Echo star Vincent D’Onofrio has offered his take on where the Marvel Studios series leaves Wilson Fisk/Kingpin ahead of Daredevil: Born Again.
In Echo’s finale, main protagonist Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) uses her abilities in an apparent attempt to cure Fisk (D’Onofrio) — her adoptive uncle — of his childhood trauma. Before he can get any clarification, however, the Kingpin of Crime is forced to flee the authorities. On his flight home, Fisk learns that a strong candidate has yet to emerge in the New York City mayoral race. This sets up Daredevil: Born Again — a series that has long been rumored to adapt the “Mayor Fisk” story arc from Marvel‘s Daredevil comic books.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, D’Onofrio made it clear that he couldn’t reveal what exactly Maya did to the Kingpin. “That’s a good question, but I can’t answer that question,” he said. “That question is boxed up in a lot of other stuff, and I can’t open that box.” The actor was similarly unable to divulge too much regarding Daredevil: Born Again. However, whatever Maya did, D’Onofrio doesn’t think it made the villainous Wilson Fisk suddenly want to become a benevolent leader.
“I don’t think he’s changed; I think he’s enlightened,” D’Onofrio said. “I haven’t seen a lot of the episodes of Echo. So, in my mind, after everything goes down with Maya, he gets on a plane, and … by the end of that flight, he decides, ‘If I want to be all powerful, this is what I’m going to do.’ That’s the most I can tell you.”
D’Onofrio explains how Netflix’s Daredevil became MCU canon
Disney+ and Hulu‘s Echo is notable for being the first Marvel Studios production to directly acknowledge the events of the Netflix original series Marvel’s Daredevil, in which D’Onofrio first portrayed the Kingpin. Meanwhile, Daredevil: Born Again recently underwent a creative overhaul that will see the upcoming Disney+ series hew closer to the Netflix show.
Now that Netflix’s Daredevil is officially considered Marvel Cinematic Universe canon, D’Onofrio suggests that Born Again will serve as more of a direct continuation — and less of a reboot. “During our restart of all the creative on Daredevil: Born Again, all the creatives got together and said, ‘Look, this is how we’ve got to do it now,'” he told THR. “So we are for sure only speaking about it in terms of being directly connected to the original Daredevil, and that’s a great thing. It brings in a lot of cool stories and all the collateral story that happened in those original three seasons.”
All five episodes of Echo are currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
