It appears that fans of the notorious Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio, will have to settle for his appearances on the small screen. In a recent interview on the podcast Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz, D’Onofrio revealed some disheartening news about the future of his character in the Marvel universe. "The only thing I know is not positive," he shared, explaining the complexities of using his character in films due to ownership issues. "It's a very hard thing to do, for Marvel to use my character. It's a very hard thing to do, because of ownership and stuff."
D’Onofrio elaborated that his portrayal of Fisk is limited to television, ruling out any standalone Wilson Fisk movie. This limitation stems from tangled rights issues that may never be resolved. Consequently, fans won't see D’Onofrio's Fisk in upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This news also raises questions about the potential impact on any future Charlie Cox-led Daredevil film, where Fisk would be a natural adversary.
D’Onofrio first brought Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin, to life in the 2015 Netflix series Marvel's Daredevil. Over three seasons and nearly 40 episodes until its conclusion in 2018, his performance garnered widespread acclaim from both fans and critics. D’Onofrio's thoughtful approach to the character draws inspiration from iconic actors and their portrayals of everyman characters in action scenes. In an interview with IGN last month, he discussed how actors like Harrison Ford and Gary Cooper influenced his nuanced portrayal of Fisk.
"Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," D’Onofrio noted, highlighting the humility these actors brought to their roles, which he believes adds realism to action sequences. He specifically mentioned Gary Cooper's role in Sergeant York, where the humility in Cooper's eyes during sniper scenes was particularly impactful. "It's amazing. I think that helps action stuff a lot. We're all very conscious of that."
Currently, fans can catch D’Onofrio's continued portrayal of Wilson Fisk in Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, which is airing weekly on Disney+ and will conclude its run on April 15, 2025.
