10 Awesome Superhero Villains Utterly Wasted In Their Movie Adaptation

10. Kingpin - Daredevil

Kingpin Known to many of my generation as the big bad of the Spider-Man TV series (despite traditionally being a Daredevil baddie), the Kingpin is a fearsome villain. He's smart, got people in the right places and most interesting of all, has a physicality that's impossible to pin down; is hefty or incredibly well built? The appearance of Kingpin in Daredevil wasn't a terrible adaptation compared to many on this list, but like much of the film it was a lazy version that could have been so much more. Michael Clarke Duncan had real fun chomping through the scenery of his lavishly designed office lair, but the writing was incredibly one note. He's a crime lord who has a vast empire and that was brought to the film, but it was as you'd expect from any gangster, with little comic inspiration taken and no real scheme at work. The screen Kingpin is really a product of the time - superhero movies in their infancy tended to play it safe and broad; Nolan and Feige hadn't leapt in and rejigged the genre yet. As for the future of the character in film, a good idea would be an appearance in a later Amazing Spider-Man, but being an original Daredevil character, he'll most likely pop up in the eventual reboot of that hero (probably as part of the MCU).
Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.