and kill Bullseye he stops being Daredevil. Although Dex did survive. But the intent was enough. He feels guilty about trying to kill someone. He questions himself all the time. He doubts himself all the time. That is not something a self-righteous hypocrite does. Sure in front of Frank he knows exactly what he doesn't want to do or be, but he is absolutely aware of his own demons and it's a choice that he is holding them back.

The difference when it comes to Peter is that the kid does really not have these violent instincts. He has lived through his share of trauma, but he also had a lot of support along the way. He just isn't as messed up as Frank and Matt are. That's also why it is a little easier for him to be a hero. He still has a lot more in common with Matt, because when it comes down to it both of them will easily give their life to save others, even if they have killed. Not to mention the issues with their senses, leading a double life and endangering anyone they care about... (I desperately need these two to interact and support each other....!)

Frank is a lot meaner to Matt, he constantly belittles his efforts, makes fun of him and yells at him for not giving into his instincts, because I think he can tell that he is capable of being at least similar to him. It bugs him that he's holding back, that he is making a different choice every day. Peter could never be Frank. And since Brand New Day is a Spiderman film the one who's method gets validated is Peter. He risks his life to save everyone, because that is what his instincts tell him to do, while Frank's instinct tells him to shoot the girl.

If this was a Punisher film I think it would be a lot bleaker and he would somehow turn out to be right. If it was a Daredevil film and Matt was the one saving the girl I think there'd be more ambivalence to it and Frank would yell at him in the hospital. But he would also feel awful for shooting him and - maybe with a nudge from Karen - help him get out unidentified. (Assuming this happened before season 2 of Born Again...)

What really baffles me is that we all agree that Peter is pure of heart and needs to be protected. But the guy who gets hate is not the one who accidentally shoots him, but the one who isn't even there. Wild.

Spidey remains one of the Marvel characters I consistently care about, so I watched the new film and I was not disappointed. 😊

Spoilers as usual under the cut...