Exclusive: Kingpin Series In Development
We've exclusively learned that a Kingpin series is in development. Here's what we've learned so far about the upcoming series for Marvel.
Update: While there was no specific Kingpin series for Marvel (at the time of this writing), Vincent D’Onofrio’s character appeared in Echo and will appear in Daredevil: Born Again.
Great villains aren’t easy to come by. Wilson Fisk, known as Kingpin, is a Marvel villain that earned the respect of fans. Until 2018, the character was part of Daredevil on Netflix. Now, fans want to know what’s going to happen with Matt Murdock and other characters, like Wilson Fisk, ready and waiting to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanks to some work from one of Giant Freakin Robot’s trusted and proven inside sources, we’ve learned that a Kingpin series is in development.
While our source was able to share that a Kingpin series is in development, they were unable to share the details of what fans could expect. We would hope that it will probably include Vincent D’Onofrio, and past comments from those who’ve been involved with Daredevil would lead us to believe that’s true. For example, the showrunner of the Netflix series has said that casting anyone else as Wilson Fisk would be like recasting Robert Downey Jr or Chris Evans, “impossible”. While it doesn’t seem that they’re the ones calling the shots on the new Kingpin series currently in development, they certainly have a point. Fans have come to love the way Vincent D’Onofrio has developed this character for the screen. It would be a shame if the new series isn’t going to use that.
Previous reports from other outlets have said that Marvel’s plan for Netflix’s Defender characters is to give them a soft reboot. This may be their intention with their Kingpin series as well. The idea presented has been that stars like Vincent D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox will now be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they will play the same versions of their characters, but without mentioning the things that happened on their Netflix shows. This is something they have planned not only for Daredevil, but for a rebooted Punisher with Jon Bernthal as well. It would be easy to believe that this is the plan for Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk. He was a fan-favorite. Seeing him in his own Kingpin series is certainly something fans of Netflix’s Daredevil could get excited about.
There have been enough similar reports on what Marvel plans to do with the characters from Netflix that a soft reboot plan seems very likely. This means our hopes are high that a Kingpin series will see the same treatment. What is going to be very interesting to see is whether this new project will be a single-season entry for the Marvel Cinematic Universe of an ongoing project. Vincent D’Onofrio has surely been an actor that audiences have been willing to watch for many seasons on end in his past work. A single season entry could be a great way to tell a stellar story for a villain and a strong way to test such a project with their audience.
A new Kingpin-centered series will be a great way for them to tie Wilson Fisk to other established characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s going to be exciting to see the new crossovers with characters like Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and possibly Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, establishing them all in the same world. As they move forward with development on their new series, hopefully, they bring forward the key elements fans have loved about Wilson Fisk in the past.
