Vincent D'Onofrio: Wilson Fisk's Movie Rights Tangled Up

It appears that fans of the Marvel universe will have to adjust their expectations, as Vincent D’Onofrio, the actor behind the iconic Hell's Kitchen villain Wilson Fisk, has shed light on some disappointing news regarding his character's future on the big screen. In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, D’Onofrio revealed, "The only thing I know is not positive. It's a very hard thing to do, for Marvel to use my character. It's a very hard thing to do, because of ownership and stuff."

D’Onofrio elaborated that his portrayal of Fisk, also known as Kingpin, is limited to television appearances. "I’m only usable for television shows. Not even a one-off Wilson Fisk movie. It’s all caught up in rights and stuff. I don’t know when that would work out — or if it ever would work out at all."

This revelation effectively rules out D’Onofrio's Wilson Fisk from appearing in any Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This development may also impact the potential for a Charlie Cox-led Daredevil movie, where fans would naturally expect to see D’Onofrio reprise his role as the formidable villain.

D’Onofrio first brought Fisk to life in the 2015 Netflix series, Marvel’s Daredevil, which ran for three seasons and concluded with nearly 40 episodes in 2018. His performance has garnered widespread acclaim from both fans and critics, and D’Onofrio has been thoughtful about how he wants Fisk to be perceived. In a recent interview with IGN, he discussed the influences on his portrayal, citing the everyman performances of actors like Harrison Ford.

"Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," D’Onofrio said, explaining how these performances inspired his own multifaceted villain. "They carried their own humility into the action scenes with them. And I always thought that that was the way to go. That made it look real to me. Gary Cooper in Sergeant York, when he takes aim, when he becomes the sniper, it's the humility in his eyes that you see. It's amazing. I think that helps action stuff a lot. We're all very conscious of that."

Currently, fans can catch D’Onofrio's portrayal of Wilson Fisk in Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, which is airing weekly on Disney+ and will conclude its run on April 15, 2025.