Vincent D’Onofrio Kingpin Getting New Origin, See The Daredevil Photos
Set photos from Daredevil: Born Again seem to indicate a flashback episode detailing the origin of Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin.
New photos shared on Twitter from the set of the forthcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again are causing speculation about a change to the origin story of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk. We don’t have to guess what these scenes generally depict. The posts from Joseph Adames (@jadames1775) are said to be from a flashback of an incident between a young Fisk and local bullies in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.
This has caused some to wonder if the scene in question represents a new origin story for Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin character, especially since the Twitter post refers to this as a flashback episode, implying that at least one of the planned 18 installments of Daredevil: Born Again might focus exclusively on Wilson Fisk’s past. The potential for this level of backstory in the series helps fuel conjecture about a possible shift in the character’s origin, which might be an unwelcome departure from the established story of a fan-favorite character.
Vincent D’Onofrio originated the character of Kingpin in Netflix’s Daredevil in 2015 and was immediately greeted with enthusiasm by viewers and critics alike. The role stands as one of the highlights of the seasoned actor’s career, with subtlety, nuance, and complexity that inspire both compassion and fear. So, when Daredevil: Born Again was announced, fans hoped that D’Onofrio would return along with Charlie Cox as Daredevil. They have gotten their wish, along with the return of Jon Bernthal as The Punisher, as we reported exclusively way back in July of 2022.
For context, while Vincent D’Onofrio dazzled audiences as Kingpin, the character’s backstory was portrayed by Cole Jensen as a young Wilson Fisk in a series of scenes in Netflix’s Daredevil series that depicted the boy’s relationship with his abusive father. The intense and ultimately gruesome tale provided a deeply compelling origin for Daredevil’s primary foe, giving rise to the tormented, complicated, and brutally violent character fans both hate and love.
The character had been portrayed onscreen before, of course. There were animated iterations on television, but the first live-action version of the character appeared in the 2003 Ben Affleck film Daredevil. While Vincent D’Onofrio is now the only person most fans can see as Kingpin, the character was played in the film by the late and supremely talented Michael Clarke Duncan. For many, his casting was a highlight of an otherwise contentious cinematic adaptation and shows that this meaty character has been attractive to major actors before D’Onofrio.
As the Disney+ series already seems to promise some changes to Daredevil, fans have braced for potential alterations to characters, storylines, and more. After all, Disney has seen fit to obliterate franchise canon before, such as in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. But with Vincent D’Onofrio confirmed as Kingpin along with Cox and Bernthal, plus other exciting casting possibilities like the potential for Jenna Ortega as White Tiger, there is the sense that much of what people love about this iteration of Daredevil will be back in the new series, even if Kingpin has an altered past.
