Vincent D’Onofrio Explains How MCU Kingpin Compares To Daredevil’s Violent Take

Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk (aka The Kingpin) made his official Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the final episodes of the Hawkeye Disney+ series – much to the collective delight of Marvel fans. D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk was the fan-favorite MVP villain of the Marvel Netflix Daredevil series and arguably remains the best Marvel villain ever in live-action. What that precedence established, some Marvel fans have been worried that bringing Kingpin into Disney’s MCU franchise would come at the sacrifice of Daredevil’s terrifying and violent take on the villain…

When the ComicBook Nation Podcast sat down with Vincent D’Onofrio to talk about his MCU future, one of the most interesting topics to dig into what how MCU Kingpin compares to Marvel Netflix’s violent take: 

“Well I think the [difference in] tones are obvious: it’s less bloody. But you know we talked a lot about it – for me it’s not a worry, because if I ever get the chance to take it further with the MCU, then I’m going to do the same work on Daredevil like I did on Hawkeye. You know [Kingpin’s] about emotional brutality. And he is just a mess. He’s a broken monster. And he is capable of many different kinds of brutality. Because he just is a brutal monster. So none of that worried me during Hawkeye.”

“I did notice – obviously – that there’s less blood, and there’s less torture. The thing you have to do is you have to stay away from torture,” D’Onorio continued. “And that really cuts things out. Like a lot of baddies that you play, they’re not just baddies, they actually torture people: they take control of them and torture them. And that’s too hardcore. So that’s out for them [Disney]. That was out for Hawkeye and hopefully, something will happen after that.” 

ComicBook Nation host Kofi Outlaw took that answer in stride, describing to D’Onofrio how even when knowing the limits of violence in the MCU Disney+ series, Kingpin still carries the Rated-R menace we know from Netflix Daredevil: 

“Best case scenario for me is that that [menace] does exist, no matter what he’s doing,” D’Onofrio explained. He quickly interjected with “But that’s up to me to carry in [the menace]. When you see Wilson Fisk, it needs to make you uneasy – no matter what’s happening. Whether he’s dressed in that ‘Family Business’ (comics) costume I was in. 

Indeed, even within the new rules of a Disney world – and sporting a Hawaiian shirt – Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is still everybit the archvillain so many Marvel fans love to fear. He’s so menacing, in fact, that no one really believes that Fisk taking a bullet to the face from Maya Lopez / Echo will have any dire (or lasting) effect. 

Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+. You can subscribe to the ComicBook Nation Podcast HERE.