While there was never really any doubt that Wilson Fisk became New York's Mayor for his own nefarious means, last night's Daredevil: Born Again season 1 finale wasted no time reminding us just how evil the Kingpin of Crime is.
With Commissioner Gallo looking to take Fisk down, he's apprehended by the Anti-Vigilante Task Force, and as they watch on, the villain crushes the downed cop's head with his bare hands.
Variety recently caught up with Vincent D'Onofrio and asked for his take on that gruesome kill. "I immediately started discussing ways with our producers and special effects crew that we could block the scene so that it helped execute the way I was thinking about physically making it happen," he explained. "We figured it out: We did do something that feels different than what people have seen before when it comes to stuff like that."
As for what it means from a storytelling perspective, the actor added, "He’s definitely in power all by himself. He still has to keep his position as mayor somehow. The killing of Commissioner Gallo is done in front of his task force, so he wants them to be as nasty as he is. Nobody has seen that killing, and it will, I’m sure, eventually be covered up."
Gallo's death is far from Fisk's only victory in the finale, as he also manages to lock his political enemies up in cages. D'Onofrio explained that with New York under martial law, the villain can now "complete as many crimes as he can and get rid of the vigilantes."
When he hinted that Fisk has "bigger plans than just New York City," the trade wondered whether we could see the character eventually take aim at the Oval Office (in the Devil's Reign comic, he considered running for U.S. President before the Man Without Fear defeated him).
"I don’t think so. I don’t really think of him as a political person; I think of him as a corrupt person. I guess that could happen. I doubt seriously that he’ll take that path," D'Onofrio said. "I guess you’re saying that because of what’s going on in real life, and we’re not attaching the show to anything that’s going on in real life. So I don’t think that path is going to be taken."
Elsewhere in the interview, he intimated that we could be getting a loose adaptation of Shadowland, and confirmed he's currently not set to appear as the Kingpin in Jon Bernthal's Punisher Special Presentation. The actor did, however, say that he's "sure" Fisk and Frank Castle will eventually cross paths again.
All episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are now streaming on Disney+. D'Onofrio has also shared the following message on social media with fans following that bloody finale...