‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’: Here’s How Kingpin Got His Distinctive Voice

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has some pretty unique takes on Marvel Comics characters, and one of those performances was brought to life in a pretty unique way.

In the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – the Art of the Movie book, co-director Bob Persichetti spoke about the film’s iteration of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, who is portrayed by Liev Schrieber. As Persichetti revealed, the process of trying to court Schrieber for the film, and his first time portraying the iconic villain, went about in some pretty interesting ways.

“Liev Schrieber was the second person we cast for the film [behind Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir].” Persichetti revealed. “We had the early design concepts and we played them against some line-readings that we had from Ray Donovan. It was a great match. The week Liev called happened to be the same week I broke my leg. I picked up my phone reflexively and he introduced himself. I quickly realized I wasn’t fit for the depths of the conversation of selling Liev on the film thanks to uh, ‘…pain management’. He cut through the fog and really talked character motivation and history and then agreed to do it. It was surreal.”

“Our first record was fantastic.” Persichetti continued. “Liev came with a deep backstory and a voice to match. He then stuffed tissues up his nose and it really gave him a nasal quality that sounded right.”

But as Persichetti went on to explain, the second recording of Schrieber’s had some very unique challenges.

“The second recording session was remote. Liev was in New York and I was in Los Angeles.” Persichetti explained. “He was early, I was late. He was intimidating, I was intimidated. He came as Wilson Fisk, Kingpin, and nobody makes Kingpin wait. Thank God we had already met and he knew me! I told him I was super sorry and he was just a tough cookie. It comes across so well in his voice for the character, but I thought I was in real trouble.”

“Liev challenges lines, so if a line doesn’t feel right, to him, he’ll ask about it.” Persichetti added. “That’s just who he is as an actor. He wants to justify why his character is saying and doing things, which is wonderful. Across the board, our whole cast does more than just act, and they were always very aware of quality control and what their character would or would not do.”

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in theaters now.