Thanks to the popular Daredevil Netflix series, fans know all about the eerie accident that blinded Matt Murdock and gave him his radiation-spawned super senses. While walking home from school one day, the sighted Murdock witnessed an old man about to be hit by a truck. Young Matt immediately leapt forward, shoving the old man to safety – but was then hit in the eyes by radioactive waste from one of the truck’s cannisters. Blinded, Matt later discovered the sludge had heightened his remaining four sentences, allowing him to become the sightless, ninja-trained vigilante Daredevil.
What is not so commonly known is what became of the radioactive cannister after it struck Matt’s eyes. Although most Marvel fans believe it simply rolled away into obscurity, fans of early independent comic books from the 1980s know the sludge performed one final act – namely mutate four baby turtles into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Yes, as incredible as it might seem, the first issue of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reveals that the same ooze that gave the Marvel Universe Daredevil also helped spawn mutant ninja heroes Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo!
How Eastman and Laird Used Daredevil to Create the TMNT
In truth, Daredevil’s influence over the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began when the mutant turtles were little more than sketches in their creators’ hands. Back in the early 1980s, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman were huge fans of Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil. This, along with their love of Miller’s samurai comic book Ronin and the weird and wacky artwork of Jack Kirby, inspired them to blend many of their interests into an offbeat independent comic book.
According to Laird, many of the characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are parodies/homages of classic Daredevil characters. The Turtles’ wise mentor, the giant mutated rat Splinter, was inspired by Matt Murdock’s own blind ninja sensei Stick. Likewise, just as Daredevil regularly fights Marvel’s ninja clan the Hand, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were given their own ninja adversaries with “The Foot.” The Turtles’ main link to Daredevil, however, was anything but subtle.
What Happened to the Radioactive Canister After It Struck Matt Murdock
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984), the Turtles’ ninja master Splinter recalls how he first met his mutant sons. According to the giant rat, after immigrating to New York with his master Hamato Yoshi, Splinter found himself alone on the streets. One day, while rummaging through some garbage for food, Splinter saw an old blind man cross the street and walk into the pathway of a truck. Splinter then witnessed young Matt Murdock (referred to in the indie comic book as “a young man”) push the old man to safety but get struck by one of the canisters on the truck.
Unnoticed by everyone except Splinter, the canister bounced on the ground and hit a glass jar carried by a young boy. The jar shattered, freeing four baby turtles and covering them with the “glowing ooze.” Splinter himself was exposed to the ooze when he decided to save the four turtles by placing them in a coffee can (indicating he must have been pretty large even before his transformation). The turtles and the rat continued to mutate in the sewers over the next few days, becoming intelligent humanoid creatures.
Apparently, being mutated by the same radioactive ooze gave both Daredevil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a proclivity for ninjitsu – for while Matt Murdock trained with his master Stick high above the streets of New York, the mutated turtles underwent their own training in the sewer tunnels, eventually emerging years later to combat street crime and evil ninjas.
Moreover, when their independent comic book began to be published in color instead of the original black-and-white, the Turtles also showcased another Daredevil homage. While modern depictions of the TMNT show them with different colored masks (blue for Leonardo, orange for Michaelangelo, red for Raphael, and purple for Donatello), their early appearances had them all fight in red masks – identical to Daredevil’s color of choice!
Has Daredevil Ever Teamed Up With the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Despite their (unofficial) shared origin, similar ninja skills, and identical New York battlegrounds, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have never actually met or teamed up with Daredevil. This seems strange since, following their massive popularity, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had crossovers with superheroes and famous comic book characters in virtually every property.
The TMNT met, fought, and teamed up with the Power Rangers in the TV series Power Rangers in Space and a BOOM! Studios’ Power Rangers/TMNT comic book crossover. They also crossed over into Archie Comics and hung out in Riverdale with Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica. Most recently, the Turtles fought and teamed up with Batman against the Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul in both a comic book miniseries and an animated movie, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Considering that the Dark Knight met the Man Without Fear in the Marvel/DC crossover Daredevil and Batman, a crossover between the TMNT and their sightless superhero inspiration seems overdue.
That said, Marvel may have offered a subtle reference to the connection between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Daredevil in the Netflix series The Defenders. In the fifth episode of the series, the Defenders – including Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones – are led by Daredevil’s mentor Stick into the sewers to escape the Hand. Writer Mike Cecchini of Den of Geek! points out that the scene references many Turtle tropes, including an old martial arts master with a wood-based name leading four martial arts heroes into the sewers. The heroes also have a similar color palate to the TMNT (Daredevil is red, Jessica Jones is purple, Iron Fist is green, and Luke Cage is yellow). While the comparison isn’t exact, it’s certainly similar enough to raise a few eyebrows.
So, while Daredevil still hasn’t enjoyed an official team-up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, nods like this to their shared origin indicate that there’s at least some interest in a crossover – something fans of both properties will undoubtedly enjoy.