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Warning: spoilers for episode 3 of Daredevil: Born Again are ahead 

Episode three of Daredevil: Born Again, 'The Hollow of His Hand,' ends on a heartbreaker. Our buddy, the honorable vigilante known as the White Tiger, gets shot point blank in the head by a man wearing the Punisher's skull, who was following Wilson Fisk's orders. Hector Ayala's lifeless body flops onto the pavement before Wilson Fisk says, "The rule of law must prevail." My fellow White Tiger fans, we ride at dawn. 

The murder of White Tiger in Daredevil: Born Again got me parsing through my emotions - rage, shock, helplessness - all of which form the perfect cocktail for a Marvel origin story. And not just any origin, but Spider-Man's in particular. That's because Peter Parker didn't fully step into the 'man' part of Spider-Man after he was bitten by that radioactive spider. No, he had to watch his Uncle Ben die in front of him in order to learn what the responsibility of being a vigilante entails. It's a moment we haven't seen in the MCU, because the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies have left nearly all traces of Uncle Ben out of the picture (except for his suitcase). 

However, with Hector Ayala's death, the MCU has the chance to dig deep into these emotions by doing what they failed to do with their version of Spider-Man. In this same episode, Hector mentions that he lives in an apartment with his wife, his sister, and their niece. Now, if you're familiar with White Tiger's place in Marvel Comics, you'll remember that Hector's niece Angela del Toro becomes the White Tiger after his death. And, his sister Ava Ayala takes up the mantle after Angela goes to prison. While it seems like Hector's niece in Born Again is a bit too young to become a vigilante any time soon (I would hope at least, because it's a dangerous thing to be right now in New York), Ava should have the chance to step into a vigilante role after the murder of her family member. 

Sure, Hector Ayala isn't on the same pedestal as Uncle Ben, but his principles and sense of duty quickly won us over in the three episodes we see him in. And seeing him hit the ground like that was a gut punch. If there's ever been a time for someone, anyone (okay maybe not young Angela), to suit up and take a stand in Hector's memory, it's now. Given how Matt Murdock has essentially left his life as a vigilante behind him after Foggy's death, we're not betting on him just yet. 

Marvel Comics struck gold when they constructed Spider-Man's origin around a sense of loss, whether that be a sense of normalcy in Peter's life, or Uncle Ben himself. And while the MCU's Peter did lose Aunt May in 2021's No Way Home, it was after he had already established himself as Spider-Man. If the MCU can set up Ava Ayala as White Tiger in the wake of Hector's death, then we'll have the chance to fully see a new vigilante hit the streets of New York with both grief and righteousness in their heart. 

Fear not, we have the essentials when it comes to Marvel's Daredevil - especially with Marvel Studios' Daredevil: Born Again. Check out:

• The key difference between Netflix's Daredevil and Marvel Studios' Daredevil: Born Again, according to the showrunner
• The best Daredevil stories of all time
• What to watch before Daredevil: Born Again 
• Popverse Picks: Our favorite things for Marvel's Man Without Fear including Ann Nocenti comics, the Netflix series, and more
• How Vincent D'Onofrio reinvented Daredevil's Kingpin
• Marvel's Daredevil actors, ranked from Charlie Cox to Ben Affleck and even Rex Smith
• How Frank Miller accidentally killed a Daredevil cartoon (and Marvel killed a book to avoid pissing him off)
• That time we caught Daredevil actor Charlie Cox sneaking into New York Comic Con as Bluey