“We need heroes.” This is Matt Murdock’s final plea as he stands before the jury to make a case for his defendant, the vigilante known as Punisher. This particular line isn’t merely a defense of Frank Castle, however. There’s something deeper going on within the heart of our blind lawyer. It’s a rare moment of honesty and reflection, mixed in with some self-justification and personal vindication. After all, Matt Murdock isn’t just a struggling lawyer trying to pull in enough money to pay the bills. During the night, he himself plays the role of vigilante, prowling the streets of New York as Daredevil.
Faced with heavy criticism from those around him, Matt takes this moment to speak up not only for Frank, but for his own actions as Daredevil. Matt has been forced to come to terms with his double life. As a lawyer, he uses the justice system forged through our American democracy as a means of carrying out the law. Yet as Daredevil, Matt undermines his own profession. In some sense, his life as the vigilante says, “The courts are not enough.” While there is an endless rabbit trail to follow in this complex moral dilemma surrounding vigilanteism, I want to pause on the focal point of Matt’s argument. Here is the whole quote:
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we all know that this city needs help. Needs it now. Not tomorrow, not next week. We need it now. Because this city’s been sick. And the cops, they can’t fix it alone. They need — we all need — men and women who are willing to take the fight themselves. The kind of people who risk their lives so that we can walk safer at night in our own neighborhoods. The ones our esteemed District Attorney here is trying so hard to destroy! New York needs these people. We need… heroes. The help they offer… and the hope that they provide.”
Not only is Matt offering a defense for himself, and to some extent Frank, but he is actually providing a defense for something written deep within the framework of societies throughout history.
We. Need. Heroes.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
– Neil Gaiman
Heroes are not simply the stuff of comic books. They are not “just for kids”. Nor are they a box office fad that will soon fade. Heroes, and the things that they represent, are deeply ingrained in each of us. They define the cultures of the world. They are hope, and love, and justice, and peace, and courage. On a personal level, they are a part of me.
We need heroes of all kinds.
We need heroes like Captain America and Superman, who at times may annoy readers with how near-perfect they are. We need them to inspire us and push us to be something better. We need them to point us to a more noble path.
“The price of freedom is high, it always has been. And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one, then so be it.”
– Captain America
We need heroes like Harry Potter, who embrace the heavy burdens that are set before them, no matter their age or upbringing or skill or knowledge. Heroes who choose to fight a battle much bigger than them, and take on the responsibilities that no one else can handle. Heroes who choose the harder path so that others don’t have to. Heroes that choose, ultimately, to sacrifice.
We need heroes like Sam, who can get lost in the shadow of a great symbol of hope like Frodo. Heroes who are there not to take the spotlight, but to demonstrate the ideals of loyalty and courage. Heroes who support and trust a cause that is bigger than them. Heroes who say of the burdens others carry, “I may not be able to carry it for you, but I can carry you.” Heroes who stand by their friends through thick and thin. Heroes who are not seen, but nevertheless are needed because, after all, “Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam.”
“Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”
– Aragorn
We need heroes like Iron Man, whose biggest battles rage not with Thanos or Galactus, but within himself. Heroes who refuse to back down in the face of their inner demons. Heroes who struggle day in and day out to wage war on their pride and selfishness.
We need heroes like Batman, who recognize the darkness of their path and what it entails. Heroes who give up the promise of a happy life so that they can continue to fight for others. Heroes who, ultimately, refuse to see themselves as heroes at all.
“So that’s what it is. The ears. The belt. The gargoyle. It’s not funny. It’s the choice of a boy. The choice to die. I am Batman. I am suicide.”
– Batman
We need real life heroes, like the soldiers of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Young men, some less than 20 years of age, who persevere through “terror, bloodshed, and hideous, agonizing deaths” so that others might enjoy freedom and peace. Heroes, and leaders, like Lt. Dick Winters. A man who led not by commanding others to “Go”, but by example. A man about whom others might say, “I would follow you into hell”.
We need deeply flawed heroes, who nevertheless stand for something powerful. Heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., who remind us that our flaws do not hinder us from spurring a movement of peace and love that can change a country.
“We learn as much from our failures as we do from our triumphs. Every step, even when we stumble, helps us reach for the stars.”
– Reed Richards, Fantastic Four #14
We need the daily heroes that are never seen, and whose names are forgotten. Mothers, police officers, fire fighters, doctors, counselors, teachers, pastors, missionaries, and countless others who don’t wear a cape or fly through the sky but nonetheless carry out heroic deeds, oftentimes without so much as a “Thank you”.
We need more modern day heroes. In a world of virtue signaling, morally corrupt politicians, and endless Twitter arguments, we need men and women who inspire. We need those who refuse to take part in the smug nature of taking shots at others to lift themselves up. We need those who say “no” to fulfillment, riches, fame, and the fleeting praises of man.
We also need to remember something, when it comes to our beloved heroes. We need to remember that these heroes are not particularly special people. At least, they aren’t special in the way that you might expect a hero to be. Most often they are actually rather ordinary people. Peter Parker was a regular teenage kid and Bilbo was a hobbit, the “most unlikely creature imaginable”. And it was not the proportionate strength of a spider or a magical ring that made them heroes. It was their character. And for this very reason, it might be fair to say that Spider-Man’s most heroic acts were not in his epic battles with super-villains, but in the tender moments spent web-swinging with a little boy dying of leukemia or helping a struggling teenager with his homework.
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!”
– Albus Dumbledore
The heroes we often adore are regular people like you and me. They are born not by gamma radiation or a mystical hammer of the gods, but by the choices they make and the traits they resemble. In the words of another great literary figure, Albus Dumbledore: “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
Perhaps you are thinking, “I don’t feel like a hero”. Perhaps that’s because you’ve got the idea of “hero” wrong altogether. After all, what makes a hero? It is not their abilities, but their choices. We all have what it takes to be a hero. Not because we are all capable of changing the world, but because we are all capable of exhibiting the traits that make a hero: responsibility, courage, perseverance, kindness, hope, love, integrity, and sacrifice.
“You don’t have to wear an ‘S’ or a bat on your chest to be a hero, son. Just be one when it counts.”
– Clark Kent, Superman #1
Matt Murdock is right. We do need heroes, and the hope that they provide. Heroes inspire me, and I don’t know where I would be without them. They inspire me to be a better man, a better brother, a better friend, and perhaps one day even a better husband and father. They inspire me to fight the ever-present battle with my own sin. They inspire me to love and sacrifice. They inspire me to get back up when life has me down. They inspire me, quite simply, to be better tomorrow than I was today. And I hope that they will inspire you too.
“A hero is someone who is concerned about other people’s well-being and will go out of his or her way to help them, even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt a real superhero.”
– Stan Lee
Ben White