Marvel Introduced One of Its Most Formidable Villains in the Most Unlikely Way -

Since debuting in Netflix’s Daredevil in 2015, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin has been revered as one of the best supervillains brought to the screen and fans have understandably been thrilled with his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe through Hawkeye, Echo, and the upcoming sequel series Daredevil: Born Again. Part of what makes Fisk so compelling is Daredevil’s focus on Fisk’s personal life, particularly his romance with Vanessa Marianna (Ayelet Zurer). A supervillain having a living romantic partner is itself unusual and the inclusion of Vanessa also allowed the series to craft a particularly unique and memorable introduction for both characters.

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Fisk is not shown onscreen in the first two episodes of Daredevil, although his voice is heard when he speaks with his right hand, James Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) over the telephone. The character’s anonymity is highlighted within the narrative, with Wesley reminding other members of Fisk’s criminal cabal not to refer to him by name, making the character come across as an almost mythical underworld terror. The third episode, titled “Rabbit in a Snowstorm,” continues to build Fisk up in this frightening way for much of its runtime, before introducing the character in the flesh, along with Vanessa, in its final scene.

When assassin John Healy (Alex Morf) is acquitted of murder charges in a trial superhuman lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) can tell is rigged, Matt subsequently attacks Healy in his guise as a vigilante. After defeating him in hand-to-hand combat, Matt begins stabbing Healy with a shard of glass, demanding to know the identity of his employers who rigged the trial in his favor. Eventually, Healy gives in and reveals that he works for Fisk. However, after doing so, he becomes frightened for the safety of his loved ones and kills himself by impaling his eye on a fence post as an apology to the crime lord.

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This is one of the most chilling demonstrations of Fisk’s influence on the criminal underworld, which makes the contrast with the following scene all the more striking. Rather than doing anything stereotypically evil, Fisk is shown in an art gallery, observing a painting made of shades of white. Vanessa, who works at the gallery, approaches him and jokes that the painting resembles a rabbit in a snowstorm, before asking how it makes him feel. Fisk replies that it makes him feel alone. A later episode would reveal that the painting reminds Fisk of the wall he stared at as a child while his father beat his mother — until he ultimately killed his father. But before this chilling twist, the art gallery scene first leads to the beginning of Fisk and Vanessa’s courtship, which grounds the former character, making him appear somewhat relatable and sympathetic despite the horrific crimes he orchestrates, as he awkwardly fusses over how to make the best impression on Vanessa.

Fisk’s ensuing, almost obsessive devotion to and love for Vanessa is also important to the series’ work of contrasting his character with Matt’s. Like many Daredevil comics, the series emphasizes the contradictions associated with Matt’s character. As his relationship with Vanessa develops, it becomes Fisk’s main priority, more so than any of his criminal goals, unlike Matt, who quickly becomes obsessed with crime fighting and consequently neglects his professional life and mistreats his friends. This adds to the irony of the character, who eventually dresses in a costume resembling the devil, while the one who often wears the traditionally heroic color, white, is the villain.

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To be clear, Vanessa is initially somewhat wary of Fisk and his associations. She secretly brings a gun to their second date, which Fisk notices and understands. B when he explains his criminal plot to “improve” New York City, including an ongoing series of bombings targeting his rivals, she approves when he notes some of the Russian criminals involved in the recent abduction of a young boy will be killed (with Fisk omitting the detail that he had previously been in business with the Russians himself). And even when Fisk’s delusion about helping the city is shattered, and he shifts to simply wanting to rule it and obtain as much power and wealth as he can, Vanessa remains devoted to him, accepting his marriage proposal.

When she returns to the series in Season 3 after a lengthy absence, she is even more ruthless, insisting on taking a more active role in Fisk’s work and personally ordering the assassination of FBI Agent Ray Nadeem (Jay Ali). This dramatically separates her from her comic book counterpart, who initially does not approve of Fisk’s illegal work and temporarily gets him to retire from it before herself being corrupted by years of tragedy and even turning against Fisk.

The character of Vanessa was always planned to return for Daredevil: Born Again, showing that even the series’ initial creative team understood the importance of the relationship to Fisk’s character development and the overall story. However, the character was originally going to be recast, with Sandrine Holt taking over the role. But when the series was given a creative overhaul to make it more of a direct sequel to the Netflix show, Zurer was brought in to reprise the role. Given this, it would make sense for the new show to delve into Vanessa’s backstory, as one of the mysteries left open from the original series is what experiences in her past could cause the MCU version of the character to be so ruthless and accepting of Fisk’s crimes.