Daredevil will throw a lot at Matt Murdock when Season 2 airs on Netflix. Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, will bring his own brand of vigilantism to Hell’s Kitchen, Matt’s old flame Elektra is back in his life, and it’s been heavily hinted that Bullseye will appear as well. Now the show may be hinting that Melvin Potter, the man who designed Matt’s crimson costume, will be another obstacle thrown at the Man Without Fear next year.
The official Daredevil Twitter account recently tweeted one of Melvin’s lines of dialogue from Season 1. Accompanying the quote was an image showing a saw blade next to schematics of the Daredevil costume seen in the Season 1 finale. Take a look!
While not a confirmation, this teaser does have many wondering if Season 2 will feature Melvin following in his comic book counterpart’s footsteps and becoming The Gladiator, who in the comics fought the blind hero wearing wearing thick armor and wrist-mounted, spinning saw blades. Unlike most of Daredevil’s foes, Melvin eventually gave up his life of crime, but since he’s still looped in with the rest of that rogues gallery, seeing him as an adversary on the TV series isn’t impossible.
First mentioned in the Daredevil Season 1 episode “In The Blood,” Melvin was introduced in “Shadows in the Glass” as the man who was making armored suits for Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin. Although he suffers from some kind of mental impairment, Melvin is a genius when it comes to design work. Matt and Melvin fought in “The Path of the Righteous” when Matt tracked him down to his workshop, and fans got a hint of his Gladiator persona when Melvin threw one of his saw blades during the scuffle. After defeating Melvin, Matt learned that Melvin was only working for Fisk so that someone close to him named Betsy wouldn’t be hurt. Matt subsequently assured Melvin that he would take down Fisk if Melvin could make him an armored costume, which he finished in the Season 1 finale.
Because the two men appeared to be on good terms when they last saw each other, it’s hard to imagine why they would fight in Season 2. However, if we do get Gladiator in Season 2, it’s seems more likely that Melvin either mistakingly believes Daredevil has wronged him somehow and wants revenge, or he is being coerced again by a villainous party. The latter is more likely to happen if Fisk breaks out of prison and forces Melvin to fight Daredevil on his own after discovering that his former underling aided the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante in plotting his downfall.
Daredevil Season 2 will air sometime in 2016 on Netflix.
