Once again, the Marvel Universe has put a law on the books outlawing superheroes, this time in the city limits of New York City. In a preview of the upcoming Devil's Reign #1 (of 6), New York City mayor Kingpin (yeah, the classic Daredevil villain) has announced a new law - 'The Powers Act' - which makes anyone with superhuman abilities illegal, and which states anyone doing "destructive vigilantism" will be arrested by the New York Police Department.
(Good luck with that - they can't even put cuffs on Spider-Man).
Devil's Reign raises the stakes in the decades-old rivalry between Daredevil and Kingpin - particularly during the current Chip Zdarsky/Marco Checchetto Daredevil run where Kingpin became mayor of New York City.
Check out this preview of Devil's Reign #1, also by Zdarsky and Checchetto:
Longtime Daredevil and Spider-Man villain Kingpin is at the center of Devil's Reign, and this time he has a scheme to unleash "shocking truths" and "dark secrets" about some of Marvel's most high-profile superheroes that he's kept to himself for years.
Wilson Fisk is always looking to add to his power base, and the Mayor of New York City uses the powers of his office to outlaw superheroes and uses the knowledge he gained as leader of the underworld to rock the worlds of the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man (which may give readers an idea what titles Dark Reign will cross over with), along with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
He also has a new iteration of the Thunderbolts from the recent 'King in Black' event - supervillains Crossbones, Taskmaster, Typhoid Mary, Shocker, Whiplash, Rhino, and Kraven - at his command to make life even more miserable for the heroes.
"Our Daredevil plan just kept getting bigger and bigger, to the point where it would clearly affect the Marvel Universe in huge ways," Zdarsky promises in Marvel's reveal of Checchetto's cover to issue #1.
"Thankfully, Marvel recognized this as well and gave Marco and I the opportunity to tell the story on a massive stage with Devil's Reign! This is a proper Marvel event springing from the pages of Daredevil and I think all Marvel readers will love what's coming!"
Checchetto has drawn the primary cover for Devil's Reign #1, with variant covers planned by Peach Momoko, John Romita Jr., Skottie Young, Inhyuk Lee, Marco Turini (two versions), Gerald Parel, Mark Bagley, Chip Zdarsky, Alex Maleev, and a blank variant. Here are the ones released so far:
Devil's Reign #1 (of 6) goes on sale on December 8, with a collected edition of all six Devil's Reign issues scheduled for May 24, 2022.
The Kingpin and Typhoid Mary are among the best Daredevil villains of all time.
