Michael Clarke Duncans portrayal of the Kingpin was quite possibly the greatest single piece of acting in this film. He gave the character the sense of being a mob boss which was somewhat lacking in his comic incarnation; yes, he was the head of an immense crime network, but the adaptation for Daredevil was well above the rest of the cast. By likening the Kingpin to grittier and realistic mafia leaders, Daredevil endowed the character with a surreal sense of plausibility; this feature was lacking in the other main characters (mostly due to their comic origins, but partly due to the poor script). Michael Clarke Duncan was initially concerned as he was African American and the source material depicts Kingpin as white, but this difference was one of the few parts of the film worth celebrating; comics have a tendency to be dominated by white men (not always, and sometimes there are great exceptions to this trend). By diversifying the cast Daredevil became representative (almost) of the real world. There is a long way to go in making a superhero universe full of diversity, but Daredevil instigated one of the first shifts in this direction. The Kingpin in Daredevil is actually scary; he was not overly clichéd like Bullseye. Duncans portrayal of the character was infused with a sense of reality that meant he struck fear into the audience, and given the poor plot and action choreography within this film, it is worth giving respect to this awe inspiring portrayal of a well known villain. Like this article? Let us know in the comments section below.
A 21 year old History graduate looking for someone to listen to his ramblings. Lover of comic books, movies and all other superhero related things. Published in The Independent, always looking for interesting things to write about...Follow me on Twitter at @samclements1993, and check out my blog: http://samuelclements.wordpress.com/
