Warning: contains a preview of Devil's Reign #1!

As new event Devil's Reign begins, Wilson Fisk - the current mayor of New York City - has found a way to take down even the most powerful heroes, including Daredevilthe Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The former Kingpin of Crime, however, will not accomplish that with superpowers or high-tech weapons, but with something that may prove way more effective: the hidden secrets of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Previews for Devil's Reign #1 (by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles) have shown that many story threads that were laid down over the course of the past year in Daredevil are finally being brought together. In Daredevil #36, Fisk - while vacationing in his summer house with his new wife Typhoid Mary - found evidence that led him to believe that he has been brainwashed in the past, in order to make him forget Daredevil's secret identity. This is the last straw for the former Kingpin, who in the recent past has vented his frustration over the fact that superpowered beings make him feel (and look) weak. Now, using his powers as NYC's Mayor and years of records as an underworld information broker, Fisk plans to bring the whole city together in his crusade against superheroes.

Related: Marvel Just Revealed Kingpin's New Thunderbolts Team (And It Rules)

In Daredevil #35, readers were shown a tense confrontation between a group of superheroes and the law enforcement of New York City, who were trying to arrest Daredevil after his escape from prison to stop Bullseye. Heroes like Iron Man and Spider-Man attempted to prevent Daredevil's arrest, and while he quickly handed himself over, the Thing rightly assessed that it felt like the assembled vigilantes were standing on the edge of a cliff. In a new preview of Devil's Reign #1 shared by AIPT, it's revealed that this is the ground on which Wilson Fisk is laying his plan. In a press conference, he announces the "Powers Act," meaning that any individual who exhibits superhuman powers or conducts acts of "destructive vigilantism" will be immediately charged as a threat, including the Avengers.

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While this law only applies to the territory of New York, it still reminds readers of the Superhuman Registration Act that sparked the Civil War among superheroes. However, such extreme measures require the support of the public. In the case of Civil War, this was generated by the villain Nitro blowing up a school, but in this case, Fisk intends to reveal the heroes' misdeeds. Fisk begins his public speech in Devil's Reign #1 mentioning the many times that New York has been attacked or destroyed. The recent invasion of the symbiotes in King in Black particularly affected him because one of the creatures attached to Typhoid Mary. In a stroke of genius, however, Fisk blames it all on the heroes.

"At the heart of almost every one of those," the Mayor says, talking about the waves of attacks and destruction, "are 'superheroes.'" He has learned that the original alien symbiote Venom was brought to Earth by Spider-Man, but marketing materials for Devil's Reign have shown that he has dirt on all Marvel's heroes - especially Elektra, whose tie-in Daredevil: Woman Without Fear will see her scrambling to address a past sin unearthed by Fisk. Far from being a simple blackmail tactic, Fisk's frontal attack shows that the creative team behind the series are not afraid to tackle the dark side of superhero stories. "You are not better than us," Fisk says, and he is bound to prove it.

Heroes often have to make complicated choices and their lives are full of tragedies they try to keep hidden. Now that Wilson Fisk wants to strike at the heart of superhero society by revealing their darkest secrets, the Avengers and his sworn enemy Daredevil will surely be at the top of his list when Devil's Reign #1 hits retailers December 8.

Next: How Hawkeye's Echo Is Connected To Kingpin In The Comics

Source: AIPT