Warning: spoilers for episode 3 of Daredevil: Born Again are forward
Episode three of Daredevil: Born Again, ‘The Hole of His Hand,’ ends on a heartbreaker. Our buddy, the honorable vigilante generally known as the White Tiger, will get shot level clean in the head by a person carrying the Punisher’s cranium, who was following Wilson Fisk’s orders. Hector Ayala’s lifeless physique flops onto the pavement earlier than Wilson Fisk says, “The rule of legislation should prevail.” My fellow White Tiger followers, we journey at daybreak.
The homicide of White Tiger in Daredevil: Born Again got me parsing by my feelings – rage, shock, helplessness – all of which kind the excellent cocktail for a Marvel origin story. And never simply any origin, however Spider-Man’s in specific. That is as a result of Peter Parker did not absolutely step into the ‘man’ a part of Spider-Man after he was bitten by that radioactive spider. No, he needed to watch his Uncle Ben die in entrance of him in order to be taught what the accountability of being a vigilante entails. It is a moment we have not seen in the MCU, as a result of the Tom Holland Spider-Man motion pictures have left almost all traces of Uncle Ben out of the image (aside from his suitcase).
Nonetheless, with Hector Ayala’s demise, the MCU has the likelihood to dig deep into these feelings by doing what they didn’t do with their model of Spider-Man. On this similar episode, Hector mentions that he lives in an residence together with his spouse, his sister, and their niece. Now, should you’re acquainted with White Tiger’s place in Marvel Comics, you will do not forget that Hector’s niece Angela del Toro turns into the White Tiger after his demise. And, his sister Ava Ayala takes up the mantle after Angela goes to jail. Whereas it looks as if Hector’s niece in Born Again is a bit too younger to turn into a vigilante any time quickly (I might hope a minimum of, as a result of it is a harmful factor to be proper now in New York), Ava ought to have the likelihood to step right into a vigilante function after the homicide of her member of the family.
Certain, Hector Ayala is not on the similar pedestal as Uncle Ben, however his rules and sense of responsibility rapidly received us over in the three episodes we see him in. And seeing him hit the floor like that was a intestine punch. If there’s ever been a time for somebody, anybody (okay possibly not younger Angela), to go well with up and take a stand in Hector’s reminiscence, it is now. Given how Matt Murdock has primarily left his life as a vigilante behind him after Foggy’s demise, we’re not betting on him simply but.
Marvel Comics struck gold once they constructed Spider-Man’s origin round a way of loss, whether or not that be a way of normalcy in Peter’s life, or Uncle Ben himself. And whereas the MCU’s Peter did lose Aunt Might in 2021’s No Way Home, it was after he had already established himself as Spider-Man. If the MCU can arrange Ava Ayala as White Tiger in the wake of Hector’s demise, then we’ll have the likelihood to completely see a brand new vigilante hit the streets of New York with each grief and righteousness in their coronary heart.
