Vincent D'Onofrio: Wilson Fisk's Movie Appearance Blocked by Rights Issues

It turns out that our favorite Hell's Kitchen villain, Wilson Fisk, is off-limits for the big screen, according to Vincent D’Onofrio, star of Daredevil: Born Again.

"The only thing I know is not positive," D’Onofrio explained to Josh Horowitz on the podcast Happy Sad Confused recently. "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 continued: “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 statement effectively rules out D’Onofrio's portrayal of Fisk appearing in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, dashing hopes of seeing him in upcoming films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday. It might also complicate plans for a potential Charlie Cox Daredevil movie, where you'd reasonably expect to see D’Onofrio reprise his role as the villain.

“Anytime they were in a fight, or they were holding a gun, they looked nervous,” D’Onofrio told IGN last month, referencing the performances of actors like Harrison Ford and other legendary figures that inspired his multifaceted villain.

“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 week-to-week on Disney+ and will premiere its finale on April 15, 2025.