In the season 2 premiere of Daredevil: Born Again, Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, has a tighter grip on New York City than ever. While season 1 depicted Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) adjusting to his role as NYC’s mayor, he’s now at the height of his power, with his Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF) intimidating the entire city. Nonetheless, his popularity is high, thanks to low crime statistics. He’s so emboldened that he’s even allowed military-grade weapons to be smuggled in through his Brooklyn free port.
In the season premiere, however, the cargo ship transporting those weapons sinks right in the East River after Daredevil comes aboard and Kingpin gives orders to scuttle the vessel. Additionally, the AVTF already seems like they’re out of control, given their harassment of vigilantes and ordinary citizens alike. It seems that the seeds of Fisk’s downfall have already been planted. Yet it’s worth taking a look at how this storyline played out in the comics to see whether Daredevil: Born Again might be heading in the same direction.
In Daredevil Vol.5 #28, which came out back in November 2017, Wilson Fisk was elected as mayor of New York City on an anti-vigilante platform, just like he is in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again. To reassure those wary of him, he appoints respected lawyer Matt Murdock (who he does not know is Daredevil) as his district attorney. A few issues later, the evil ninjas known as The Hand attack Fisk and he is hospitalized, making Matt Murdock the acting mayor. Once ensconced in the office, Murdock refuses to return power to Fisk until Fisk caves and ends his anti-vigilante policies.
For the next six years, Mayor Fisk tangles with Daredevil, Spider-Man, The Punisher, and a few other superheroes, but it all comes to a head in the 2022 six-part limited-event series Devil’s Reign, written by Chip Zdarsky and penciled by Marco Checcetto. In that story, Fisk discovers he once knew Daredevil’s identity, until it was erased from his memory. This actually happened years earlier, just a few issues before Kingpin became mayor. In that comic, Daredevil rescues the children of the mind-controlling villain Kilgrave, so they use their dad’s mind-control device to make everyone forget Daredevil’s secret identity, which had been public for years. This causes all kinds of problems for Matt Murdock.
Kingpin doesn’t know the specifics of why his mind was erased. All he knows is that he once knew Daredevil’s identity, but that he no longer does — and that Daredevil is responsible. Having his mind tampered with pisses the hell out of Fisk, and he vows revenge by passing The Powers Act, which bans vigilantism and the use of superhuman abilities within city limits. To enforce the law, he employs the Thunderbolts, a team of so-called reformed supervillains, along with AVTF-like “Thunderbolt Units.”
Fisk’s forces lock up a bunch of heroes, like Moon Knight and members of the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile, Daredevil teams up with some remaining heroes, including Captain America, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, and a few others, most notably Luke Cage, who decides to run for mayor against Fisk, as it’s an election year. Daredevil also decides Fisk is so out of control and decides to kill him, though Elektra convinces him not to.
Eventually, the good guys win and Fisk is arrested for trying to use Kilgrave’s mind-control powers to brainwash the people of New York into re-electing him. However, Fisk, with the help of his estranged son, escapes and actually gets a happy ending. He decides to let go of all the hate and resentment he feels, and he gets onto a boat with his wife — the supervillain Typhoid Mary, as Vanessa Fisk died years earlier in the comics — and they literally sail off into the sunset. Luke Cage becomes mayor soon after.
These are Marvel comics, so a bunch of magic and clones and interdimensional stuff are also in play in the series, but that’s the gist of it.
As for how this could be adapted into Daredevil: Born Again season 2, that’s tough to say. Fisk knows Matt Murdock is Daredevil in this series, so it’s safe to say he probably won’t be making him district attorney. While we know Jessica Jones is returning, it’s highly unlikely that Daredevil: Born Again will become a major Marvel crossover event, like it is in the comics. Hopefully, though, we’ll at least get a couple of surprise appearances. It also would be fairly redundant to have Daredevil again tackle whether he should take a life, which he went through last season with Bullseye, and during the Netflix seasons of Daredevil with Fisk himself.
If this season does spell the end of Mayor Fisk’s rule, I would expect a similarly bloody — if far less superpowered — final showdown pitting Fisk and the AVTF against Daredevil and the members of his resistance.
As for Fisk’s happy ending, since he already went to jail in the Netflix series, it’s entirely possible that he gets off scot-free this time. Perhaps he’ll even sail off into the sunset with his wife (Vanessa Fisk is alive in this series, played by Ayelet Zurer), just like his comic book counterpart. While the character certainly doesn’t deserve a happy ending, his vast wealth might just ensure that he gets one, which would probably be the most true-to-life thing ever put into a Marvel show.
