8 Smartest Decisions In Marvel Villain History

3. Wilson Fisk Runs For Mayor - Daredevil

Wilson Fisk is one of the most diabolical antagonists in Marvel's library, and potentially even its greatest. He's been a villain both to Spider-Man and the Punisher, but it's Daredevil with whom he appears to be locked in battle with the most.

The Man Without Fear revitalised his rivalry with the Kingpin of Crime during Frank Miller's stint on the character in the 1980s, at which point Fisk managed to bring the hero to the brink during Born Again. While that campaign of terror alone could go down as one of the smartest campaigns in Marvel's history, it's a more recent development that was probably Fisk's most ingenious.

After Fisk ratted out Daredevil's secret identity to the press, and also after the Man Without Fear managed to put that revelation back in the bottle with the help of the Purple Children, he decided to run for Mayor of New York City. Doing so would grant him new powers, even more influence, and a means of vexing his greatest rival through official channels.

Fisk has now confessed that he wields less power as Mayor than he did as Kingpin, but don't underestimate what he got up to while Mayor. He outlawed vigilantes in New York, undermined Murdock's efforts to make it possible for heroes to testify in court without disclosing their own identity, and is now even more untouchable than he ever was before.