Daredevil: 10 Characters Who Must Appear In Season 2
6. Gladiator
The Gladiator did have a minor role in the first season of Daredevil as Melvin Potter, who designed both Daredevil’s suit and the Kingpin’s lightweight armored clothing. Daredevil and Potter also had a brief battle in the workshop, where not only was the symbol Potter wears on his Gladiator costume seen, but he also threw a buzz saw at Daredevil, a nod to his weapons in the comics.
Potter was depicted as somewhat simple and damaged, keeping in line with his portrayal in the comics. He has been known to slip into the Gladiator persona, which is that of a deranged killer. This could tie in with the Mister Fear idea as in the “Without Fear” story, it was Mister Fear’s chemicals that caused Potter to have a break from his sanity and return to the Gladiator persona.
With the Gladiator weapons already established and the symbol in Melvin’s workshop, he’d make for a great physical foil for Matt to fight. Even more so since Matt knows that Melvin is really a decent man underneath it all, but struggles with a dark side.
And with Melvin’s split personality, if the Gladiator committed a murder, then Melvin wouldn’t have any memory of it, which would make him innocent in Matt’s eyes if Nelson & Murdock were asked to defend him.