Kingpin’s Most Evil Acts

Whereas most supervillains in the Marvel Universe have grand plans of world domination. But in New York, Wilson Fisk has a goal of simply being the wealthiest and most powerful crime lord in the Big Apple as the Kingpin. First appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #50 he used the temporary retirement of Spidey as an opportunity to forge a united crime syndicate in the city with he and the top naturally. Since then he has been single-minded and ruthless in obtaining as much power as possible. He has proved to be a key part of the rogues gallery for both Spider-Man and Daredevil, as well as many other urban based heroes. In being the biggest crime lord in New York City, the Kingpin has been unafraid to get his hands dirty and these are some of his greatest acts of evil in no particular order.

Attempted takeover: As mentioned in the intro, when the Kingpin first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #50 it was to seize on the opportunity that a Spider-Man-less New York presented. His plan was to unite the likes of Doctor Octopus, Hammerhead, the Mad Thinker and others into a united criminal empire with himself as emperor. This sees him responsible for a citywide crime wave devastating New York. Ironically the only person standing up to him was J. Jonah Jameson with the power of the Daily Bugle behind him. While he may despise Spidey, Jameson is first and foremost a newspaperman who cowers to nobody. Fisk’s attempts of intimidating the editor is thwarted when Spider-Man returns to stop him.

Destroying Matt Murdock’s Life: In Frank Miller’s legendary Daredevil story arc “Born Again” , Wilson Fisk manages to find himself in a position few supervillains find themselves in: discovering his archnemesis’ secret identity. Daredevil’s ex-girlfriend gave up the secret during a dark period in her life and the information made it all the way up the chain to the big man. Instead of running off and exposing the Man Without Fear to the world, the Kingpin made things personal with a cold and calculated plot. Murdock’s home was firebombed, his professional integrity is tarnished by a bribed cop, and a number of horrible events leave Matt Murdock ruined at the hands of the Kingpin.

Betraying Don Rigoletto: As he began his climb up the organized crime ladder, Wilson Fisk’s size and strength was recognized as an asset by his predecessor Don Rigoletto. The normally shrewd crime boss appoints the aspiring criminal as his bodyguard and Fisk seized on the opportunity presented and earned the absolute trust of his boss. It culminated when an exhausted Rigoletto accepted a temple massage from Fisk which ended with his neck being snapped as his own bodyguard had betrayed him and taken his position as the top of the criminal food chain.

Mayor of New York: Since the Great Depression comics have reflected the world in which they were published. When a power-hungry sociopath became President of the United States, this was reflected in the comics with the Kingpin taking the office of Mayor of New York. As expected he uses this position of power to ensure the city’s territory was divided up between a number of crime bosses who pledge loyalty to him. Of course he utilizes sweeping legislation to crack down on the urban superheroes who have consistently opposed him. In an instance of keeping your enemies closer, he appoints Matt Murdock as his Deputy Mayor for a while, in order to keep him bogged down in meaningless work hampering his ability to battle evil in Hell’s Kitchen. In a further power move he even has Daredevil framed for murder to take him off the board permanently.

Killing Spider-Man: I will maintain for the rest of time Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse is one of the greatest superhero movies of all-time. In it, the Kingpin has a far grander plan than usual, he wished to break down the walls between dimensions in the hope of finding a way to reunited with his wife and son. A completely understandable motivation from a man who will stop at nothing to accomplish it. When the Spider-Man of his world puts a stop to things by destroying his interdimensional machine, he viciously kills the Webhead in a fit of rage. Adding extra salt to the wound, Fisk would go on to hold a banquet honoring the superhero proclaiming Spider-Man as a hero and shedding crocodile tears.

Killing Crazy Horse: An event recently depicted in the TV series Hawkeye. For a number of years Willie “Crazy Horse” was a trusted lieutenant of Fisk’s. This was until he was no longer useful and became more of a liability than an asset. Kingpin would brutally kill his friend personally, but granted Crazy Horse’s final request that Fisk take care of his daughter Maya. Wilson Fisk agreed to it and would raise the girl with the best of everything while manipulating her with lies of what happened to her father.

Breaking Ben Urich’s fingers: A constant thorn in the side of the Kingpin is respected investigative for the Daily Bugle, and frequent Daredevil ally, Ben Urich. During “Born Again” he seemed to be one of the few people left Matt Murdock can trust as he wants Urich to expose the truth behind the Kingpin. Of course Wilson Fisk is not about to let this stand and sends a particularly sadistic enforcer, Nurse Lois to break his fingers. When that doesn’t deter him, Nurse Lois has Urich’s murdered while making the reporter listen over the phone as it happens.

Targeted Aunt May: During the blockbuster event Civil War, Peter Parker showed his solidarity to Tony Stark’s side by unmasking himself to the world. What followed was expectedly, his greatest enemies targeting Peter Parker. The greatest move of which was the Kingpin, who despite being behind bars, dispatched a sniper to take out his Web-spinning enemy. Things go wrong and his bullet finds Aunt May instead leaving her fighting for her life. With the woman who raised him is harmed because of his decision, Peter Parker spirals into a dark place even donning his old black costume for a while in the “Back in Black” storyline.

Sent Nuke to Hell’s Kitchen: To say super-soldier, Nuke is mentally unstable is an understatement. In an attempt to goad Daredevil into making appearance during “Born Again”, the Kingpin dispatches Nuke to Hell’s Kitchen to go on a rampage. Lives were lost and property was destroyed during the indiscriminate warpath of the supervillain all so Kingpin could toy with his enemy.

Murder with a car door: In the hit Daredevil Netflix series, Vincent D’Onofrio gave an incredible performance as the crime boss. The respected character actor gave the villain a sense of unexpected humanity, but made sure his ruthless nature and mean streak was still intact. Falling hard for art dealer Vanessa, a date with her means the world for Wilson Fisk. This lovely evening his ruined by one of his lieutenants Anatoli breaks the news that he failed to discover the identity of the new vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen. His reward for being honest and coming clean to his boss was to be brutally pummeled and then decapitated via the slamming of a car door. This punishment was not so much more his failure but for wrecking the otherwise good evening Fisk had been having.