Gladiator (Melvin Potter) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Potter was initially depicted as a supervillain and one of the first enemies of the superhero Daredevil. In civilian life, he is a costume designer at the Spotlight Costume Shop in New York City. He eventually reforms and became a great supporter of Daredevil. Potter was portrayed by Matt Gerald in the streaming television series Daredevil, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Publication history Gladiator first appeared in Daredevil #18 (July 1966), and was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. Fictional character biography Melvin Potter was a costume designer who had the deluded belief that he was far better than any superhero. In order to prove his point, he designed a suit of battle armor for himself, complete with deadly wrist blades, and became known as the Gladiator. He battled Daredevil in his first criminal outing, and then met the Masked Marauder, another enemy of Daredevil's. Gladiator later appeared in Europe, where he fought Daredevil again, and was then invited to join the Maggia. He joined Electro's Emissaries of Evil to attack Daredevil again. Later, Gladiator aided Whitney Frost in a raid of Stark Enterprises, where he first fought Iron Man. Gladiator later battled Daredevil again. Some time later, he fought Daredevil aboard an airplane in flight. He later allied with the Death-Stalker, and later still allied with the Beetle. While under control of the Purple Man, he attacked Daredevil. Gladiator had one last battle against Daredevil before deciding to reform. He began undergoing therapy from Betsy Beatty, whom he later married. Now reformed, the Gladiator later allied with Daredevil and Elektra against the Hand. Donning his Gladiator costume again, Potter met Spider-Man. Potter was pressured into producing a Daredevil costume for a madman in the employ of the crime lord known as the Kingpin, but Murdock comes to tell him to play along. Potter later donned his Gladiator costume again to discourage a youth from a life of crime. He was later forced into working for the Kingpin's elderly predecessor Alexander Bont, who claimed that Potter had a four-year-old daughter that he had never met and that she would die if Potter did not help. Gladiator brought Murdock to Bont, who attempted to kill Murdock and assume his old mantle but instead died of a drug-induced heart attack. The Gladiator