Daredevil is known as Marvel’s sightless crime fighter, but the Man Without Fear has regained his sight and chosen to be blind multiple times.

Marvel Comics’ Daredevil occupies a unique place in superhero lore as he’s one of the few completely blind superheroes in comic books. While a radioactive accident blinded Matt Murdock as a boy, his remaining senses function with superhuman sharpness, allowing him to perceive his surroundings better than a sighted man and challenge what most people think of as a “disability.”

Still, Matt has expressed regret over losing his sight on multiple occasions, so it may come as a surprise to know that Daredevil has had multiple opportunities to regain his vision – but inevitably chooses to remain a blind man. Let’s take a closer look at the different ways Daredevil regained his sight, and why he consistently chooses to give it up.

During Marvel’s Secret Wars II event, the all-powerful being The Beyonder tried to hire Matt Murdock to help him own the planet… legally. When he was asked to leave a retainer, the Beyonder not only used his powers to salvage a million dollars from an old shipwreck – he also restored Daredevil’s sight. This shocked Matt and he was forced to readjust to the new sensory input (since he still perceived the world through his other superhuman senses).

Amusingly, Matt was unnerved when he finally saw how tall the buildings in New York were, even though he’d been swinging around them for years as a blind man. Despite this initial disorientation, Matt was able to adjust to his new sighted condition fairly quickly and enjoy a day of perfect sight – but when he realized that he couldn’t in good conscience help the Beyonder take over the world, he asked the cosmic being to remove his sight again.

Remarkably, the Beyonder agreed not to use Matt’s law firm in his plan for world domination but offered to let Matt keep his sight as a gift. Unwilling to compromise on his moral principles, however, Matt threatened to sue the Beyonder if he didn’t take away his vision, and was turned back into a blind man. Some years later, Daredevil was imbued by the Enigma Force and became the cosmic-powered Captain Universe. The transformation not only restored his sight but amplified all of his senses as the Enigma Force augments all of a hero’s natural abilities. Unfortunately, the sensory overload proved too much for Matt and he asked the Enigma Force to leave him, returning him to his blind state.

Cosmic forces aren’t the only thing that can restore Daredevil’s sight, however. In What If --? #8, Spider-Man villain Electro learns that Daredevil is blind and tells the world. Since criminals now know how to overwhelm his super senses, Daredevil agrees to an operation that restores his sight – but takes away his superhuman senses. In the end, Matt goes public with his identity and successfully runs for District Attorney, basically going from “DD” to “DA.” In the mainstream universe, Matt also regained his sight through an operation, but with a twist. In the storyline “Flying Blind,” Matt is brainwashed by SHIELD to think that he’s a French artist for an undercover assignment. Somehow, having his brain rewired causes his sight to return (while allowing Matt to retain his superhuman senses). The experience is extremely disorienting for Matt and, as his real memories return, his sight vanishes (for some reason).

Of course, readers know the real reason Matt Murdock can never permanently see again (outside of alternate reality stories). Blindness is such an intrinsic part of Daredevil’s appeal that becoming a sighted man would diminish him as a character. Still, in a world of magic and super science like the Marvel Universe, Daredevil will inevitably encounter multiple opportunities to regain his vision. Just don’t expect him to hold onto it for long.

Next: Daredevil’s Karen Page & Mistreatment of Women in Comics