# Bullseye (Marvel Comics)

Bullseye (Lester) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and John Romita Sr. Depicted as a psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil. He is also an enemy of the Punisher. Bullseye possesses the innate and uncanny ability to use almost any object as a lethal projectile, be it weapons like shuriken and sai or seemingly harmless objects like playing cards and pencils. His marksmanship is uncanny, at a nearly supernatural level. The alternate continuities of Daredevil Noir, PunisherMAX, and Ultimate Marvel respectively feature the original Bullseye incarnations Eliza, Shelton Pendergrass, and Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter.
Bullseye has been adapted into various forms of media relating to Daredevil, with live-action portrayals including Colin Farrell in the film Daredevil (2003), Wilson Bethel as Poindexter in the third season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series Daredevil (2018) and its sequel series Daredevil: Born Again (2025), and Curtis Small in the MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

## Publication history

The character's first appearance is in Daredevil #131 (March 1976). Although created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Romita Sr., the book features art by Bob Brown and Klaus Janson.
Bullseye's real name and origins are unknown. He uses the name "Benjamin Poindexter" on several occasions, first mentioned in Daredevil #159 (1979) where he goes by the name "Mr. Poindexter," which he later claims is "just one of the many names he used" (Daredevil #181, 1982). However, there are also instances where his name is given as “Lester". The miniseries Bullseye: Greatest Hits (2004) developed the character's backstory, but also revealed that some or all of it has been fabricated, probably by Bullseye himself. In this series, Bullseye's name was Leonard and his brother’s was Lester or, initially, Nate.
Following "Civil War", Warren Ellis took over writing Thunderbolts and Bullseye became one of the core members of the new team line-up.
In the Secret Invasion aftermath storyline Dark Reign, Bullseye becomes a member of the Dark Avengers under the alias Hawkeye and features in a five-issue limited series Dark Reign: Hawkeye, written by Andy Diggle, with art by Tom Raney. As a member of the Dark Avengers, he has a major role in the crossover Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, written by Matt Fraction. He appeared as a regular character in Dark Avengers #1-16 (March 2009-June 2010).
Bullseye is killed by Daredevil in Shadowland #1, but is later confirmed alive in Daredevil vol. 3 #26.

## Fictional character biography
### Early life and backstory

Bullseye grew up in The Bronx, New York City, New York, where he lived with his brother and their abusive father. He became an expert shot by playing with his brother's rifles. When he was 10 years old, his brother tried to kill their father by setting fire to their home; shortly thereafter, Bullseye was placed in a foster home. In high school, he became a baseball player. An extremely talented pitcher, he was offered a college athletic scholarship, but opted to enter the minor leagues. After three games, he was called up to start a sold-out Major League game. He had surrendered no hits, and in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he became bored and asked the coach pull him from the game. The coach insisted that he finish the game. After the opposing team's batter mocked him as a coward, Bullseye threw the ball at his head, killing him. As the ball struck, he said, "Bullseye". He was barred from professional baseball and convicted of manslaughter.
This is a retcon of a previous origin story, which depicts Bullseye growing up as a below average student in a trailer park with an alcoholic, physically abusive father. In this version of events, Bullseye fakes his father's suicide using a handgun set off by a toy arrow. It is unclear how many elements of this version are actually true.
Bullseye's cold demeanor and unique skills led to his recruitment by the National Security Agency as an assassin, then an assignment to train Contras in Nicaragua. By the time he arrived, however, he claimed to have already been planning to leave the NSA. He had planned on robbing the Contras and fleeing, but he discovered they were desperately poor. Bullseye made the best of the situation: within seven hours of being informed of their poverty, he had led the Contras in seizing a landing strip that Colombian cocaine smugglers were using as a staging area before transporting the drugs to the US. Without use of the airfield, the smugglers were unable to send new shipments. Bullseye set up his hapless Nicaraguan translator Paolo as the leader of the new force controlling the airfield, and let the word spread around; however, Paolo was nothing but a patsy. Bullseye planned to invite several organized crime heads to the airfield to broker a new deal with him as Paolo's supposed right-hand man. He would take their money and disappear, presumably leaving Paolo to suffer the wrath of the Mafia, Russian mafia, yakuza, and various other criminal elements. However, before the deal could be finalized, the Punisher (Frank Castle) arrived.
Castle killed all the organized crime leaders in a fiery explosion from which Bullseye barely escaped. The two engaged in a fierce battle in which Bullseye was able to wound the Punisher and evade or disable several of his weapons. Bullseye then used some blood-reddened mud to paint a bull's-eye on his forehead, mocking Castle's inability to hit him. The fight concluded when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived, and the Punisher fled. Bullseye turned himself in to the D.E.A. agents and soon was assigned to infiltrate the Kingpin's criminal empire. He obtained a costume, fled yet again, and became one of the most dangerous hitmen in the world.
All of the above information is given by Bullseye during a subsequent interrogation by US intelligence. Just prior to escaping from custody, Bullseye confesses he made up some or all of his story to amuse himself; for example, he claims that he was really the one who started the fire which burned down his childhood home. The whole capture was a plan by the assassin to gain access to the prison where his father is being held. Bullseye finally gets revenge on his father, leaving him to burn as the prison's security systems torch everything inside.

### Costumed criminal career

Bullseye battles (and defeats) Daredevil at a circus to establish his reputation as an extortionist. Shortly after, Daredevil by chance overhears him in the midst of an extortion attempt and captures him. Bullseye is later hired by Maxwell Glenn to kill Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, and Daredevil interferes. Although Bullseye wins again, Daredevil escapes death, and Bullseye's professional reputation is damaged as a result. Seeking to regain his credibility, he challenges Daredevil on live television, but is soundly defeated.
Smarting from this even harsher blow to his reputation, Bullseye hires Eric Slaughter's gang and kidnaps Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) to bait Daredevil into a revenge bout. Daredevil defeats him again, and the despair of this repeated humiliation drives him to a mental breakdown. It is later revealed that this breakdown was in part caused by a brain tumor, which begins causing migraines, paranoia and hallucinations that everyone he meets is Daredevil. He escapes from prison, but is recaptured by Daredevil, and the tumor is successfully removed. The tumor's symptoms quickly disappear, and defense lawyers are able to have him freed on the argument that his criminal behavior was caused solely by the brain tumor. He is hired to assassinate the Kingpin, but meets with repeated failure. Inexplicably, this convinces the Kingpin to employ him as a chief assassin, but he is fired the same day he witnesses the Kingpin's humiliating defeat at Daredevil's hands. Bullseye's repeated failed attempts to regain this briefly-held position became a running joke of the Daredevil series.
While in prison, he learns that the Kingpin has employed Elektra (Daredevil's former lover) as a new chief assassin. After escaping prison, Bullseye attacks and impales Elektra on her own sai. This fails to convince the Kingpin, who says he will only be rehired if Bullseye kills Daredevil. Bullseye attempts to ambush Daredevil, but their battle ends with his arch-foe dropping him from atop a telephone wire. The multi-story fall breaks Bullseye's back, paralyzing him.
During Bullseye's extended hospital stay following the fall, Daredevil breaks into his hospital room and forces him to participate in a two-man variation on Russian roulette. The revolver used in the game is secretly unloaded, but Daredevil has Bullseye take the even-numbered turns so that he would feel sure that the last shot is going to kill him. Bullseye has repeatedly cited this incident as his greatest grudge against Daredevil.
Japanese scientist Lord Dark Wind liberates Bullseye and has him brought to Japan, lacing his bones with adamantium and thus restoring his mobility. Lord Dark Wind did this so that Bullseye would work as an assassin in return, but in spite of this favor being done for him, Bullseye refuses to work for free. He instead makes another play to regain the position of the Kingpin's chief assassin once again if he kills Daredevil, knowing he would fail. Bullseye is imprisoned for several years.
Bullseye eventually escapes prison, and then battles Captain America. He battles Crossbones in an attempt to assassinate the Red Skull to regain his old position with the Kingpin.
After encountering the amnesiac Daredevil, he takes advantage of this by committing robberies while impersonating Daredevil in an attempt to destroy his nemesis's image. In one of his early heists, he is caught by his mark's disillusioned trophy wife. He becomes enamored of the wife who pleads with him to be taken away by him, but he keeps the wife in his derelict hideout as his lover, attempting to flatter her by showering her with stolen money and jewelry. However, the woman realizes that he is mentally fragile and, frightened by one of his psychotic outbursts, leaves him. Gradually, Bullseye becomes so immersed in his Daredevil impersonation that he believes himself to truly be Daredevil, a confusion which the real hero takes advantage of to defeat him.
Bullseye later has another run-in with the Punisher when he is part of Frank's frame-up scheme that ends with Bullseye getting both of his hands shot and losing a finger to the Punisher's brutality. Bullseye encounters Deadpool and Gambit during another long interval in which the character was seldom used.
Bullseye is hired by the villain Mysterio to attack and confuse Daredevil. In the course of their battle, Bullseye kills Karen Page (Daredevil's long-time love interest) with one of Daredevil's own billy clubs.
Bullseye is recruited to steal the Identity Disc, purported to be in possession of AIM and have vital information on the world's superheroes, along with Deadpool, Sabretooth, Vulture, and Juggernaut.
Bullseye again offers to kill Daredevil for Kingpin, later entering Daredevil's apartment and attempting to kill Milla Donovan (Daredevil's new girlfriend). Enraged and already near the breaking point, Daredevil attacks Bullseye and throws him out the window. During the fight, the hero reveals to Bullseye that he knows his real name Lester, his mother was a prostitute, and that he never knew his father. He mocks the assassin's new 'Bullseye' tattoo and carves a new one over it with a rock.
Bullseye seeks purported documents confirming Daredevil's secret identity. After a brutal fight with Daredevil and Elektra, Bullseye flees into open traffic where he is hit by a truck, sustaining severe injuries.

### Thunderbolts

Bullseye, along with many other villains, is recruited into the Thunderbolts by Iron Man and Mister Fantastic to hunt down anti-registration superheroes in the Civil War storyline. Afterwards, he is recruited by Norman Osborn into the reformed team led by Moonstone. He operates invisibly and is not seen by the public. He is used as a last resort and has a nano-chain fed into his system, so if he disobeys orders, he will receive an electrical shock.
Bullseye fights American Eagle after having been deceived by Songbird and told that his nano-chain is disabled. During the fight, he simultaneously receives an electrical shock from the nano-chain in his system on order of Moonstone and is attacked by American Eagle. American Eagle beats him severely, mocking him throughout for purposely avoiding fights with superpowered foes, and finally breaks Bullseye's neck. As a result of the damage sustained from both being attacked by a man with superhuman strength and being shocked by the nano-chain, Bullseye is paralyzed, is unable to speak, and has incurred severe brain injuries. Bullseye is later shown walking due to nanomechanical surgery, then goes on a killing spree using scalpels to "get some target practice in". Later, he joins the Thunderbolts in their efforts to assassinate Moon Knight.
Bullseye was with the Thunderbolts when they fought the Skrulls in Washington DC. He took advantage of the clone of Andrea von Strucker being distracted by Moonstone to kill Andrea, and nearly killed Moonstone in the process. Bullseye travels along with the other Thunderbolts to Central Park and joins the final battle against the main Skrull force. Obtaining a missile launcher from the Zeus, he fires a rocket through the Skrull Yellowjacket's right eye, thus disabling the Skrull from engaging with other heroes. Osborn orders Bullseye to kill Songbird, finally giving Bullseye the chance for revenge. Bullseye nearly succeeds, but is incapacitated by the Swordsman helping Songbird escape.

### Dark Avengers

As a reward for his role during the Skrull invasion, Bullseye is placed on the Dark Avengers and given the costume and codename of Hawkeye.
On the Dark Avengers' first mission, he kills Morgana le Fey only for the sorceress to return yet again with an army of demons.
When the Dark Avengers fight a rogue Hulkbuster robot, "Hawkeye" disables the robot after killing its pilot. When the robot falls and kills 36 civilians, Osborn reprimands Bullseye for his part in the deaths, to which Bullseye demands credit for his kills. "Hawkeye" then goes out and saves a woman from being attacked by three men. He kills the men, and the woman inadvertently infuriates him by referring to Osborn as "his boss". After he kills the woman, he notices a news crew in a helicopter filming the action. He silences the news crew by blowing up the helicopter.
Bullseye is used to take out his old partner Deadpool. Deadpool eventually gains the upper hand and stabs Bullseye through the chest with a meat hook, who later wakes up in a hospital and goes after Deadpool again. Deadpool easily avoids Bullseye's attacks, then runs Bullseye down, stopping with one of the vehicle's tires on Bullseye's leg. Bullseye pays off Deadpool (under the pretense that Osborn told him to do so) to save himself.
Bullseye is later given the order by Osborn to eliminate Daredevil, who has been discovered leading the Hand. Daredevil (who is going through the trials needed to join the Hand) and Bullseye clash. Bullseye booby-traps a building with 100 people in it. Daredevil continues to battle Bullseye unaware that the building is rigged and that Bullseye has the detonator. When the building explodes, Bullseye escapes and leaves Daredevil to his grief, mocking that if Daredevil had chosen to kill him the people in the building might have been saved.
Molecule Man turns Bullseye into a pool of water to subdue him; however, as a liquid he still tries to attack Molecule Man. He is restored by the Sentry. He is also part of the team when they go to Manhattan to look for Noh-Varr. The Sentry finds him first but is distracted and leaves the battle later to find Noh-Varr gone.
Osborn later assigns Bullseye with the duty to kill Lindy Reynolds (Sentry's wife). He takes Lindy for a helicopter ride, and strangles and dumps Lindy's body in the ocean. When the Sentry questions him about Lindy's whereabouts, Bullseye claims Lindy committed suicide over the countryside by jumping out of the copter, and the Sentry flies off to find Lindy.

### Shadowland

In the aftermath of Siege, Bullseye is incarcerated and sent to the Raft. But in the process of being transferred there, he manages to kill his captors and escapes. He returns to Hell's Kitchen and arrives at Shadowland, Daredevil's fortress, and is confronted by Daredevil and a legion of Hand ninjas. Bullseye is unprepared for his enemy's newfound ruthlessness as Daredevil dislocates both his shoulders and then stabs him through the heart with his own sai, killing him in a similar way to how Bullseye had killed Elektra years before. Later, a group of Hells Bikers put together an unauthorized funeral service (as J. Jonah Jameson had expressly forbade) for Bullseye; Ben Urich is dragged along, as well as Danny Deaver. Deaver continually sees visions of Bullseye; it is not clear whether or not it is Bullseye's spirit or simply part of Deaver's psychosis. Bullseye's funeral service is interrupted by Daredevil and the Hand which results in a massive brawl. Urich is nearly killed. Daredevil later exhumes Bullseye's corpse, intending to resurrect him as a soldier loyal to the Hand. The heroes interrupt the ceremony — Spider-Man explicitly noting that the only thing worse than killing Bullseye is the idea of bringing him back — preventing Bullseye's resurrection.

### Return

Bullseye's body was later stolen by Lady Bullseye and The Hand from SHIELD custody, but a botched resurrection left him an invalid who had to rely on a life support system to survive. To get revenge, he is revealed to be the mastermind behind Klaw, Coyote, and Ikari's actions against Daredevil. He is later found by the hero who defeated Ikari and Lady Bullseye. The warehouse where they were is subsequently destroyed, and Bullseye is nearly drowned in radioactive waste, leaving him scarred and blind.
Bullseye would go on to have his body-fully repaired by the Hand in an encounter with Elektra when he was contracted by the Assassins Guild to target Elektra's allies.
During the "Secret Wars" storyline, Bullseye is among the villains attending the Kingpin's viewing party of the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610.
During the "Infinity Wars" storyline, Bullseye is among the villains that accompany Turk Barrett to his meeting with the Infinity Watch at Central Park.
When Daredevil's protégé Blindspot was left blinded by the villain Muse, Matt Murdock put out a bounty on himself out of guilt, attracting the attention of Bullseye and several other supervillains. Daredevil beat Bullseye and then revealed that he had put the contract out in hopes of luring Bullseye, as Blindspot's condition reminded Daredevil of the murder of Karen Page.
Hired by the Hood, Bullseye impersonates Ronin to commit crimes to ruin Hawkeye's reputation, however, Clint Barton uses Bullseye's identity and defeats the psychotic killer.
After "The War of the Realms", Bullseye steals Dragonfang, a mystical sword of the deceased Valkyrie, and uses it to mortally wound Heimdall. This earns him the enmity of the current Valkyrie, Jane Foster, who stops Bullseye by destroying Dragonfang.
In Spider-Boy, Bullseye acquires a sidekick, Maka Akana / Spider-Girl, and battles Spider-Boy in the Tourmanent of the Open Maw.

## Powers and abilities

Bullseye has an innate ability to throw virtually any object as a projectile with incredible accuracy and with enough force to be lethal. Some of his accomplishments include lacerating a person's throat with a thrown playing card or with a drinking straw, spitting his own tooth through a human skull, tossing a paper airplane to a distant rooftop, cutting a person's throat, killing people with screws, and killing a person with a toothpick thrown through a window from a hundred yards away. Aside from his ability to throw projectiles with lethal accuracy, Bullseye is also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and has been trained in karate. He is also extremely talented in the use of edged/throwing weapons and conventional firearms. Bullseye has exceptional physical conditioning, with the agility, reflexes, stamina, and speed of a professional athlete. Bullseye also has a high pain tolerance.
After falling from a building, many of Bullseye's bones were reinforced with adamantium. This has increased his resistance to injury in unarmed combat and allows him to perform acrobatic maneuvers that would fracture ordinary bones. Unlike Wolverine, whose adamantium was implanted using stolen and incomplete notes on the bonding process and who survived only because of his mutant healing factor, Bullseye's surgery was performed properly by Lord Dark Wind himself, and thus included the special herb treatment which prevents the body from being destroyed by the implantation.
Bullseye has a compulsive need to study his targets' histories, abilities, and relationships before engaging them. He employs this information to attempt to anticipate his opponents' movements in combat. This compulsion often crosses from the professional into the personal, such as Bullseye's obsession with Elektra. Due to a mutual head injury, Bullseye was able to sense Daredevil's presence psychically for a brief time.

## Reception

Bullseye was 20th in IGN's list of the "Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time", and 35th in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers".

## Other versions
### Amalgam Comics

Bill Lawton / Deadeye, a fusion of Bullseye and DC Comics character Deadshot, appears in the Amalgam Comics imprint.

### Daredevil Noir

An original incarnation of Bullseye, Daredevil's girlfriend Eliza, appears in Daredevil Noir.

### Marvel 1602

A pirate-themed alternate universe variant of Bullseye from Earth-311 appears in Marvel 1602.

### Old Man Logan

An alternate universe variant of Bullseye from Earth-807128 appears in the Old Man Logan prequel comic Old Man Hawkeye. This version works for the Red Skull and possesses a cybernetic eye implant that increases his aiming abilities.

### PunisherMAX

An alternate universe variant of Bullseye from Earth-200111 appears in Punisher Max. This version is Shelton Pendergrass, a sociopathic serial killer who lacks superhuman abilities.

### Secret Wars (2015)

Several alternate universe variants of Bullseye appear in the Secret Wars storyline:
* A Wild West version of Bullseye resides on the Battleworld domain of the Valley of Doom. He works for Governor Roxxon alongside Elektra, Grizzly, and Otto Octavius.
* A variation of Bullseye resides in the Battleworld domain of Killville. He was sent by the Assassin Guild to target Doctor Octopus, only to be killed by MODOK.

### Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe variant of Bullseye from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint. This version is Benjamin Poindexter, an assassin who serves the Kingpin and possesses tattoos of his namesake on his forehead and chest.

### Ultimate Universe

An alternate universe variant of Bullseye from Earth-6160 appears in the Ultimate Universe imprint. This version is a servant of the Kingpin.

### What If?

An original incarnation of Bullseye, Matt Murdock, appears in the one-shot What If Daredevil Lived in Feudal Japan?. This version is a 19th-century cabin boy who seeks vengeance on the Japanese Old Devil for killing his ship's crew.

## In other media
### Television

An original alternate timeline incarnation of Bullseye, Clint Barton, appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Planet Doom", voiced by Troy Baker.

### Film

Bullseye appears in Daredevil (2003), portrayed by Colin Farrell. This version has an Irish background and lacks his traditional costume, which was dropped in favor of a biker/metalhead style appearance and a shaved head with a bullseye branding on his forehead. Additionally, he primarily wields shurikens, though he also uses other small objects with as much ease. Prior to the film's release, the comic book version adopted a near-identical appearance, but has since reverted to the traditional look, retaining only the scar. Director Mark Steven Johnson credited Joe Quesada for talking him out of using the traditional costume. Additionally, Farrell was encouraged to keep his Irish accent. He also had to read Frank Miller's Daredevil comics to understand Bullseye:
   "because the expression on the character's faces in the comic books, and just the way they move sometimes, and the exaggerations of the character I'm playing [...] he's so over-the-top that you do draw from that. But it's not exactly a character you can do method acting for... you know, running around New York killing people with paper clips."

### Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter incarnation of Bullseye appears in TV series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Wilson Bethel as an adult, Cameron Mann as a child, and Conor Proft as a teenager. This version is an FBI agent with diagnosed mental health issues who previously served in the U.S. Army before joining the FBI as a sniper. Introduced in the third season of Daredevil (2018), Dex makes an additional appearance in the Daredevil: Born Again episode "Heaven's Half Hour", Moreover, an alternate universe variant of Bullseye based on Colin Farrell's portrayal appears in Deadpool & Wolverine, portrayed by Curtis Small.

### Video games

* Bullseye appears in The Punisher, voiced by Steve Blum. This version is an enforcer for the Kingpin.
* Bullseye appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Dave Boat.
* Bullseye appears in Marvel Heroes, voiced by Rick D. Wasserman.
* The Old West incarnation of Bullseye appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.
* Bullseye appears in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, voiced again by Steve Blum.

### Miscellaneous

* Bullseye appears in the HeroClix collectible miniatures game.
* "Ben" Bullseye appears in the Adi Shankar's Bootleg Universe short fan film Venom: Truth In Journalism, portrayed by Derek Mears.
* Bullseye was announced for the Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures game.

## Collected editions

| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
| Bullseye: Greatest Hits | Bullseye: Greatest Hits #1-5 | April 27, 2005 | 978-0785115120 |
| Punisher Vs. Bullseye | Punisher Vs. Bullseye #1-5 | June 21, 2006 | 978-0785117353 |
| Punisher & Bullseye: Deadliest Hits | Bullseye: Perfect Game #1-2, Punisher: Trial of the Punisher #1-2, and material from Daredevil #500 | January 14, 2014 | 978-0785152347 |
| Shadowland: Street Heroes | Shadowland: Bullseye, and Shadowland: Daughters Of The Shadow #1-3, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man | September 7, 2011 | 978-0785148883 |
| Bullseye: Colombian Connection | Bullseye #1-5 | September 12, 2017 | 978-1302905095 |

### As Hawkeye

| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
| Dark Reign: Hawkeye | Dark Reign: Hawkeye #1-5 | May 12, 2010 | 978-0785138501 |