While Daredevil fans were fully on board with Vincent D'Onofrio playing Wilson Fisk, it wasn't an easy role to cast. Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight defends his Kingpin casting despite initial criticisms.
Daredevil Showrunner Had 'Sleepless Nights' Trying To Cast Vincent D'Onofrio
"We wanted to make sure the casting was right," DeKnight explained in a recent interview (via CBR), "I had sleepless nights over trying to cast Wilson Fisk, Kingpin,"
The showrunner recalled thinking of only one perfect person who could do it, which happened to be Vincent D'Onofrio, specifically when he envisioned a bald version of the actor, as depicted in the comics.
At the time, DeKnight sent a picture of D'Onofrio with a shaved head from the internet and told the exec, "Come on. There's nobody else that can do this. This is Kingpin."
The only qualm Loeb had was the fact that "[Vincent]'s way too expensive", considering that the actor made "a million dollars an episode" on Law & Order, "We'll never get him."
When they let fate decide, Daredevil casting director Laray Mayfield happened to be 'personal friends' with D'Onofrio and offered to "check and see if there's any interest." Well, lo and behold, D'Onofrio was a big comic book fan of Daredevil and told them, "Yeah, I'd love to do it."
As for how they could afford him, D'Onofrio set aside his price to fulfill his dream role of becoming Hell's Kitchen's Kingpin, "Look, we'll work something out on the price."
Even though Daredevil didn't work out as long as they hoped, the MCU plans on reviving the show through Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+.
This comes with cementing their TV-MA rating and having the main cast of the series reprise their roles, including Charlie Cox as the titular Man Without Fear, Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page.
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Daredevil: Born Again is currently slated to debut sometime in March 2025.
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