Here's All The Background Info 'Daredevil' Fans Should Know About Nadeem

The big news released by the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of Daredevil Season 3's premiere was the reveal the character only known as "Dex" was actually Ben Poindexter, aka Bullseye. One of Daredevil's most famous foes, he was played by Colin Farrell in the Ben Affleck 2003 film. But Dex wasn't the only FBI Agent joining the series. There was also Rahul Nadeem as Fisk's direct handler. Is Nadeem in the Daredevil comics? Warning: Spoilers for Daredevil Season 3 follow.

The Netflix arm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is big on references, especially when it comes to supporting characters. Sometimes they'll reconfigure a comic book name to be an entirely new version for the on-screen world, just keeping the name as a reference to the comics.

Sister Maggie is a perfect example this season of a character where the show does this. Her story is not the same one as Sister Maggie has on the page. But she's still Matt's mother, and she still has the same name, just an alternate history. She also has a different impact on Matt's life on screen than she does in the comics.

But sometimes characters are just made up from whole cloth, with nothing to tie them back to the comic series. Nadeem falls into this category.

Played by actor Jay Ali, the name "Rahul Nadeem" or "Ray Nadeem" does not appear anywhere in the comic archives. As far as fans can tell, he's not even loosely based on a different FBI agent from the Daredevil comics. (Or for that matter, the Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, or Iron Fist comics. Netflix is notorious for trading characters back and forth between them. The evil doctor from Jessica Jones Season 2, for example, is based on a Daredevil foe.)

For those who liked Nadeem from the start, though, this was a bad sign. Though these shows don't shy away from killing off supporting characters, one with no ties to the series at all is a very obvious one-and-done.

This doesn't mean Nadeem's character is a throwaway though. His arc is extraordinarily important to the series as a whole.

For instance, he's proof of what a long game Fisk has been playing, when it is revealed the Kingpin was the one behind Ray's sister-in-law losing her health insurance. Fisk was dialed into their affairs early on, making sure the Nadeem family was in debt more than a year before the present day events, showing just how poorly prepared everyone was for this con.

But Ray also plays a con of his own, willingly sacrificing himself both to keep his family safe and to distract Fisk all while smuggling a recording out to Nelson and Murdock to ensure his testimony would be heard by all of New York City.

And most of all, Ray's death is the lynchpin to get Fisk back in jail. Because Fisk didn't order Nadeem's death: Vanessa did, making her guilty of the crime. Having the threat of his wife in prison is enough to cause Fisk to buckle under so Matt can win the day.