Wilson Fisk – better known to you, I, and the denizens of Hell’s Kitchen as The Kingpin – cast a massive shadow over the inaugural season of Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil series, much to the dismay of Matt Murdock. But the physical and psychological battle between Vincent D’Onofrio’s baddie and the Man Without Fear made for some excellent television back in 2015, and fans can rest assured in knowing that The Kingpin will be back in action further down the line.
Of course, Vincent D’Onofrio held a small, yet memorable role in Daredevil season 2 – teeing up an electrifying dynamic between his power-mongering nemesis and The Punisher – but while out promoting Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven redo, D’Onofrio confirmed that Kingpin would indeed return to the fray.
[zerg]Naturally, the Jurassic World actor stopped short of revealing when – Daredevil season 3, The Defenders, and even Iron Fist are all possibilities – but D’Onofrio began by heaping praise on the work being done over at Marvel’s TV studios.
“Marvel, the company, and especially Jeff Loeb, who runs Marvel Television, he’s a clever dude. All those people over there are pretty clever and they love talent. There’s no giant commitment for me at Daredevil. Like I didn’t have to sign my life away at all. When Jeff tells me there’s something coming up and if I’m available, I’ll be there. And because it’s written so well, I’m going to show up. I’m going to do everything I can because the writing is so good. And then there’s a company like Netflix and they’re not pressuring you either. They just want good material, good content. They give you money to make good content, so they’re not pressuring actors to sign their life away either…. I think that there’s this common ground where they say, ‘Look, if the material is good are you going to show up?’ and I said, ‘Definitely’.”
When pressed for further details on that homecoming, the actor was understandably coy: “That I can’t answer. I do know, but I can’t answer… so take that how you will. Jeff and Charlie (Cox) and Netflix love Kingpin, and so, Kingpin is good for Marvel’s television stuff and I think they agree.”
Daredevil season 3 is a lock, that much we know, but The Defenders is currently taking priority at Marvel and Netflix for now ahead of its bow late next year. Luke Cage, meanwhile, premieres on September 30 and, is quite frankly, another slam dunk for both parties.