Daredevil: 10 Reasons Wilson Fisk Is The Best MCU Villain
Age Of Ultron? Long Live the Kingpin!
Despite being shown on the small screen rather than the large, the recent Daredevil series is fully integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the destructive events of Avengers Assemble forming the backbone to the show's storyline. "Heroes and their consequences are why we have our current opportunities" explains mob accountant Leland Owlsley at the opening of a new chapter in the 'verse, in which multicoloured high-flyers are replaced with gritty and down to earth life on the streets.
Despite this fresh perspective of the unique world which their superheroes inhabit, Marvel have come full circle in terms of the villains they are facing. Firget the intergalactic backdrop, Wilson Fisk is merely a businessman with heavy emphasis on illicit dealings, most resembling Iron Man's Obadiah Stone.
Also known in the comics as the Kingpin, Fisk first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #50 back in 1967 but has continued to pop up throughout Marvel's various titles ever since, and was the obvious choice to feature in the first of Netflix's TV adaptations.
Each successive villain throughout the MCU's cinematic offerings has been upping the ante in terms of their predecessors since Stone helped bring Marvel to a whole new audience, with the current champion being A.I. angel of death Ultron. The bigger they come the harder they may fall, but all of the increasing Blockbuster behemoths still fall short when measuring up to such a complex and interesting character as New York's own Wilson Fisk.
10. He's The Perfect Match For The Hero
When it comes to the hero/villain relationships it is those with the most similarities that are the most compelling. Spider-Man may have an entire menagerie of supervillains to contend with, but there is a reason that Erik Lehnsherr returns to battle the X-Men time and time again. The fact that he and old sparring partner Charles Xavier are opposite sides of the same coin, fighting for the same goal of mutant rights but in different ways, adds a dimension to the conflict between their respective mutant factions that others can't match.
And this exact same principle applies to Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock. Both grew up in Hell's Kitchen, an area of New York that is burdened with crime, but which they call their home. They may have different means at their disposals, not to mention opposing ideologies, but they both share the aim of restoring the glory of the neighbourhood they love so much.
Whether as lawyer against criminal, or vigilante verses powerhouse, Murdock and Fisk are destined to butt heads at every opportunity. Not because they were raised as brothers and fight over the throne of Asgard, but because of the one common goal that both have devoted themselves to achieving.