As Daredevil: Born Again continues filming, more leaked images from Matt Murdock's MCU series are surfacing online. The latest images involve his biggest nemesis, Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, looking unscathed and happy in his lane, focused and flourishing.
For Marvel fans who saw Hawkeye, that shouldn't be the case. Clint Barton and Kate Bishop's series featured the iconic moment in which Wilson Fisk is shot by his adoptive niece, Echo, an event that’s supposed to leave him blinded per comic book tradition. Although Marvel Studios has rarely stuck too close to source material when adapting storylines from the comics, the mystery over how showrunners will follow up with Kingpin's apparent downfall seems crucial to the new Daredevil series.
So considering what happened in Hawkeye, the picture shared on the Marvel Studios subreddit is even more confusing. Actor D'Onofrio can be seen on Daredevil: Born Again set without any signs of having suffered an injury at all. Adding to that is that D'Onofrio's physique is much slimmer than it was back in his Netflix days, or especially in Hawkeye when Kingpin was looking massive, hence why the photo has some wondering if it could have been taken in from a flashback sequence.
Last week, similar images featuring Charlie Cox seemingly hinted where Daredevil: Born Again would be set in MCU's timeline. However, those Daredevil fan theories are inconclusive at best. In Kingpin's case, it’s already been confirmed there will be some flashbacks to the crime boss’ younger days, and his new suit and tie attire could also point to another piece of Marvel Comics history, Kingpin's run for office.
In 2017’s Daredevil #28, Kingpin became New York City's mayor by rigging the local elections until Matt went undercover in his cabinet to bring him down. The gray suit and blue shirt are certainly more befitting of a political figure than the sober black and white or his new floral shirts, so at least his clothes check all the right boxes. Previously, Marvel representatives had said Kingpin would be wearing an eye patch in the series, but it appears the big man will heal from his injuries quickly.
Kingpin is not all the homework pending in Daredevil: Born Again, as the show still has to decide if it’s a full MCU reboot that will bring back Punisher too, or if it’s more of a continuation of the story Netflix had already built for its cast.
Daredevil: Born Again is scheduled for spring 2024 on Disney Plus.
Source: Marvel Studios/Reddit