Thanks To Innovations By Marvel's Costume Department, Vincent D'Onofrio Wants To Keep Playing Kingpin Forever

Thanks To Innovations By Marvel's Costume Department, Vincent D'Onofrio Wants To Keep Playing Kingpin Forever

For Netflix's Daredevil series, actor Vincent D'Onofrio actually packed on the pounds to portray Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. But for the MCU, he's wearing a fatsuit.

By MarkJulian - Jan 21, 2024 02:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Daredevil
Source: CB

Actor Vincent D'Onofrio became a fan favorite within the Marvel fandom, thanks to his excellent portrayal of Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil series, which ran from April 10, 2015 – October 19, 2018. 

D'Onofrio reprised the role for 2021's Hawkeye and 2024's Echo but the Emmy-nominated actor made a slight change to his performance when the character joined the MCU, one that he's revealing will allow him to continue portraying the character for as long as Marvel wants.

"The only thing that could have held me back would be if I just had to keep on putting on all that weight and keep it on," said D'Onofrio in a new interview. "And so I don't have to do that anymore, so I'm in the best shape I've been in a long time."

He continued, "I love these new kinds of ways that they actually construct the muscle fat suits that I have to wear. I think they finally work and feel right and look good. That helps a lot because it's not the healthiest thing in the world to keep putting weight on and taking it off again. So yeah, I mean, as long as the powers that be will have me, I can't see not playing this part, it's so much fun."

D'Onofrio's next project is to reprise his role as the Kingpin in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again Disney+ series. Filming on the TV show, which purportedly features Fisk running for mayor of New York City, will resume on Monday, following a massive revamp.

A new showrunner (The Punisher and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan's Dario Scardapane), directors ( Moon Knight and Loki season 2 directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead) and a few familiar faces from the Netflix Daredevil series have been brought in to appease Kevin Feige, who reportedly was not impressed by early footage.

In addition, it's thought that Born Again's initial 18-episode order has been significantly reduced in the wake of the revamp. It's now thought that the show might consist of 8-12 episodes, with a midseason hiatus.

Currently, Born Again is without an exact release date but it's said to be part of Phase Five of the MCU, which ends on February 14, 2025, with Captain America: Brave New World. Phase Six is currently slated to begin on May 2, 2025, with Fantastic Four but that release date might be in danger if Marvel doesn't lock down the cast for Marvel's "first family."

DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Rumor May Reveal How SPIDER-MAN Is Referenced - SPOILERS
Related:

DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Rumor May Reveal How SPIDER-MAN Is Referenced - SPOILERS

Marvel Televsion 2025 Trailer Reveals First Look At DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, IRONHEART, MARVEL ZOMBIES, And More
Recommended For You:

Marvel Televsion 2025 Trailer Reveals First Look At DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, IRONHEART, MARVEL ZOMBIES, And More

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2
Repian
Repian - 1/21/2024, 2:29 PM
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/21/2024, 2:31 PM
Good for him losing that weight though. Healthy in his later years
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 1/21/2024, 2:33 PM
I would watch his portrayal of Kingpin as long as i live.
I saw him in other roles and he is a great actor, but Wilson Fisk is the role of his live.
He really elevated the character and made him his own.
If Kevin Feige is smart, he will sign him for a 10 movie multi-deal.
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 1/21/2024, 4:20 PM
@MarvelZombie616 - I'm with you. He's "RDJ as Tony" levels of great.
RolandD
RolandD - 1/21/2024, 11:18 PM
@MarvelZombie616 - I absolutely love him as Wilson Fisk, but I sure as hell would love to see him, reprise his role as Bobby Goren. I loved him in that role, especially in the earlier seasons on NBC. When it moved to Universal emphasized his mental health problems much more than I appreciated. I liked him better as the Sherlock Holmes of the major crimes unit.
PatchesOhulihan
PatchesOhulihan - 1/22/2024, 9:03 AM
@MarvelZombie616 - Going that route, I wonder if they ever thought of doing a series of spiderman movies with Kingpin as the big bad, pulling the strings for several movies and driving the overall narrative from the behind the scenes. Maybe SM has a friend or two pop in to help him here or there, but in the end its him who has to defeat Fisk. Like an Avengers style build up, but more street level.
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/21/2024, 3:10 PM
Do you remember when Netflix Kingpin was a beast on screen?

BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 1/21/2024, 3:33 PM
Good, let him.
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 1/21/2024, 3:43 PM
I’m glad he lost the weight. Working on my own it’s really tough
Clintthahamster
Clintthahamster - 1/22/2024, 7:39 AM
@MyCoolYoung - The secret for me was to stop making it about losing weight, but rather just being as healthy as I can. Fat, by itself, isn't a huge health issue, especially if one isn't clinically obese, so staying active and making healthier choices in terms of food goes a long way (and some weight loss will follow, in time.)
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 1/22/2024, 9:12 AM
@ClintThaHamster - good advice. Thank you
Vigor
Vigor - 1/21/2024, 4:01 PM
These are rhe kind of actors I like. Not the ones hesitant to sign a long term contract
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 1/21/2024, 4:23 PM
I just wanna see him come back as Thor. 😉👍
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/21/2024, 4:54 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - Secret Wars, bubby! He could be a member of the Thor Corps.
MarioT1000
MarioT1000 - 1/21/2024, 9:35 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - man just posted that he was my 2nd favorite Thor then saw you beat me to it by 4 hrs 😂..
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/21/2024, 4:24 PM

He is great in the role. No need to ever change.

I am sooo ready for this on the big screen.

Spidey & Daredevil (With Jessica Jones & Luke Cage) vs. Kingpin (With Bullseye & Tombstone).

Throw in Punisher & Echo for maximum mayhem. And maybe some Elektra...

Spoo




ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/21/2024, 4:56 PM
@DocSpock - And if they bring Mysterio back they could throw a little Guardian Devil our way.
StSteven
StSteven - 1/21/2024, 5:10 PM
@DocSpock - Yeah, totally with ya there bro. If you think about it, the serious street level thing isn't anything we've seen so far in the MCU, and they're setting all the pieces up perfectly with Fisk as the Thanos-level threat for the street level characters, which is what I hope"SM4" is heading into and "DD:BA" is setting up. I mean if you look at it, you have "Hawkeye" which introduced Echo and Kingpin, then "Echo" which further set up DD and (especially) Kingpin. At (approximately) the same time you had "SM:NWH" which introduced Matt and street-level SM, then "She-Hulk" which introduced DD, and next we'll have "DD:BA" which will pull together DD, Kingpin, and at least Punisher, so it's totally like lil' Kevkev is lining up his 90s ToyBiz Marvel figures on the living room rug getting ready for the big showdown (which will likely happen in "SM4" or "SM5". I also wouldn't be surprised if they introduce a few more of the street-level mob guys like Tombstone, Silvermane, etc. in "DD:BA" just to set them up for "SM4".

Personally, I'd like to see them build up to the inevitable Thanos-level Kingpin street-level showdown between the street-level heroes and villains, and not do it all in "SM4". In fact, what I think would be cool would be to build up to it via the SM movies, DD show (and other possible spin-offs like another season of "Echo", a Punisher show, possible JJ revival, etc.). So kinda like "Defenders", but, ya know, good. Hell, they could even do a standalone (i.e. non-SM) movie for the showdown. Or if they MUST use the SM name, then take a page from the current comics and do a "Spider-Man: Gang War" or something.

Either way, I just hope they don't blow through this in like 1 movie as it has SO much potential and it seems like Vince in it for the long haul.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/21/2024, 5:54 PM
@ObserverIO -

With all the multiverse/variant nonsense, they just might.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/21/2024, 6:04 PM
@StSteven -

Oh yeah. 1 movie not nearly enough. I am hoping for SM 4 & 5 to do this with a Daredevil movie in between.

2026 - SM 4 2027 Daredevil Battlefield(with Elektra) 2028 - SM 5 Total War

StSteven
StSteven - 1/22/2024, 7:06 PM
@DocSpock - Yeah, I just read the article with D'Onofrio talking about Kingpin's future and he made a good point that we saw that in "Echo" his business has expanded beyond just Hell's Kitchen and is now stretching at least across the States (not sure exactly where Maya's hometown is) and could go global, so it would make sense for him to show up in a lot of different places. Plus if/when he becomes the mayor of NYC, that's one of the most powerful positions in the US, so he would definitely have global recognition by then, so I think that multiple shows/movies is a must and hopefully that's what he's being lined up for (kinda seems like that based on what Vince said).
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/22/2024, 7:55 PM
@StSteven -

Yep. Kingpin's reach is clearly spreading.

Maya's hometown is meant to be in South Oklahoma not too far North from Texas where Hwy 75 runs from your area up to Oklahoma.
StSteven
StSteven - 1/22/2024, 9:33 PM
@DocSpock - Yep, I know 75 well (I just had surgery on my hand about 2 weeks ago in Anna, just north of McKinney and I made a joke to my doctor (who is one of the owners of the surgery centers) "So I guess property is cheaper up here in OK?") and I used to have to take 75 on my daily commute from Plano to Richardson for my previous job.

Anyhow, back to Kingpin, yeah if he's reaching all the way from NYC to OK that's definitely an increase in his business. Now that we know that he didn't get blipped/snapped/dusted/whatever, it makes sense that during those 5 years he would take advantage of the situation and expand his empire, particularly by going after the areas abandoned by those who did get snapped. I mean, as Aristotle famously said "Nature abhors a vacuum"" so there you go.Now that the Netflix shows are canon, I hope that we get enough time with Fisk in either "DD:BA" or "SM4" or whatever where they go into what Fisk, DD, et. al had been up to during those 5 years, particularly with how Fisk's empire has expanded since we last saw him in the Netflix series.

Either way, seeing as how this seems to be playing out, I think that Marvel did a smart thing by making the Netflix shows canon (regardless of how much they end up actually using and how much the ignore) because that saves them LOTS of backstory and exposition, just like what they did with Fisk in "Echo" about his childhood trauma and killing his father. They handled it well enough (in my opinion anyway) that if you watched the Netflix DD shows you got the deep dive into Fisk and his psychology but if not, here's a brief recap.

So what's cool and different about this now that we haven't really seen much of in the MCU so far is that if we take into consideration the Netflix background for Fisk and what we saw in "Echo", we're watching the slow-burn development of a supervillain across several years as he slowly acquires power and spreads his influence and expands his empire. We haven't really seen that type of character development for a MCU villain (outside of Loki), and it's cool to watch. I mean, at this point, who knows WhAT he was up to during the blip and how far his empire actually extends to. Hopefully they do a similar slow-burn build-up approach with Doom as well (but obviously not the organized crime approach).
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/23/2024, 1:02 AM
@StSteven -

Very good points. I do hope they do a great build up job on my favorite Marvel villain Dr. Doom.
StSteven
StSteven - 1/23/2024, 8:19 PM
@DocSpock - Same here. I said in another thread that a cool idea (to me at least) when they fully introduce Doom would be to show flashbacks to certain plot holes or unresolved threads throughout the history of the MCU thus far and reveal that "It Was Doom All Along" (as long as he doesn't do a cheesy song and dance number during that reveal - but even then if anyone could crush it it would be Doom 😉), as he is the master manipulator. Kinda like the end of "The Usual Suspects" where you get that "holy shit" feeling.

Like, how did the 10 Rings know where Tony's caravan was going to be in the desert in "IM1"? Doom. How did Hammer find out about Vanko in "IM2" Doom. And so on. You don't want to go overboard and stretch it too far (like he was behind EVERY unanswered question), but just enough to demonstrate that he's been pulling the strings for years all from the comfort of his high-backed Doom chair deep down in his Doom lair watching the events of the world happen in real-time on his Doom monitors. That would be cool if done well.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/23/2024, 8:30 PM
@StSteven -

That's some cool ideas.

You should call Kevin right now!!
StSteven
StSteven - 1/23/2024, 8:39 PM
@DocSpock - Already did. I've been on hold for a week and a half...

But, hell man, people want more f**king connectivity between the MCU projects, there you go!
JFerguson
JFerguson - 1/21/2024, 4:28 PM
The fat suit looked really good most of the time. Can’t wait to see the big man stand next to spidey in a brawl
EskimoJ
EskimoJ - 1/21/2024, 4:31 PM
💯 with this Fisk for life.

And good on him for the weight loss and lifestyle changes, it makes a world of a difference.
dagenspear
dagenspear - 1/21/2024, 5:09 PM
LORD willing, thank God for his health.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 1/21/2024, 5:13 PM
Let's be blunt here. He's got Daredevil: Born Again and maybe a Spider-man 4 and that'll be it. The Avengers 5/6/7 will serve as a reboot and they won't have Kingpin after that.

All these remarks are just to imply a future with the character that does not exist.
ziexxx
ziexxx - 1/21/2024, 7:37 PM
@Scarilian - The guy enjoys playing the hell out of this role, which fits him perfectly, and he does not have to remain committed to it since he can keep doing his movies... so why do you need to be this negative ? He might be still there 5/6 years from now, because Kingpin shows up in a looooooot of comics without being the main vilain, that's how you build a consistent universe, he doesn't have to leave any time soon unless he gets killed by the likes of Red Hood or whatever...
Scarilian
Scarilian - 1/22/2024, 11:26 AM
"so why do you need to be this negative ?"

None of this is negativity, it's just actually looking at the reality of what we know here.

There are no plans for Kingpin beyond Daredevil: Born Again currently. He does not have 5/6 years in the role unless they are released far apart, he has Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 and Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.

Some people are theorizing he may have a role in Spider-man 4, but that's not currently decided because while Tom Holland may be willing IF the script is good enough, they have not actually contracted him to return yet.

Sony have also not agreed with Marvel to make a Spider-man 4 with them, they have no incentive to do so because Spider-man: NWH made the highest box office any of Phase 4 or 5 film so far and they own the character.

I also cannot logically see them trying to top Spider-man: NWH by just giving us Daredevil and Kingpin. It makes a lot more sense if they are going to do something different and are spreading false rumors about Daredevil and Kingpin to distract from that.

If Disney are involved then I wouldn't be surprised if the main villain of Spider-man 4 is the recast Kang as it'd be a way to ensure everyone see's and knows who Kang is prior to Avengers 5.

There's also potential for Sony to push for Spider-man 4 to adapt the Sinister Six which they've been trying to do for nearly two decades as they'll have introduced Kraven by that point meaning the live-action villains of Spider-man include all the OG Sinister Six members: Doc Ock, Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, Sandman and Kraven.

Avengers 5/6/7 are also the end of the MCU as we know it currently, then they are rebooting. Whether it's a soft or full reboot, they are intending to recast iconic characters so it's more likely they'd focus on new dynamics and younger portrayals. Kingpin will have been around for over a decade at that point given he first appeared in Daredevil in 2015. Honestly they've done pretty much everything with the character also.

"The guy enjoys playing the hell out of this role"

He used to, yes. It's clear he seemed to not care about Hawkeye and he's actively expressed disinterest in Echo, due to the writing, in interviews - expressing he felt like he had to make up for the lacking script.

It seems clear he agreed to those solely because they were stepping stones for a Daredevil series where he hoped it'd be of the same quality and focus of the Netflix series where he could express his range as an actor.

The announcement comes and he gets an 18 episode first season of Daredevil, he films his role for 9 episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, then the executives looked at it and determined it as complete and utter garbage and scrapped everything.

Now they are splitting it into two 9 episode seasons and he's going to have to do even more filming with the knowledge that everything he did before has been thrown away. That's bound to be disheartening as an actor to know all that time and effort was wasted.

"that's how you build a consistent universe"

We don't have a consistent universe anymore. That's why they are rebooting everything. None of the shows, films, anything that happens is consistent with anything else. It's not a consistent connected universe if nothing that happens is consistent or connected.
Steel86
Steel86 - 1/21/2024, 5:13 PM
The neck is the only weak spot. But other than that he looks great. And he's amazing
campblood
campblood - 1/21/2024, 8:23 PM
He one me over when he caved a guys head in with a car door. He’s so goddamn intimidating as Fisk. He’s like a bear standing in front of you on his hind legs just ready and waiting to maul you to death
MarioT1000
MarioT1000 - 1/21/2024, 9:33 PM
My 2nd favorite Thor! 😂
RolandD
RolandD - 1/21/2024, 11:26 PM
So great to hear about this. I was just watching Echo over the past few days, and I felt bad for him having gained so much weight for the role. Good for him!
Blergh
Blergh - 1/22/2024, 2:29 AM
He seems so enthusiastic about his role, I really want him to play the part forever (or as long as he likes)
gtabreaker
gtabreaker - 1/22/2024, 3:59 AM
I wish I have a forever job like this.
Kurban
Kurban - 1/22/2024, 4:32 AM
They need to innovate their writing department. Hopefully Daredevil Born Again actually follows through because Echo was shit terrible
1 2

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

View Recorder