Fan Casting Matt Murdock in Joe Carnahan's Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

Matt Murdock grew up in the area of Manhattan known as Chelsea (the locals call it Hell's Kitchen), the son of a small-time prizefighter, Jack Murdock. Oh her deathbed, Matt's mother made Jack promise to give Matt a better life than he himself had had. To this end, Jack encouraged Matt to stick to his studies rather than become an athlete. However, Jack understood that Matt needed to know how to defend himself, and did give Matt some training in boxing. Jack insisted that Matt never start a fight, words Matt took to heart. When he was eleven, Matt was passing through the docks on his way home from school when he encountered a man being roughed up by some organized criminal enforcers. While trying to decide whether he should get involved, breaking his promise to never start a fight, and yet unwilling to let the enforcers get away with their brutal treatment of another, one of the enforcers' lookouts caught hold of Matt. Matt fought back, but was unable to do much. In the scuffle, one of the barrels on the docks was torn open, and a glowing green liquid, radioactive waste, sprayed Matt in his eyes. Matt's screams of pain brought the other dock workers, who took the boy to the hospital. It was in the hospital that Matt discovered that his other senses had been enhanced by the radiation. Jack took Matt to a blind martial arts master named Stick to help him deal with his new abilities. Matt's powers gave him a sense of fearlessness, which earned him the nickname "Daredevil" among the other kids in Hell's Kitchen.