Yes, Kingpin Is Also Canonically a Major Wife Guy in Marvel Comics

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6.Since Vincent D’Onofrio became the definitive Wilson Fisk in 2015 in Netflix’s Daredevil, Vanessa Marianna (Ayelet Zurer) has always been his Achilles heel. Throughout the three-season run of the series, before its reboot with Daredevil: Born Again, all of Fisk’s ambitions were fueled by the fire lit by his beloved. It’s why he emerged from the shadows to become a public figure in Season 1, why he took over the prison from the inside in Season 2, and why he conned the FBI to give him everything he wanted in Season 3, including a reunion with Vanessa. This concluded with Fisk fully integrating his wife into his business dealings, letting her into his life in every aspect, with the intention of not only protecting her but providing everything she could ever possibly desire as a gesture of his love for her.

Even when Fisk seemed to abandon Vanessa after a falling out with his surrogate daughter, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), as audiences saw in the aftermath of Hawkeye in the series Echo, Fisk is doing everything in his power to win back the favor of Vanessa. Despite his new position of Mayor of New York City ripping the two away from the life of crime they both became accustomed to, Fisk is desperate to repair the damage he has caused. One, through a more level-headed approach with couples counseling, and two, through a more violent approach, facing his demons head-on by kidnapping and torturing the man Vanessa had an affair with, Adam (Lou Taylor Pucci). Of course, there is a comic precedent to this, as Fisk was also enamored by Vanessa in the comics.

What Was Vanessa and Wilson’s Relationship Like in Marvel Comics?

While their meet-cute was a much darker one in the comics, with Fisk basically grooming Vanessa since she was a teenager, Fisk was always obsessive and overprotective of his wife. In the pages of Daredevil: Love and War, written by Frank Miller, who collaborated with artist Bill Sienkiewicz, the two bond despite their different upbringings and massive age gap and even marry when Vanessa is at a very questionable age for said marriage. Throughout the decades of their relationship, Fisk’s life of crime causes Vanessa to resent him, mainly because his family always took a backseat. Vanessa eventually learns to weaponize Fisk’s love for her, using it to bend Fisk to her will. She constantly threatens divorce to get Fisk to do things he never would otherwise, such as — sparing the life of Spider-Man, almost leaving his criminal empire behind, and even giving his arch nemesis Matt Murdock secrets that can be used against him. The relationship between Vanessa and Fisk may be bounded in undying love, but that doesn’t make it any less toxic.

In Daredevil #180, also written by Miller, Vanessa goes missing and is presumed dead, only to be rescued by Daredevil. Daredevil returns Vanessa to Fisk but in exchange for Fisk removing his corrupt mayoral candidate, which he agrees to without hesitation. His obsession was not a secret, and Vanessa very frequently became a target for assassination and kidnapping attempts, so much so that he hired an impersonator to pose for Vanessa to protect her from any oncoming dangers. Even when Vanessa was resurrected by the Hand to attack Fisk and test his prowess as a criminal leader, Fisk still tried to reason with her rather than fight his love. If there is anything Fisk can do to protect Vanessa, he will do it, no matter the cost.

Vanessa Is Not the Only Obsession of Wilson Fisk in the Comics

Vanessa isn’t the only woman Fisk becomes completely obsessed with in the comics, as he marries the mutant Typhoid Mary in Chip Zdarsky’s famed comic run centering on the Man Without Fear. Initially tasked with being Mayor Fisk’s bodyguard, the two grow close during their professional endeavors. When Mary’s psyche becomes fractured, he even allows her to resign from her position to properly recover. But when Bullseye is on the loose, Mary demands she go after him in her reinstated position as bodyguard, even though Fisk was worried about her safety. Mary successfully protects Fisk, which results in their engagement, as Fisk can not picture his life without her in it.

As the two prepare for Fisk to potentially run for President, an all-out war erupts from Fisk’s action as mayor and his anti-vigilante policy. Even when Fisk and Mary are bested by the heroes of the city, instead of returning to a career in politics, he chooses a quiet life with Mary instead, something he didn’t even do for Vanessa in the comics. The two retreat to Krakoa, a mutant-exclusive island nation, where they have rights since Mary is a mutant. Fisk and Mary find asylum there, that’s until the island is attacked by an anti-mutant group named Orchis, causing Mary and other mutants to vanish. Mary eventually returns, and the two resume their lives in New York City as mayor and bodyguard, but while she was gone Fisk joined the surviving mutant resistance, trying to help them in anyway he could, because he loved Mary and her people.

What Does Fisk’s Marriage Mean for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’?

Regardless of who Fisk’s partner in life is, it’s clear his main weakness is his heart. When it comes to Daredevil: Born Again, there is a stark difference between the comics and Zurer’s live-action depiction — the comic version hates Fisk’s occupation, while the version we see in Daredevil: Born Again embraces it. Seeing how the live-action version of Vanessa already has a leg up in the goings-on of the criminal underworld, she is far more suited to take advantage of Fisk’s love than even her comic counterpart. Vanessa has already successfully taken over his illegal enterprises and has become a powerful figure in her own right. Fisk always bends to the will of Vanessa, even to his detriment. The real question is whether Vanessa’s new ambitions will allow her to take control of an already unstable Wilson Fisk, who is trying to forge a new path forward. Fisk has never gone against Vanessa before, it doesn’t seem like this wife guy will be doing it any time soon.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Tuesdays on Disney+.