Daredevil Star Reveals Why He Was Reluctant to Do Show

Now, you know Kingpin as one of the deepest, most complex villains a live-action Marvel property has ever put forth. Prior to Netflix putting Daredevil into development, it wasn't always full steam ahead. In fact, the actor behind Wilson Fisk says he was hesitant to get back into the world of television for the long-term. We recently caught up with Vincent D'Onofrio and the actor tells us he made sure his contract with the House of Ideas was year-to-year, just so he wasn't obligated to perform the role at-length should the series extend past its welcome.

"I was really reluctant to do a show 'cause I had done one for so long on TV with Criminal Intent," D'Onofrio says. "And so I was okay with doing like this and that, but I didn't wanna commit to a whole show, so I needed the powers that be to understand that I would commit yearly rather than to a long period of time that they would agree to kind of a handshake deal, that they would give me a heads up, whether they needed me or not."

As the Men in Black star says, Marvel agreed and he was welcomed to the show with open arms. "If I wanted to do it, if I wasn't doing something else, I would clear my schedule and do it for them," he adds. "So we did this kind of thing where I agreed to do it, according to those kinds of rules and once I realized the approach, I've made them understand how much I was gonna dive into it."

After learning more about the character and the show in general, D'Onofrio says he was completely on-board with the production, especially as he began to dive headfirst into the role of Wilson Fisk.

"It's not something I was gonna treat lightly that I knew that once the approach of the show was explained to me and the approach of the character, that they were really looking for, a human being much like the newer Kingpin stuff I was in," he concludes. "Once I was in and I started to produce character for them, it all really went well season to season after that."

All three seasons of Daredevil are now streaming on Netflix.

Where do you think Kingpin should pop up next? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!