How Zohran Mamdani is the Daredevil of a new generation

How Zohran Mamdani is the Daredevil of a new generation Submitted by Hamid Dabashi on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 17:08 Amid a flurry of wins for the New York mayor and his progressive allies, the national conversation on Israel is shifting People hold signs as Zohran Mamdani, then a candidate for mayor, speaks during a news conference in New York City on 2 July 2025 (Michael M Santiago/Getty Images/AFP) On Unless you are an avid fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as I am, chances are you’re not familiar with Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin - a deeply corrupt and monstrously ruthless supervillain, whose ambitious criminal enterprise finally lands him in the New York mayor’s office. Fisk’s ascendancy to mayor of New York, often compared to the rise of US President Donald Trump, was so normal and natural in the irredeemably corrupt sphere of American politics - even in the fictional version - that the only force capable of opposing him was a blind vigilante lawyer, Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil . Daredevil’s superhero qualities, attained after he lost his sight in a childhood accident, embodied the desperate aspirations of generations of Marvel fans to fight the power of Fisk’s corruption.