Vincent D'Onofrio on Wilson Fisk's Movie Absence: 'It's All About Rights'

It turns out that our favorite Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, portrayed by Vincent D’Onofrio, is off-limits for the big screen. In a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, D’Onofrio revealed the challenging situation regarding his character's use in Marvel projects.

"The only thing I know is not positive," D’Onofrio explained. "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 further clarified that his portrayal of Fisk is restricted to television shows and cannot be featured in a standalone Wilson Fisk movie due to 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 effectively rules out D’Onofrio's appearance as Fisk in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, including the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. This could also impact potential plans for a Charlie Cox-led Daredevil movie, where D’Onofrio's presence as the villain would be expected.

D’Onofrio first brought Fisk to life in Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix in 2015. The series ran for three seasons and concluded with nearly 40 episodes in 2018. D’Onofrio's performance as New York City’s most powerful crimelord and future mayor, also known as Kingpin, has been widely acclaimed by fans and critics. He draws inspiration from classic performances when shaping his multifaceted villain.

In a recent interview with IGN, D’Onofrio discussed the influences behind his portrayal, particularly the everyman performances of actors like Harrison Ford. "Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous," he said. "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."

Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is currently airing on Disney+ with weekly episodes, culminating in its finale on April 15, 2025.