History
Born blind, Milla Donovan grew up in Hell's Kitchen and dedicated herself to improving its conditions by working in the Hell's Kitchen Housing Commission. While crossing the street, Milla was almost run over; she was saved just in time by Daredevil. Captivated by the hero who saved her life, Milla sought him out. Matt Murdock had just been outed by the press as Daredevil so Milla went to his attorney office to give him her thanks. Naturally, Matt denied having an alter ego but found himself to be so enchanted by Milla's presence that he was unable to invent a convincing cover story. He and Milla began to date, with her accepting his dangerous double life. Unfortunately, however, now that his identity was public knowledge, the offices of Nelson and Murdock were regularly assaulted by Daredevil's enemies - something Milla had to reluctantly get used to.[citation needed]
After the previous incidents involving Echo and his son, Fisk sought to rebuild his criminal empire and ruin Daredevil in the process. Nevertheless, the power vacuum created in his absence left New York wide open for organized crime rings, prompting Daredevil to declare himself "The New Kingpin" and overall ruler/protector of the city. In spite of this display of power Japanese Yakuza moved into Hell's Kitchen with designs on the whole city. Armed with swords they attacked Matt as he and Milla were walking in their civilian clothes; Matt urged Milla to flee and call for help whilst he dealt with the aggressors. The Yakuza were of course defeated but Matt disappeared after the incident.[citation needed]
Milla met with Ben Urich, pleading with him to help find Matt, she also revealed that recently she and Matt had had a small private wedding. Ben found Matt in the care of The Night Nurse and urged him to return. Unfortunately, The Kingpin sent Typhoid Mary to attack him and Milla whilst he secured other means of publicly ruining him. Almost immediately after Bullseye approached Milla in their home with the intention of killing her - and thus make it "three for three" with all of Matt's lovers. Milla would have certainly died had Matt not arrived dressed as Daredevil just in time. This terrifying incident and an offhand comment from Foggy Nelson led Milla to believe Matt in fact was still in the throes of a nervous breakdown following Bullseye's murder of Karen Page and that his love for her was not in fact genuine, but merely a distraction. The next day she filed for an annulment, stating that if Matt really cared for her he would agree to it.[citation needed]
Alone and upset, Matt had still to protect Hell's Kitchen from the likes of The Owl and had to face the media frenzy surrounding his double life, which came to a head when the chief of the FBI, desperate to incriminate Daredevil and thus prove himself, joined forces with The Kingpin to legally destroy him. Amidst these trials, Matt was kidnapped by former Kingpin Alexander Bont and reluctant servant The Gladiator and would have been beaten to death were he not saved by protégé, the new White Tiger. After that ordeal Milla came back to him, having missed him and been beside herself with worry. Their reunion was cut short by the arrival of Matt's former lovers Elektra and Black Widow, both of whom had learned of The Kingpin's immanent destruction of Matt's reputation and along with White Tiger tried to prevent the situation from escalating. Another confrontation with Bullseye left White Tiger injured, and for payment from the FBI chief, the mercenary Paladin shot Matt out in the open from outside the range of his Radar Sense, causing Elektra to take him to the Night Nurse once more. Black Widow also brought Milla to the Night Nurse so she could be at Matt's side. The FBI tracked Matt down to the Night Nurse's clinic and demanded he give himself over - this was met with defense from Luke Cage and Iron Fist and a battalion of Hand Ninja on Elektra's orders, however as the groups clashed Matt relented, not wanting any more violence or to worry Milla further.[citation needed]
For his technically criminal life as a vigilante, Matt was sentenced to incarceration in Ryker's Island prison, alongside The Kingpin, who was double crossed by the FBI at the last minute. Inside the prison Matt was besieged by many criminals whom he had personally put away, including Hammerhead and eventually Bullseye. The Punisher also allowed himself to be arrested so's to keep an eye on Matt from the inside. Desperate to prove his innocence Foggy, Becky Blake and Milla hired private investigator Dakota North, all of whom visited the prison to see him. During one such visit, corrupt guards allowed Foggy to be stabbed by inmates and supposedly killed. Shortly afterwards a full scale riot broke out in the prison - taking advantage of this, The Punisher managed to steal a police helicopter and free himself and Matt. Milla was there that day, but Matt was able to convince them to leave before the riot started.[citation needed]
Despite the extreme worry this put Milla in, Matt, now on the run, pursued the person who arranged Foggy's murder. After extensive travels, Matt encountered a beautiful woman named Lily Lucca, who turned out to be a pawn to manipulate him. This led Matt to eventually uncover the orchestrator behind the scheme, who was in fact Vanessa Fisk - now deathly ill. Vanessa revealed she had arranged Matt's recent suffering as revenge for what he and Wilson put her family through, and offered him substantial evidence to clear his name, if and only if he compromised his morals and arranged for her husband The Kingpin to be cleared also. Matt naturally declined, but Vanessa instead released the information to the media and conveniently, proved that Foggy was still alive and had the FBI chief killed in a fashion looking like suicide. Although she died shortly after, Matt was a free man forever in her debt and had no choice but to use his skills as a lawyer to free her husband.[citation needed]
Meanwhile Milla was overjoyed to finally have her husband back, healthy and free, though by now she had become so consumed by fear and worry that she had begun seeing a therapist to cope with the stress he brought to her life. This brief time of stability was as always interrupted when new threats emerged in Hell's Kitchen. The Hood began moving in on The Kingpin's former territory, employing the Wrecking Crew to attack Daredevil and old foe Mister Fear returned. Mr. Fear devised a powerful gas that induced feelings of intense terror and hallucinations in all who had not been made immune to it. He initially chose The Gladiator to be his first victim - knowing Matt would become emotionally involved in redeeming him.[1] Next Mr. Fear targeted Matt himself - leading to Matt ending up more confused and desperate than ever. Lily Lucca made an unwelcome return, stating she wished to make amends for her past actions and was given to Dakota as a client. Lily nevertheless flirted with all the men she came into contact with, including Matt and Foggy - something which enraged Milla. Eventually Milla snapped and went to push Lily over; instead she accidentally pushed a civilian into the path of a speeding train, killing him. Milla was then arrested and officially diagnosed as mentally unstable and a danger to himself and others. Matt begged the courts to release her if she received constant care - something they agreed to on the condition that nurse stay in his and Milla's house to take care of her - something Matt was forced to settle for. Lily, having been blackmailed through intimidation by Mr. Fear visited the Murdock home to apologize to Milla personally though the visit ended in disaster when an enraged Milla gravely injured her nurse and tried to attack Lily as well.[2]
Furious, Matt continued his battles with Mr. Fear, who gleefully revealed that he had in fact been Milla's therapist and had been exposing her to his fear gas for months to destroy Matt's personal life, he also revealed that he has manipulated Lily into returning and thus be the element that finally pushed Milla over the edge. Beside himself with rage, Matt beat Mr. Fear too a pulp and placed him in Ryker's a sentence that barely upset Fear, though without exposing Daredevil's secret identity confessed to being responsible for both Milla and Melvin Potter's recent behavior. Milla was then officially placed into private care and Matt was denied visitation rights as he was allegedly the root of all her problems. As Daredevil, Matt threw himself into the protection of Hell's Kitchen, being unnecessarily cruel to criminals to express his rage and sadness. He also withdrew from contact with his civilian and superhero friends and devoted his days as a lawyer into lobbying for Milla's release, which he was regularly denied.[2]
After Elektra was revealed to be a Skrull in disguise, The Hand sought to make Daredevil its new leader and dispatched Lady Bullseye to pull his strings. In a civilian disguise as a lawyer, she was hired by Milla's parents who fervently believed that Matt was a dangerous influence on their daughter, and wanted to regain legal custody of her during her recovery and thereby sever Matt's remaining ties to her. The added pressure of The Hand's presence in New York eventually lead to a distraught Matt seeking solace in Dakota's arms, just as Lady Bullseye has planned. She photographed them having sex and as a lawyer showed them to Milla's parents. This was the final straw and they were granted full custody.[citation needed]
Despite this heartbreaking development, Matt still had to deal with The Hand, as well as The Kingpin and The Owl who were also involved in their schemes. Though he did eventually assume the role of Hand leader, Matt realized that he was in fact bad for Milla and snuck into her room in psychiatric hospital while she slept, to be with her one last time acknowledging he can no longer afford to put her life in danger and contacted Foggy with the instructions to give Milla's parents whatever they wanted.[citation needed]
Later on Milla showed up at Matt's apartment apparently better. Knowing that Milla's condition was incurable Matt put her to sleep using sleeping pills in her tea and has Foggy check on Milla's cell as the psychiatric hospital only to learn that Milla was still there, causing Foggy to continue to question Matt's sanity. It was later revealed that Daredevil's new enemy Coyote was responsible for Milla's sudden reappearance by using The Spot's powers to teleport her between both places to make it look like that Matt Murdock was going insane. Afterwards Matt sent a letter of apology to Milla but the doctor after reading it places it in a filing cabinet filled with Matt's other undelivered letters. Milla was later revealed to be one of Bullseye's targets and an assassin was sent to kill her, but she was already saved by Black Widow to whom Daredevil dispatched to Milla as a precaution.[citation needed]Attributes
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- Life saved by Daredevil: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #41
- Met Matt Murdock, confirmed that he was Daredevil, began dating him: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #42-43
- Survived attacks by Typhoid and Bullseye: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #48-49
- Met Ben Urich, revealed that she had married Matt: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #56-57
- Left Matt: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #60
- Filed for annulment: Daredevil (Vol. 2) #61
- During Matt's trial for being Daredevil there is an extensive scene in which Matt forcibly escapes the courtroom to meet Black Widow, who secretly arranges for him and Milla to relocate to France under new identities. Nevertheless, Bullseye tracks them down and murders Milla in her sleep, prompting a vengeful Matt to break his neck, finally killing him. He then seeks out Elektra who urges him to go back to New York to clean up the mess he left behind. This entire sequence was in fact an imaginary scenario running through Matt's mind during the trial - an assessment of the likely chain of events that his escape would lead to. Thus he remained in the courtroom and Milla and Bullseye never died.
- In Amazing Spider-Man #600, Milla is mentioned and her hospitalization in the mental institution is part of the reason why Daredevil (Post-One More Day) refuses to know Spider-Man's secret identity.
See Also
- 43 appearance(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)
- 9 minor appearance(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)
- 28 mention(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)
- 10 image(s) of Milla Donovan (Earth-616)