7. Ronin Isn't Daredevil And Was Never Meant To Be
One of the big mysteries in Brian Michael Bendis's New Avengers series was the identity of Ronin, a guise which has since been used by a host of established superheroes looking for a bit of anonymity/writers looking for a plot device. It was heavily implied throughout Bendis's run that this first Ronin was none other than Daredevil himself, with Matt Murdock trying to escape the media spotlight that had been shone on him since his secret identity was made public (in a storyline Bendis wrote). So imagine everyone's surprise when this assumption turned out to be totally incorrect! Well, perhaps not totally. As it happens Ronin was unveiled not as Daredevil but Echo, a deaf superheroine who had previously been romantically linked with the blind superhero (nice they have something in common), albeit under the instruction of Matt Murdock. If that sounds ludicrously convoluted, that's because it is. Originally Ronin was supposed to be Daredevil, as hints in New Avengers and accompanying publicity materials made clear, but Bendis changed his mind for some reason. Not that we knew that, since for the longest time the writer insisted that he had planned for Echo to be Ronin the entire time, and any of the clues pointing towards Daredevil were totally intentional red herrings. So insistent was Bendis on this point that it was only when New Avengers was reissued in hardcover form years later that he admitted making Echo the big reveal was a last minute change and he'd been fibbing to cover his butt for ages.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
