(electronic music)
- Elektra, like many comic book characters, has dabbled
in death and resurrection a few times over.
But what if she was kept dead, and all of her appearances
after the fact were really the work of a
shape-shifting alien?
Is Elektra secretly a Skrull?
Well, no.
But she almost was.
(upbeat music)
Elektra Natchios was created by Frank Miller and debuted
in Daredevil #168 from 1981, the cover of which actually
misspelled her name with an added C.
Has nothing to do with this video,
but I always find those kinds of things fun.
Anyway, I'm sure we all know that famous scene
in Daredevil #181 when Elektra is stabbed by Bullseye
with her own sai, marking her first comic death.
That's right, she was only around for about a year
before being killed off, and then brought back shortly
after, in Daredevil #190.
Frank Miller would leave Daredevil one issue later,
but he brought back Elektra in 1990 in a little known
graphic novel called Elektra Lives Again, where she
not only lived again, like the title promises,
but also died again.
The difference is that this time
she wasn't brought back to life.
Elektra was dead-dead.
At least, that's what Miller had intended.
He even went so far as to strike a deal with Daredevil
editor Ralph Macchio--
- -Not that Ralph Macchio--
To make sure that the character stayed dead for good.
But of course they never stuck to that deal.
It wasn't Macchio's fault, either.
In an interview with his assistant, Pat Garrett,
he explained that Macchio made the deal when Marvel
was a private company.
When the company went public,
the decision to keep Elektra dead was no longer
in Macchio's hands.
It was the higher-ups who made the decision
to bring her back because, "They wanted to play
with her potential as an action figure."
So yeah, they brought back Elektra
into the land of the living for potential toy sales.
It effectively broke the promise to Miller
that she would stay dead.
Some people at Marvel weren't too happy about this
and tried to find creative ways to right
the company's wrongs.
Enter Erik Larsen, one of the founders of Image Comics
with the series Savage Dragon.
He was working with Marvel at the time on their Nova book
and thought he could sneak in a little Easter egg
for the eagle-eyed readers.
In opening sequence of Nova #3 from 1999, Larsen wanted
there to be an Elektra Skrull being arrested after battling
with Nova.
The idea was that Elektra really did die after Miller killed
her that second time and every other comic book appearance
since then was really this Skrull imposter.
This would mean that Marvel technically kept their promise
to Miller that the real Elektra, whom he had created,
was still very much dead.
All of her other adventures were simply that
of a shape-shifter.
Of course, Larsen never got permission to do this.
He was hoping that no one at Marvel would notice.
Unfortunately, somebody did.
And who else but Ralph Macchio?
And you would think that he would be all for letting this
Easter egg slide since he was the one who made the deal
with Miller, but no.
He told Larsen to take it out, which Larsen did,
by replacing the Elektra Skrull with a Savage Dragon Skrull
instead in an attempt to promote his own Image comic
inside of a Marvel comic, which I find hilarious.
What's really interesting is that this whole thing
took place eight years before the Marvel event,
Secret Invasion, in which Elektra was revealed
to be a Skrull.
Does this mean that the real Elektra really was dead
all along?
No, of course not.
She was very much alive, just being held on a Skrull ship,
and she was released or whatever.
Look, I like Elektra, I really do, but sometimes
you just need to let a character die.
What do you guys think?
Should Marvel have honored their promise and kept Elektra
dead or are you glad that she was brought back?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
In honor of Daredevil Season Two, here's a playlist
of videos about the man without fear
that you can bingewatch.
Stick around here to learn all about how he can see,
how he's connected to the Ninja Turtles, and more!
Hmm?
There's no more?
Just those two?
Eh, alright, whatever.
There's also this video which features some more
comic book shenanigans with a story about how
Howard the Duck might also be an imposter.
I'm sensing a theme, here.
Links to these videos will be in the description below.
And make sure you hit that big, sexy subscribe button
so you don't miss out on all the new videos we here
at NerdSync make for you every week that explore
the history, science, art, and philosophy behind
your favorite comic book superheroes.
My name is Scott, reminding you to read between the panels
and grow smarter through comics.
See ya.