10 Things Marvel Wants You To Forget About Elektra

Elektra: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D? That doesn't sound right...

Elektra Daredevil
Marvel Comics

Since being introduced to the Marvel Universe by Frank Miller in 1981 in the pages of Daredevil, Elektra Natchios has become a comic book force in her own right, starring in her own series, crossovers and more.

Indeed, as one of the principle assassins in the Marvel Universe, the character boasts a certain kind of comic capital. She's totally synonymous with Daredevil, yes, but Elektra also happens to be a brilliant character in her own right - a massive legacy of Miller's stint writing the man without fear during the eighties. Her resurrection may have been controversial (we'll get to that shortly), but it's important to remember that the character is just as iconic as Daredevil himself, which is a pretty impressive feat, given ol' horn head's fame.

Elektra has, of course, again been thrown into the spotlight with the release of The Defenders, where Elodie Yung plays a resurrected, suitably brainwashed version of the character that Matt Murdock attempts to bring back into the light. Her performance is solid, as is the show itself (mostly), and, with this renewed attention, it's become apparent that there are certain aspects of the character's history that aren't exactly all that well known, with recent additions to the canon in particular having deviated massively from the initial vision of Miller's original series.

She's got a pretty impressive history - that much is certain - but it's not been without its controversy, both on and off the page.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.