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

It seems that fans of the iconic Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio, will have to temper their expectations for seeing him on the big screen. In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, D’Onofrio shared some disappointing news about the future of his character in the Marvel universe.

"The only thing I know is not positive," D’Onofrio revealed. "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." He elaborated that his portrayal of Fisk is restricted to television shows, ruling out any standalone Wilson Fisk movie due to complex rights issues. "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 likely means that D’Onofrio's version of Fisk won't be appearing in upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This could also impact potential plans for a Charlie Cox-led Daredevil movie, where Fisk's presence as a villain would be expected.

D’Onofrio first brought Fisk, also known as Kingpin, to life in the 2015 Netflix series Marvel’s Daredevil. Over three seasons and nearly 40 episodes, his performance as New York City’s most powerful crimelord and future mayor garnered widespread acclaim from both fans and critics. D’Onofrio has always been thoughtful about how he wants Fisk to be perceived, drawing inspiration from the performances of actors like Harrison Ford.

"Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," D’Onofrio told IGN last month, reflecting on the everyman performances that influenced his 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 reprising his role in Daredevil: Born Again, which is airing weekly on Disney+ and will conclude its first season on April 15, 2025.