It turns out that our favorite Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio, is off-limits for the big screen, as revealed by the actor himself on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz.
"The only thing I know is not positive," D’Onofrio explained. "It's a very hard thing for Marvel to use my character because of ownership and other issues."
He elaborated, stating, “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 seems to confirm that D’Onofrio's portrayal of Fisk will not appear in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, ruling him out of upcoming films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This could also impact potential plans for a Charlie Cox-led Daredevil movie, where fans would expect to see D’Onofrio reprise his role as the villain.
D’Onofrio first brought Fisk, New York City’s formidable crimelord and future mayor also known as Kingpin, to life in Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix. The series ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2018, garnering widespread acclaim for D’Onofrio’s nuanced performance. His dedication to the character is evident in how he draws inspiration from various sources.In an interview with IGN last month, D’Onofrio discussed the influence of actors like Harrison Ford on his portrayal, particularly in action scenes. "Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," he said. "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."
Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is currently airing weekly on Disney+ and is set to conclude its finale on April 15, 2025.
