It turns out our favorite Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, is off-limits for the big screen, according to Vincent D’Onofrio, star of Daredevil: Born Again. During a recent interview on the podcast Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz, D’Onofrio shared some disappointing news about his iconic character. "The only thing I know is not positive," he said. "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 further elaborated on the situation, stating, "I’m only usable for television shows. Not even a one-off Wilson Fisk movie. It’s all caught up in rights and stuff. I don’t know when that would work out — or if it ever would work out at all." This revelation effectively rules out D’Onofrio’s portrayal of Fisk from appearing in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, including the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This news also raises questions about the feasibility of a potential Charlie Cox Daredevil movie, where fans would expect to see D’Onofrio reprise his role as the villain.
D’Onofrio first brought Fisk, New York City’s most powerful crimelord and future mayor also known as Kingpin, to life in Marvel’s Daredevil. The 2015 Netflix original series ran for three seasons and concluded with just under 40 episodes in 2018. D’Onofrio’s performance has garnered widespread acclaim from both fans and critics, which is why he is deeply invested in how Fisk is perceived, particularly when drawing inspiration from other iconic performances.
In a recent conversation with IGN, D’Onofrio discussed the influences behind his portrayal, citing the everyman performances of actors like Harrison Ford. "Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," he noted. "They carried their own humility into the action scenes with them. And I always thought that that was the way to go. That made it look real to me. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York, when he takes aim, when he becomes the sniper, it's the humility in his eyes that you see. It's amazing. I think that helps action stuff a lot. We're all very conscious of that."
Currently, Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is airing week-to-week on Disney+ and is set to premiere its finale on April 15, 2025.
