After Vincent D’Onofrio gave Wilson Fisk/Kingpin a solid run in Netflix’s Daredevil, the actor made a surprise debut to the wider MCU in 2021’s Hawkeye. Next week he’ll appear in one of two upcoming Marvel TV shows. Wilson Fisk is set to come back with the release of Echo. Ahead of the bingeable mini series coming to Disney+ and Hulu, D’Onofrio told CinemaBlend why his stint on the January streaming release is a solid setup for his next project, Daredevil: Born Again.
When I spoke to the actor about his latest performance as Wilson Fisk in Echo, he first talked about his initial thoughts on returning to a role he’s previously called “a crazy motherfucker” for Echo in particular. In his words:
I was familiar with the canon when it came to her character and mine, and I always thought it was an interesting story to tell. And so, I was very excited when I learned that they wanted my character to be in Echo. I think it was a good experience for us to all put Wilson Fisk in this emotional relationship, this kind of father-daughter relationship. I think it broadens his emotional life. And, I really had a good time doing it because the script was based in reality and it was a really big journey for Alaqua's character, and I thought it was an interesting and important journey.
Before we see Wilson Fisk return to the setting of a Daredevil series with Born Again, Echo provided Vincent D’Onofrio a chance to tell an “emotional” story between Kingpin and Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez, following their extended history that included the villain taking her in when she was younger. As D’Onofrio continued:
I think it also helps my character with this series that I'm about to start with Charlie, the new Daredevil series. It's a good start. It's a good pushing off point, the end of Echo and going into Daredevil. So in those ways, I think it's an important part of the story because my character doesn't want [Maya] to move on, and I think that that is one of the ingredients that makes her move on the fact that I don't want her to and I think that was important for the story too. So, there's a lot of good things I feel about Echo.
As the actor shared, Fisk has a huge pull on Echo’s protagonist that apparently leads into the story that will be told in Daredevil: Born Again. We’ll have to find out what that “good pushing off point” is once Echo premieres on January 9, but it’s definitely intriguing to know that his upcoming arc as part of the Echo cast is helping him lead into his next Daredevil arc. Vincent D’Onofrio also said this:
I think Sydney Freeman, the director, did such a great job. She's one of the directors on it, but also the executive producer. She had a lot of control in the show and developing the show and I feel really good about it. And there's a tonal aspect to it that it's a little darker. It lives more in the area of the original Daredevil show. It reminds me of that and my character is portrayed in a similar way. Not that the story is the same, but his tone is also darker. And I think my character works best in that way.
Fans of the initial Netflix Daredevil show will be happy to hear that Echo is bringing Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk back to the tone he started in. This time around, the actor worked closely with Echo’s director/executive producer Sydney Freeland on her vision, which he found to be very much in her hands creatively. It’s great to hear D’Onofrio’s seal of approval about Echo after the actor worked many years with the creators of the Netflix Daredevil series.
When CinemaBlend spoke to the Echo filmmakers as well, they shared that D’Onofrio and Charlie Cox had quite a bit of input when it came to the making of the new Marvel series. For example, Sydney Freeland recalled to me that Charlie Cox asked a question early on that “sparked so many conversations” when it comes to the communication between Daredevil and Echo in the series. Producer Richie Palmer also called D’Onofrio an “expert” in his character who even helped crack the story of Echo further.
Welcome back, Wilson Fisk.
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