Jack Murdock (comics)

Jack Murdock
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Daredevil #1 (April 1964)
Created by Stan Lee (writer)
Bill Everett (artist)
In-story information
Full name Jonathan Murdock
Species Human
Place of origin Earth
Partnerships Maggie Murdock
Supporting character of Matt Murdock (son)
Notable aliases Jack Murdock, Battlin' Jack, The Devil, Kid Murdock,
Abilities
  • Trained athlete
  • Professional boxer
  • Stamina

Jack Murdock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the father of Matt Murdock known as the superhero Daredevil and the ex-husband of Maggie Murdock.

Publication history

Jack Murdock first appeared in Daredevil #1 and was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett

Fictional character biography

Born Jonathan Murdock, he went by Jack for short, and lived an average life in New York. He eventually met and fell in love with a woman named Maggie Grace, which led to the birth of a son, Matt. Although their life was good together, Maggie eventually divorced him, and went on to join a convent, becoming a nun.

Jack didn't want Matt growing up hating his mother for leaving them and decided to tell him she died when he was little. From then on, Jack raised Matt as a single parent by becoming a boxer fighting boxers like Happy Hogan and others. Doing the best he could to support Matt. [1][2][3][4]

As time went by, Jack found it hard to support his son on boxing alone and ended up going to a local mobster named Roscoe Sweeney, known as the "Fixer" because he fixed boxing matches to make money off of them. Jack made an agreement with him: Jack would be one of his enforcers, and in return, Sweeney would fix his fights so that Jack would win and make more money.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

When Matt saw his father roughing up someone for money to give to the Fixer, he fled from the scene in shock and got into a car accident, when he saved an old blind man from getting hit by a truck carrying radioactive chemicals. Blinded by the chemicals, Matt developed superhuman senses. Heartbroken by what he put his son through, Jack vowed to never work for the Fixer again and helped Matt adjust to his blindness, unaware of his powers.

Matt soon entered college and law school, studying to become a lawyer, while Jack continued to be a boxer. Unfortunately Jack soon became involved with Roscoe Sweeney again when he returned into town; Sweeney revealed that Jack actually still worked for him, by showing him that all the fights he won over the years were the result of Sweeney fixing his matches so that Jack would win and he could make more money off him in return.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

But this time, Sweeney paid Jack to lose the match. Jack reluctantly accepted the deal, but as the fight started he saw Matt in the crowd cheering him on. Knowing he couldn't disappoint his son, Jack rebelled against the Fixer's orders and won the fight with all his might in Matt's honor.[18][19] In retaliation, Sweeney had Slade and the rest of his men ambush and kill Jack as he left the gym.

Thereafter Matt Murdock put his powers and training to use as the crime-fighter Daredevil and brought his father's killers to justice.[20][21][22]

Since then Jack Murdock has appeared in flashbacks throughout Matt's life as Daredevil.

Alternate Versions

Ultimate

Jack Murdock maintains the same role in the Ultimate Comics as he does in the 616 continuity.

What If?

During a 1981' What If? title story set in an alternate timeline. It shows that Jack Murdock was still alive and well, at the same time his son Matt was involved in an accident when he was still a kid by a truck carrying a radioactive isotope. Tony Stark, employer of the truck, put the unconscious Matt into his car that transformed into a plane and took off into the air boarding the newly-completed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Tony spoke with S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, who informed him that Matt's senses had become superhumanly acute thanks to the radiation. Once Matt had fully recovered, a man named Dr Frost removed the bandages from his eyes. Much to Matt's surprise, he had been rendered blind but his new hyper senses made up for it. Nick Fury offered to help Matt deal with his blindness and new found powers by joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and training with them. Years later Jack was attacked and kidnapped in his apartment by a Life Model decoy created by Hydra and modeled after Matt and held prisoner in their base. Matt soon find out and tracked him down to the Hydra facility holding him and defeated several Hydra agents before finding Jack. After that, Hydra agents surrounded both Jack and Matt; but S.H.I.E.L.D. agents soon came to the rescue and began their attack on the Hydra base by gassing the room, while Matt handed his father a gas mask and they both made it to safety while being picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D.; Jack said that now that Matt was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Jack didn't have to sign up with the Fixer to support him, but also reminded Matt about the promise he made to his mother about becoming someone important in life. Matt responded he would; and that no one would know that Matt Murdock was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in disguise, they would only know him by his old nickname as a kid; Daredevil.

Powers and abilities

Jack Murdock had no superhuman abilities, but he was a trained athlete and professional boxer with good stamina which he continued to maintain even as he grew older.

In other media

Television

Animation

  • Jack Murdock appeared in a flashback on the Spider-Man TV series episode "Framed." While staying at Matt Murdock's apartment, Peter Parker listens as Murdock tells him that his father was a boxer who tried his best to support them both, while Matt was growing up. During that time he fell in with the Kingpin who forced him to be one of his thugs roughing people up for money through intimidation and fear, Matt saw this by accident and ran away accidentally getting hit by radioactive chemicals being transported illegally through the city by the Kingpin in secret. Matt became blinded, but his other senses became superhuman because of it. Jack was stricken with grief and vowed to make things right by bringing the Kingpin in to justice. He tried uncovering his illegal activities and bringing the information to the police. Kingpin's men found out, caught him and killed him on the Kingpin's orders offscreen. After that, Matt was found by Stick who trained him to control his powers and fight in the martial arts while using acrobatics, which lead Matt to become Daredevil.

Live-Action

  • Jack Murdock appears in flashbacks in season 1 of Daredevil, where he is played by John Patrick Hayden. Like the comics, Jack is a struggling boxer who keeps trying to raise his son right and encourage him to study and get good grades. Working for Roscoe Sweeney (The Fixer), he is paid to take dives in fights, and Matt takes time to patch him up after them. After Matt is blinded in a car accident, Jack spends most of his time helping Matt cope with his situation of being blinded and learning how to adjust to it.[23] As Jack and Matt learn to deal with Matt's new condition, Jack is approached by Sweeney and his partner Silke, who want him to take a dive in the fifth round during a match against Carl "The Crusher" Creel; they're betting against Jack and hoping to get a bigger payday, offering to give a share to Jack knowing it could help him and Matt with financial problems. Jack reluctantly agrees to do it, thinking he doesn't have any other choice. Jack later receives a new boxing robe for him to wear when he steps into the ring. After some words of encouragement from Matt, Jack decides to not listen to Sweeney's instructions, and win the fight for Matt and show him that he isn't weak. Before the fight, Jack calls his bookie from the gym's payphone and tells him to put all bets on him and to transfer the money to an account in Matt's name when he wins. He also calls his ex-wife, and tells her to take Matt in and take care of him too. After fighting Creel to a standstill, Jack hurries to his locker room at the back of the arena in secret and tries his best to run away in panic. Sweeney sends assassins who gun down Jack in an alleyway. Matt finds the body shortly after the police find it.[24] Matt uses the money earned through the bets that Jack made before the match to go through law school and become a successful lawyer while also training with Stick and eventually becoming the superhero Daredevil.

Film

  • Jack Murdock appeared in the Daredevil movie 2003 portrayed by actor David Keith. In the film he was an aging boxer just like in the comics and was always trying to support his son Matt as best as he could by encouraging him to stay out of fights and focus on his studies. His nickname in the ring was Jack "The Devil" Murdock instead of "Battlin' Jack" like in the comics. He was a good and honest man, but made wrong choices when trying to make more money, working for a local mobster named Falon who fixed boxing matches who reluctantly becomes an enforcer attacking people for money through intimidation. One day Matt sees this by accident on a shortcut home from school, shocked' Matt runs away and gets struck by radioactive waste from an accident at a nearby construction site. After that Jack apologizes and promises Matt to never get in trouble again and helps Matt adjust to his condition, but soon after, Jack gets caught up with the mobster again who tries to make him take a dive in his next fight after revealing he was fixing Jack's matches all along. Jack agrees at first but then rebels and wins the fight as soon as he sees Matt in the crowd cheering him on to win. In retaliation the mobster has him killed outside the arena at the back entrance by some of his men.

References

  1. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #-1
  2. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #1
  3. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #53
  4. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #156
  5. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #164
  6. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #177
  7. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #191
  8. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #200
  9. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #235
  10. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #260
  11. ↑ Daredevil Vol 1 #362
  12. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #0.5
  13. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #7
  14. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #58
  15. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #83
  16. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #91
  17. ↑ Daredevil Vol 2 #500
  18. ↑ Daredevil Vol 3 #17
  19. ↑ Daredevil Vol 3 #28
  20. ↑ Daredevil Vol 4 #1.50
  21. ↑ Daredevil Vol 4 #6
  22. ↑ Daredevil Vol 4 #7
  23. ↑ Abraham, Phil (director); Drew Goddard (writer) (April 10, 2015). "Into the Ring". Marvel's Daredevil. Season 1. Episode 1. Netflix.
  24. ↑ Abraham, Phil (director); Drew Goddard (writer) (April 10, 2015). "Cut Man". Marvel's Daredevil. Season 1. Episode 2. Netflix.
  • "Jack Murdock - Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki - Wikia". marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  • "Jonathan Murdock (Earth-616) - Marvel Database - Wikia". marvel.wikia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  • "Battlin' Jack Murdock (Character) - Comic Vine". comicvine.com. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  • "Jack Murdock (Earth-701306) - Marvel Movies - Wikia". marvel-movies.wikia.com. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  • "Daredevil: The Man Without Fear - Characters". manwithoutfear.com. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
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