Boomstick: But these guys have it covered!
Wiz: Nightwing, the original protégé of Batman.
Boomstick: And Daredevil, Marvel's man without fear.
The two titans of the comic book world return once again in the twelfth episode of the fifth season, their latest offerings unto the ring being each company's signature street-level vigilantes, fearless acrobats and dual-wielded dispensers of justice. The hosts will match a keen intellect against heightened senses, a lifetime of training against versatility and agility, for Nightwing and Daredevil, two of their companies' myriad champions of heroism, now must stand against one another in a death battle.
The hosts, kicking off the episode, delve into the backstory of Nightwing, better known as Dick Grayson, the original Robin. Before he found himself thrust into the life of a superhero, Dick was the youngest member of the Flying Graysons, a family of trapeze artists operating in the traveling Haley's Circus. The success the Graysons found would come to an abrupt and tragic end when, during a stop in Gotham City, their employer refused to pay local crime boss Anthony Zucco protection money; in retaliation, Zucco had the acrobats' cables sabotaged during the night's performance. Dick was helpless to watch as the cables snapped while his parents were on stage, just one of many who witnessed them plummeting to their demise, leaving him with no one else in the world. After a brief stint in a Catholic orphanage, he was adopted by Bruce Wayne, who revealed his alternate identity as Gotham's sworn vigilante, the Batman, and chose Dick to be his partner in justice; the former orphan was then trained in martial arts and detective skills, earning the moniker Robin. For a time, Robin was enthused at fighting the criminal underworld of Gotham City alongside its feared protector, but after a run in with the villain Two-Face, whom drowned the district attorney and mercilessly beat Robin while Bruce was helpless to watch, Batman severed ties with Dick out of concern for his safety. Grayson would drift between superhero alliances, including founding the initial iteration of the Teen Titans and even reuniting with Batman on occasion, but sought guidance on how to become his own man; inspired by Superman's tales of an ancient Kryptonian warrior burdened with a similar plight, Dick found his answer in donning a new suit and the warrior's alias, Nightwing, as his own.
Using his training with the Caped Crusader, Nightwing has made a similar mark in Gotham, another noted vigilante patrolling its streets. The Nightwing suit, much like the Batsuit, is made of a lightweight bulletproof Kevlar mesh, specifically make to be totally silent even while moving. The suit also comes equipped with a rebreather and a domino mask that picks up energies outside the visible spectrum, while its ankles and wrists have smaller versions of the classic utility belt found on the Batsuit's waist. In the utility belts are a wide selection of gadgets; miniaturized smoke bombs, lockpicks, extra-strength staples, grappling guns, and Wing-dings, Dick's own bird-shaped variant of the Batarang which come in their own variety of secondary effects. As impressive as the arms and armor of Nightwing may be, they would be nothing without the man himself. Dick regularly utilizes his acrobatic training in his outings as a superhero; the Nightwing suit, in fact, is lighter than the Batsuit to accommodate this change. Batman is a noted expert in all the major martial arts of the world, and Dick, likewise, has a similar proficiency in several schools of combat, such as aikido, taekwondo, ninjitsu, and his trademark eskrima; as if to bridge the gap between the man and his material, Nightwing's eskrima sticks are also equipped with several high-voltage tasers. His detective training with the Bat also means Grayson is talented in the field of analysis, studying his environment and piecing together a situation with just the bare minimum to rely on.
Despite the sometimes volatile relationship between student and mentor, Dick still looks up to his exploits with the Batman as inspiration on his own outings. Nightwing is a very tough combatant, punching through solid stone and sheets of ice alike; during his own brief stint at Batman, he could hold open the jaws of an orca, calculated a force of almost 20 thousand psi, and smash apart a car window while the car was submerged, and therefore pressurized. Dick's speed and agility, as should be expected of him, are similar points of pride, enabling him to perform feats like leaping between mid-air zeppelins and evading gunfire at point-blank range. Yet, even more impressive than this are his durability and stamina, being able to survive a 140-foot fall, surveying Gotham's streets for four consecutive days, or even withstanding a fifteen-minute freefall from the exosphere without any special protection. Despite this, Nightwing is but a man, and man is susceptible to his faults. Relying so heavily on agility means Dick is less prepared to handle himself in a straight-on bout; having a scarred body to prove this. Still, the fact that Nightwing is still an active hero within the world of DC is a testament to his skill and how well Bruce Wayne has trained him, a helpless soul lost in the world to the aide of a man determined to bring order to a lawless land to a man who has gone his own way.
Dick Grayson: I haven't used that name in a long time. (emerges from the shadows, clad in the Nightwing suit) Call me Nightwing.
From Nightwing, the hosts move on to his upcoming opponent, one Daredevil, born unto the world as Matthew Murdock. The only son of fading prizefighter Jonathan "Battlin' Jack" Murdock, Matt was urged to study and improve his education so as to have a better future than Jonathan himself did; because of this, the children of Hell's Kitchen would often taunt and torment young Matthew, leading him to practice with his father's exercise equipment in secret to vent his frustrations. Matt became a talented athlete and acrobat during his training, skills that would come into use when spotting a blind man crossing a busy street; on that fateful day, Matt pushed him out the path of an oncoming truck, which crashed, spilling radioactive chemicals onto Matt's face, permanently depriving him of his eyesight while simultaneously heightening his own senses to a tremendous degree. Between this accident and his father being murdered for refusing to throw a fixed fight, it would seem like Matt's life would become an endless parade of tragedies, but he persevered, earning a law degree from Columbia University and avenging his father's death by hunting down the mobsters responsible and subduing them or otherwise invoking heart attacks with his fearful personage. While he would use his law education to instill order in Hell's Kitchen as the lawyer Matt Murdock, he would use his costume and senses to bring justice upon the rogues of New York, introducing the world to Daredevil.
Though it may seem that a blind lawyer such as Matt Murdock would be incapable of handling himself in a fight, such an assumption is mistaken. Shortly after recovering from the accident which cost him his vision, he received tutelage from Stick, an elite member of warriors known only as the Chaste, teaching the blinded Matt how to control his senses. So refined were his remaining four senses that he can detect the most minute changes in his surroundings, while the radioactive chemicals granted him the ability to emit an electric pulse that reflects off objects, creating a mental image of the general area; to describe it as akin to echolocation would be a fair comparison. Stick also supplied Matt with training in the martial arts, covering roughly a dozen disciplines, many of which, like eskrima and ninjitsu, he shares with his opponent. Daredevil is highly prepared for a fight, having a versatile arsenal packed into his walking cane; it may keep up Matt's facade as a blind civilian, but when vigilante justice calls, the cane is revealed to have a series of weapons packed inside, explosive pellets, hidden blades, grappling hooks, to say nothing of how the cane itself can separate into nunchaku or billy clubs. His suit, meanwhile, is resistant to several types of damage, with antennae hidden in the horns to further aid his senses and navigation.
Looking at the accomplishments of Daredevil reveals quite the impressive résumé, between his natural gifts from the waste and his training with Stick. Matt is fast enough to deflect gunfire in a matter of milliseconds and has the strength to toss a barbell weighing nearly a quarter ton. His durability, meanwhile, is such that he can withstand high-wattage electric shocks, napalm explosions, and I-beams swung by superhuman foes. However, his heightened senses can be just as much a hindrance as they are a blessing to Matt; any foe aware of how sensitive they can be can overwhelm them with extreme stimuli, such as with noxious odors or deafeningly loud noises. Thankfully for Daredevil, this key flaw in his physiology may have hindered his quest to deliver justice to the streets of Hell's Kitchen, but with his skill, a definitive end has yet to come.
The combatants have been given their due and the blood will soon flow. One advertisement for the Blue Apron cooking service later and now, it's time for a death battle!
The silence within an empty parking garage is broken by a hooded figure dropping in from above; as he arises, Matt Murdock, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, listens to the sirens and chatter filling the nighttime streets. A white sedan parked within gains his interest, which rewards the Daredevil with a briefcase in the trunk. What should be a moment of triumph for the blind vigilante is instead fraught with tension as he announces to an unseen party that he feels their presence, warning them to leave in peace. This intruder emerges from the shadows, as Dick Grayson, better known as Nightwing, scoffs at Daredevil's threats. The first Robin describes the contents of the briefcase as part of his own goings-on, advising that Daredevil hand it over in exchange for leaving him be. The red-clad hero slamming the trunk shut is all the confirmation Nightwing needs to understand their conflict will not be handled with peace.
FIGHT!
Not a second later do the two acrobats lunge toward another, Matt throwing a wild haymaker that hits nothing but air. He soon recovers and catches Nightwing's incoming kick, before the black-and-blue hero flips from out Daredevil's grasp; in turn, Daredevil earns the first clean hits of the match, a pair of hooks and a judo toss which Dick barely wrests himself out of. One punch to the jaw later, and Daredevil finds it much more difficult to land a blow on the Gothamite, who flips well outside Matt's reach and tosses a pair of Wing-dings towards him. With a backflip of his own, Daredevil cleanly leaps above the shurikens as they embed themselves in the sedan door. The acrobats face one another as they prepare for another round, Daredevil sharply exhaling in anticipation. The two men collide in an intense exchange of fisticuffs as they block every jab the other has to offer; as Dick ducks under a wide swipe from Daredevil, Matt crouches beneath Nightwing's roundhouse kick. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen swerves around the attack, effortlessly parrying every one of Nightwing's attempts to strike back.
The fight carries its momentum as Daredevil chases Grayson down, planting a firm kick in the former Titan's midsection that he follows up with a knee strike; impressive as the blow is, only the sedan is dented by the impact rather than Nightwing. Though Nightwing attempts to go on the offensive, Murdock catches his kick and pins the original Robin against the car, but the match swings more in Dick's favor once he pushes Daredevil away. Even when Matt shields himself from an oncoming punch and catches Nightwing in a scissor hold onto the pavement, Grayson finds himself alert enough to spot Daredevil brandishing a billy club, tilting from every attempt to bash his skull in. An oncoming swing is met by Nightwing shielding himself, the blades on his suit's forearms catching the billy club; as he uncrosses them, the force behind the motion knocking Daredevil off balance. His foe distracted, Dick takes the opportunity to pin Matt to the ground, but faced with another scissor hold, meets this advance with one of his own.
Struggling to keep the boxer's son subdued with an armbar, Nightwing's domino mask flashes brightly as he scans his foe, being informed of Matt's blindness moments later. A sharp snap and a violent holler fill the garage a second later as Nightwing dislocates Daredevil's arm, flinging the acrobatic lawyer against a pile of rubble after. Their breathing ragged and their composures worn out, the street-level heroes upright themselves once again, Nightwing courteous enough to let Daredevil snap his arm back into place. The two ready their eskrima sticks, Matt conjoining his into a staff, and with a final exchange of words, charge back into action, parrying each others' swings as rapidly as they move. Batting the orphaned acrobat away leaves Daredevil wide open, and Nightwing exploits this by plunging his electrified sticks against the red armor; even with a pair of tasers pressed against him, Matt still has the clarity of mind to hurl his cane against the sedan, rebounding and knocking Dick aside. Nightwing forces Murdock onto the defensive, pushing him further and further back with every swipe until another toss of the cane disorients Nightwing once more. It may seem like a stalemate to the two combatants, that is until Dick eyes the garage's power box, and with a firm toss of an electrified stick, the lights in the garage immediately die out.
Standing motionlessly in the darkness of the garage, Daredevil's radar sense comes into play, showing no emotion even as Nightwing runs about. A trio of Wing-dings are batted into a nearby car as Daredevil readies his staff for another offense from Nightwing; the trapeze artist leaps towards Daredevil, but the staff launches its grappling cable at Grayson, who drops to the floor the moment the cable makes contact at the base of his shoulder. Kicking the prone Nightwing face-up, Daredevil taunts Dick as he lies helpless on the floor, but the tables are soon turned when Nightwing reveals his bluff. A shrill noise rings from the Wing-dings, and Daredevil, his superhuman hearing abused by the sounds, clutches his head in agony. Struggling to make sense of his surroundings, Daredevil fails to notice Nightwing standing upright, a mistake that proves costly as the hero of Gotham charges a fist with electrical energy. One final wide swing to Matt's exposed jaw, and the impact behind the punch proves enough to snap Daredevil's neck, who crumples to the floor, the final resting spot for the Devil of Hell's Kitchen as Nightwing departs from the scene.
K.O.!
While Boomstick is perplexed at the nature of the fight portrayed in live-action, Wiz is more focused on detailing the outcome of the match itself. Described as one of the closest matchups in the series' history, both Nightwing and Daredevil proved to be highly competent and dangerous foes; their physical stats were so close that, while Dick was the stronger of the two and Matt the quicker, the hosts suggest each would easily be capable of performing feats the other has shown. However, the key differences in what each had to offer— that is, Nightwing's various gadgets and Daredevil's super senses— proved to play firmly in the former's favor. The electric pulses that let Daredevil navigate through his surroundings would be sensed by Nightwing's mask, giving Grayson an opening to exploit. Being trained by one of the greatest minds in the DC universe, Dick could deduce Matt's overreliance on sound compared to sight, and the ultrasonic Wing-dings were exactly the kind of high frequency tools he could use to overwhelm Daredevil's hyper-sensitive hearing and clinch a victory afterward. While the hosts admit that Daredevil could easily take the win should the pair ever come to blows, in the end, it was more likely Nightwing could take Matt's advantages and use them as his own.
Wiz: The winner is Nightwing!
Next time on Death Battle: an old match, with new rules. Episode 100...
Nightwing vs. Daredevil contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: Something Batman gets called out on when he frees Dick from working alongside him, only to bring later Robin Jason Todd under his wing, and we all know what happens next...
- Bifurcated Weapon: Daredevil's trademark billy clubs are shown to be exceptionally versatile, turning into nunchucks, a bo staff, and even a boomerang.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: One of Nightwing's more impressive feats, mentioned in passing, is how he can "sneak around Batman, Superman, and Batman with Superman's powers!"
- Continuity Nod: Former Death Battle combatant Captain America is acknowledged when comparing how his trademark shield doubles as a Precision-Guided Boomerang, much like how Daredevil's billy club can do the same.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Completely Averted. This was one of the most dead even fights in the series. The hosts note that the difference in their physical capabilities were so minuscule that it was entirely feasible that they could replicate each others feats perfectly. The key reason for Nightwing's victory was thanks to his sonic Wing-ding being able to give Daredevil a case of Sensory Overload.
- Dead Hat Shot: The fight ends with the camera focused on Daredevil's discarded helmet. Unlike most examples, Daredevil's body can clearly be seen in the background.
- Death by Origin Story: Both combatants' origins involve them losing (almost
) all of their parental figures. Boomstick even lampshades this, citing how "you can't be a superhero unless you've lost your parents." - Formula-Breaking Episode: While other episodes have used different styles to portray the combatants fighting compared to the traditional sprites, this episode marks the first time the actual fight is delivered in live-action. Even better, the performer for Nightwing has played the character before in Death Battle's rival series, Super Power Beat Down.Boomstick: What the... Was that Live-action!? We can do that now!?
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The electric energy that powers Daredevil's radar sense would easily be picked up by Nightwing's mask, which would easily pick up such anomolies, and that, in turn would give away his blindness and heightened senses, an easy target for Nightwing to exploit.
- Mundane Utility: Apparently, the Daredevil suit makes for a handy Halloween costume if a real one is unavailable, if Boomstick can be trusted.
- Musical Nod: Near the end of the match, the background music adopts the melody from the opening sequence of Daredevil's Netflix series.
- Porn Stash: The Death Battle podcast after this episode aired reveals that the object Daredevil found in the trunk of the sedan was Nightwing's collection of porn.
- Running Gag: Bleeding over into Continuity Nod, Boomstick doesn't miss a beat when revealing the young Dick Grayson was adopted by "the goddamn Batman" himself.
- Sensory Overload: Thanks to his Super-Senses, the best way to put down Daredevil is exploiting those senses, such as his hearing. Too bad it just so happens his foe has some high-frequency weapons on him...
- Shout-Out:
- A shot of Robin flooring Batman in one punch is followed up with what is perhaps the most famous line in Friday:
"You got knocked the f*** out, man!"- Boomstick is so perplexed by the shapes used in Wingdings font, they're likened to Unown lettering.
- Wiz also calls Boomstick out on his reckless behavior, implying he's destructive as Dee-Dee let loose upon any scientific equipment.
- Take That!: Albeit briefly, but Boomstick lays one on Titans (2018) and its infamous "fuck Batman" scene.
