From the streets of Hell's Kitchen to his penthouse in Fisk Tower, Wilson Fisk has been a thorn in the side of nearly every New York-based Marvel hero. He's appeared in two of the most well-reviewed Marvel projects of recent years: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Netflix's Daredevil series. However, it's the Daredevil film, released in 2003, that contains the most flawless and underrated portrayal of the character by the late actor Michael Clarke Duncan.
In the film, Duncan's Fisk was a crime boss and wealthy executive who's criminal network tied him to both Daredevil (Ben Affleck) and Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner). When Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock, was a child, his father used to get paid to participate in fixed boxing matches. After he refused to throw a fight, Murdock's father was killed by Fisk, who at the time was an enforcer for the mob. This sent the young Murdock down the path that led him to become Daredevil.
Similarly, once Fisk took charge of the criminal organization, he went into business with Elektra's father. He eventually decided to betray him, so Fisk sent the assassin Bullseye to kill him. Elektra vowed to get revenge for her father's untimely demise, and used her skills in martial arts and weaponry to become the violent anti-hero that would later get her own film in 2005.
Daredevil's Fisk is as physically imposing as he is in the comics. Duncan was already a large, strong man, but in the film his confident performance and intimidating presence added even more to the portrayal. Fisk is known for being as intelligent and well-connected as he is physically strong and Duncan's take embodied that as well. The character controls every room he's in, and carefully plays every angle of his criminal and business empire.
Despite towering over most of the rest of the film's cast, this Fisk never feels out of place in either high society or the criminal underworld. Duncan perfectly sold that the character could be both a feared mob boss and a well-respected businessman. He's as believable in a tailored suit at a fancy party as he is in a tank top choking his own men to death with one hand.
Celebrating Duncan's depiction of the Kingpin is not to disparage Liev Schreiber's portrayal in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or Vincent D'Onofrio in the Daredevil TV series. Both actors gave great performances in their projects, but Duncan's version of the character simply embodies more of what makes Fisk endure in the comics.
Schreiber's Kingpin, with the aid of animation, is even larger and more physically imposing than Duncan's, but he lacked the screen time in a fairly crowded movie to leave the same impression as Duncan. On the opposite end, D'Onofrio's Kingpin had the most time to shine over his series' three seasons. He even has full episodes almost entirely dedicated to his backstory. The performance, in terms of pure acting, is arguably better than Duncan's, but the take on the character is a bit of a deviation from the classic comics version. This leaves Duncan's performance as the more direct and perfect adaptation of Wilson Fisk from the source material.
It's worth noting that Duncan didn't just play Fisk in the Daredevil film. He also reprised the role as the voice of the character in the short-lived 2003 MTV show Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. Here, he showed that he could still give the same caliber performance without utilizing his physical size and presence. Through his voice alone, he managed to capture the same gravitas he did in live action.
Unfortunately, Duncan passed away in 2012 at the age of 54. He is greatly missed, and it's a shame there will never be another opportunity to see him play this iconic role. Despite the critical panning 2003's Daredevil received, Duncan's Fisk stood out. It would have been wonderful to see him play the Kingpin in a project that rose to the same level as his talent.