[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers forHawkeyeandSpider-Man: No Way Home]
In the week leading up to Christmas, Marvel gave longtime fans an early Christmas gift. With the one-two punch ofHawkeye’spenultimate episodeand the highly anticipated release ofSpider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel had seemingly integrated its Netflix universe with the cinematic universe of the MCU proper. InHawkeye, eagle-eyed fans — pun intended — were already aware of easter eggs and hints at the return of a certain big bad from Netflix’sDaredevil, from Maya Lopez’s (Alaqua Cox) off-screen “uncle” to the Fat Man Auto company that houses the Tracksuit Mafia. Within the marketing and trailers forSpider-Man: No Way Home, the return of Spider-Man’s past rogues’ gallery — Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jaime Foxx), and Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) — hinted at the return of previous iterations of the web-slinging hero as well as other heroes of the Marvel multiverse. Finally, much of the speculation has been confirmed, but for anyone who isn’t caught up on all things Marvel, the reintroduction of Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), and Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil (Charlie Cox), into MCU might need some explanation.
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Daredevil Comes to Netflix
While 2003’sDaredevilmarked the first live-action adaptation of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen (Ben Affleck) and Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) — and, ironically, Foggy Nelson played byJon Favreauwho appears again inNo Way Homeas Happy Hogan — Netflix’sDaredevilwas meant to jumpstart a darker, more violent interconnected Marvel universe on the Netflix streaming service starring Charlie Cox, who reprises the role inNo Way Home, as the titular blind superhero and Vincent D’Onofrio as his mobster nemesis, who is also the main villain inHawkeye. Coming off the heels ofThe Avengers’ success in 2012,Daredevilwas a separate attempt to capitalize on Marvel’s interconnectivity — the other attempt being the ABC seriesAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But whereasAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.had a direct connection to the MCU through its leading, resurrected agentPhil Coulson (Clark Gregg),Daredevildid not. Instead, the Netflix show and subsequent series such asLuke Cage,Jessica Jones,Iron Fist, andThe Defendersmade indirect references to the events of the Battle of New York and the man with “an iron suit” and the god with “a magic hammer.” WhileDaredevil’s relationship to the MCU canon remained murky, there was an opportunity for more creative freedom to differentiate the show from the light-hearted, PG-13 films on the big screen.
As a child, Matt was caught up in a car accident, pushing an old man out of the way to save his life. However, Matt somehow fell to the ground and his eyes were hit with a splash of toxic chemicals from a truck. When his father finally finds him, Matt discovers that he is blind — however, he later discovers that his hearing, intuition, and reflexes have drastically improved. While this tells of the origins of his powers, Matt’s relationship with his father, or lack of, will define his overall heroism.
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Origin Stories
As a child, Matt was caught up in a car accident, pushing an old man out of the way to save his life. During the chaos, Matt’s eyes are hit with a splash of toxic chemicals from a truck. Matt is blinded, but later discovers that his hearing, intuition, and reflexes have drastically improved.
Like most superheroes as children, Matt loses his father, Jack Murdock, (John Patrick Hayden), at a young age, and his relationship with his father, or lack of, will define his overall heroism. When Jack Murdock wins a boxing match he was supposed to lose, all to make his son proud, he is murdered by the corrupt boxing promoter that set up the fixed match. Matt is placed in Saint Agnes Orphanage, where a blind man who goes by Stick (Scott Glenn) adopts him and eventually trains him in martial arts in the hope that Matt will one day help him fight the villainous organization known as The Hand. But when Matt becomes too attached to Stick, seeking a father figure, the old man abandons him. They reunite decades later, after Matt grows up, goes to college, and befriends Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), with whom he begins a law firm.
On the flip side, New York’s Kingpin had his own tragic backstory that, much like Matt Murdock’s backstory, involves a fraught relationship with his father. When his father ran and lost a campaign for the city council, young Wilson Fisk was repeatedly abused, along with his mother, by his father. Finally, Wilson killed his father with a hammer to the head, beginning the Kingpin’s long history of violence. Seeing where his father had failed in taking power as a city council member, Fisk sought to watch over New York through criminality. Funneling drugs, money, and even people through human trafficking, Fisk made various partnerships with other crime bosses and villainous figures, such as Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) and Nobu (Peter Shinkoda). In another loose connection to the MCU, the amount of property damage after the Battle of New York left an opportunity for Kingpin to profit off of real estate. However, since his appearance inHawkeye, this loose connection is made all the more canon, especially with Fisk’s dealings with the wealthy Derek (Brian d’Arcy James) and Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga). In an interview withCollider, D’Onofrio states, “I’m continuing the same man that was in the series a few years ago, inDaredevil. His emotional life, he operates through the pain of his childhood. That’s how he operates and he still does.”
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Daredevil and Kingpin, Archenemies
Much of the story between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk is about New York City. Matt, along with his friends Foggy Nelson and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), hopes to inspire the city by tackling crime through the eyes of the law. They have wavering alliances with Detective Brett Mahoney (Royce Johnson), journalist Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), and nurse Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). But Fisk has his own allies, such as crooked financial adviser Leland Owlsley (Bob Gunton), and even more money to pay off various cops, FBI agents, judges, and juries. Fisk, too, has his own intimate relationship with an art curator, Vanessa Marianna (Ayelet Zurer), who embraces Fisk’s drive and motivation. Where the law fails to implicate Fisk and his criminal network, Matt Murdock steps in as Daredevil, taking down various crime operations and gathering evidence for the police and the press to stand up against the Kingpin.
In season 1, Murdock and his team eventually work up a strong enough case against Fisk and his crumbling empire. While Vanessa is able to escape federal agents, Fisk is apprehended by Daredevil and taken into custody. In season 3, Fisk is released from prison after making a deal with the FBI to expose other cases of crime and corruption. In exchange, Fisk is reunited with Vanessa and together they are put up in a “safe house,” which is more of a penthouse at a fancy hotel. Matt, Karen, and Foggy have even more of a challenge on their hands, especially with Kingpin’s new ally in FBI agent Dex Poindexter turned marksman assassin Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), who dresses up as Daredevil to frame him. In a climactic final battle between Daredevil, Bullseye, and Kingpin, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen overcomes his nemeses. In a final warning to Wilson Fisk, Matt Murdock threatens to expose Fisk’s now-wife Vanessa as a criminal and murderer if Fisk doesn’t surrender himself and promises to keep away from Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Love proves to be the downfall of the seemingly impenetrable Kingpin. Matt and his friends continue their work and commitment to justice, forming the Nelson, Murdock, and Page law firm.
While there are various storylines that make Netflix’sDaredevila worthwhile watch — such as the introduction of Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Elektra (Elodie Yung) in season 2 — the backbone of the show was truly the rivalry between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, and it’s great to see the MCU finally bring these two into the fold. Who knows where else we’ll see these two in other MCU projects?
