Daredevil Does Have Superpowers & Here’s How He Got Them

When it comes to Marvel’s Daredevil, the question of whether or not he possesses superhuman abilities is a hotly debated topic among fans. Some argue that his heightened senses and physical prowess qualify as superpowers, while others maintain that he is simply an extremely skilled and well-trained human. So, does Daredevil have superpowers? And if so, how did he acquire them? We’ve decided to explore this, so we can answer the age-old question of whether Daredevil’s abilities qualify as superpowers. 

How did Daredevil get his powers? 

Daredevil’s origin was described in Daredevil #1, released in 1964. And it was a result of a tragic accident. Daredevil was born under the name Matthew Murdoch, and nothing was inherently superhuman about him. He was raised by a single father, Jonathan “Battling Jack” Murdock. Jonathan Murdock wanted Matt to achieve more than he did, so he always encouraged him to study instead of participating in activities classic for kids of his age. This social exclusion, however, led to Matt being bullied from a young age, resulting in him training in his father’s gym. 

Nevertheless, despite having a hard a difficult life, Jonathan Murdock managed to convey a good sense of justice and morals in his son, which leads us to the next and most vital part of Daredevil’s origin story – the accident. One day, while he was on the street, young Matt noticed that the blind man was getting closer to the incoming truck. Matt pushed the blind man out of the way, resulting in an accident that demolished the vehicle carrying radioactive materials. The radioactive fluid drenched Matt Murdock blinding him in the process. 

When Matt woke up in the hospital, he was simply lucky to be alive, and soon after that, he discovered that he could do things better than he could while alive. He noticed that his senses were super developed and sensitive, and despite being blind, he could perceive his surroundings in 3D via his newly developed radar sense. 

As you can see, the same accident that took away Daredevil’s sight also granted him superpowers. 

Does Daredevil have superhuman senses? 

Daredevil does have superhuman senses because his ability to perceive surrounding inputs far surpasses those of regular human beings. Mutations of his sensory system were caused by the radioactive isotope that spilled onto him, and since the accident, Murdock discovered that he perceives the world differently now. 

Daredevil has a superhuman sense of touch. Matt is blind, but he can receive astonishing information via skin. His sense of touch is refined and developed, and he can feel the minimal air pressure and heat change. His sense of touch is so precise he can read with his hands simply by feeling the impression that ink left on the paper eliminating the need for braille. 

His sense of smell likewise got improved. Nowadays, Daredevil can use it to track a specific person through a crowd by focusing on the body odor of a specific person. His smell is far more advanced than that of human beings, which he often uses in his investigation and for tracking purposes. He is likewise able to “smell” someone even if the person in question tries to hide his natural body odor. 

Daredevil’s hearing was not spared of superhuman enhancements. His hearing is powerful enough to hear a heartbeat. He can likewise discern between several people based on their heart sounds. This is Daredevil’s built-in lie detector since he uses his superhuman sense often to detect minor and major changes in people’s bodily reactions that happen when they lie.

Besides the main senses, his taste and balance likewise improved, allowing him to be considered among the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Marvel Universe. 

Daredevil’s most powerful sense is his Radar sense

We can’t touch upon Daredevil’s powers and abilities without analyzing his most potent ability, the one sense that allows him to see even if he is originally blind. Of course, we’re talking about Daredevil’s Radar Sense. The exact mechanism of how it works is similar to bats. Daredevil uses the echolocation of low-frequency radio waves that bounce off specific regions of his brain that, allow him to receive to create inside his mind a 3D 360 degrees image of his surroundings even if he doesn’t possess a healthy pair of eyes. Daredevil’s radar sense is by far the most useful and potent ability. 

Daredevil’s superhuman control of the nervous system allows him to achieve peak human performance 

With his superhuman senses, Daredevil trained hard enough and long enough to perfect his nervous system and push himself over the limits in terms of his physical abilities. Nowadays, he has peak human speed that allows him to move at the level of the finest human performers. He has peak human strength and is casually able to tip over cars.

His amazing reflexes also allow him to gain the upper hand in almost any fight. His improved sense of balance led him to improve his agility and acrobatic skills until he mastered most forms of unarmed combat, and due to his radar sense, he excels in marksmanship even though he is blind.