Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 244. Who is Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, in Marvel Comics?!

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Ep. 244. Who is Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, in Marvel Comics?! · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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  Hello Marvel fans, comic geeks, and all the nerds in between.
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  My name is Megan and today I have a character breakdown for
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  you. For a character that we all
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  know, we all may love or hate. I don't know.
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  I freaking love a villain. So.
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  So I'm going to tell you all about this character.
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  The character is actually Wilson Fisk, which you probably already
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  know because you clicked the video.
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  So Wilson Fisk, he first showed up an Amazing Spider man #50 in
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  April of 1967. He was created by Stan Lee and
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  John Romita. So he has been around that long.
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  Wilson Fisk didn't exactly get off to a great start in his
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  life. He grew up in a really
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  dysfunctional home where his parents were always fighting and
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  things just didn't get easier at school because he was being
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  bullied a lot for his being overweight.
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  By that time, he was just 12, he'd already committed his first
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  unaliving, so he started off pretty early.
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  From early on, Fist was obsessed with being the best at whatever
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  he did. He believed raw strength was the
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  key to power in the criminal world, so he pushed himself
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  hard, training in bodybuilding and different fighting styles,
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  eventually focusing on sumo. That interest also sparked A
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  broader fascination with Asian culture.
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  At the same time, he knew brains mattered just as much as muscle.
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  Since he came from a poor background and didn't get much
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  formal education, he basically taught himself, grabbing books
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  however he could, even stealing them sometimes.
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  He studied a lot, but political science really clicked for him.
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  He figured out that organized criminals, like a political
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  machine, would give him an edge. By 15, he was already running a
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  growing gang so efficiently that people started calling him the
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  kingpin of crime. He eventually started working as
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  muscle for the Maggie Abbas Don Rigoletto around the time he
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  became close with Miles Morales. Not that Miles Morales, a
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  completely different Miles Morales, which is all right, who
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  once saved his life in prison. Fisk never forgot that and felt
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  like he owed him forever. With Morales by his side, Fisk
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  made his move, took over Rigoletto's operation and had
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  him taken out. Later.
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  Morales left the life behind and Fisk made sure to wipe any trace
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  of his criminal past. Meanwhile, people kept calling
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  Fisk Kingpin, at first mockingly, but it stuck.
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  Obviously, Fisk was smart about money too.
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  He funneled his illegal earnings into legit businesses, starting
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  with a spice import company. Even after building a massive
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  empire, he liked to publicly play it off as if he was just a
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  humble spice dealer. Over time, he became a big name
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  in New York society, and that's when he met Vanessa.
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  He fell hard, married her, and for once found some kind of
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  peace. They had a son, Richard, soon
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  after. Years later, Fisk had become one
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  of the most powerful crime bosses around.
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  When Spider Man briefly retired, Fisk saw his chance.
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  He brought together a bunch of criminal groups under his
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  leadership and kicked off a massive crime wave in New York.
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  But things fell apart when Spider Man came back and exposed
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  him publicly, thanks to a failed attempt to silence newspaper
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  publisher J Jonah Jameson. From there, Fisk's life was a
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  constant cycle of power moves and setbacks.
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  He clashed repeatedly with heroes like Daredevil, dealt
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  with betrayals, including from his own son, and even got
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  tangled up with groups like Hydra, though he backed out when
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  he realized he wasn't really in control.
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  At one point, Vanessa could not take his criminal life anymore
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  and forced him to quit or lose her.
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  He chose her and they left for Japan, but when she was
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  kidnapped and seemingly killed by his own organization, Fisk
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  snapped and came roaring back, more ruthless than ever.
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  He even turned in other criminals just to eliminate
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  competition and rebuild his empire even stronger.
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  Over the years, Fisk kept trying to balance crime, businesses,
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  and even politics. He manipulated elections, ran
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  parts of cities, and constantly battled Daredevil, who lived in
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  his head rent free from the get go, even going as far as ruining
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  Matt Murdock's life when he discovered his secret identity.
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  Still, Daredevil always managed to push back.
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  Fisk lost everything more than once.
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  His empire, his family, even his sanity at times.
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  He was betrayed, nearly killed, and forced to rebuild from
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  scratch. Over and over.
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  He tried expanding into new cities, made alliances with
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  assassins and super villains, and even faked his own death at
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  one point. Eventually, he clawed his way
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  back to power again, this time as the mayor of New York.
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  He used that position to go after vigilantes like Spider Man
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  and Daredevil, twisting the system to serve his own goals,
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  which is what we see happening in Daredevil Born Again.
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  And it's like, if you haven't read Devil's Reign in the
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  comics, that is my favorite event of all time, and you
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  absolutely should. But even then, things didn't
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  stay stable. He got out maneuvered, exposed,
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  and beaten again. In the end, after everything,
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  wars, betrayals, deaths, comebacks, Fisk actually tried
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  stepping away from the crime. After being possessed and later
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  freed from a demonic force named Greed, he showed signs of regret
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  and started dismantling parts of his empire.
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  Whether that change sticks, it's always up in the air with
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  someone like Kingpin. Now Vanessa and Kingpin are no.
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  Longer together. And she's not even alive.
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  But that brings us to our his new and current wife, Typhoid
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  Mary. Mary is a character with many,
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  many layers to her in the most literal term.
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  But this episode isn't about her, even though we're going to
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  talk quite a bit about her. If you want to learn more about
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  her, check out my channel because I.
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  Have a breakdown of her as well. But Mary started off as working
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  security for Kingpin and he. Treated her terribly.
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  So many times. But Mary isn't your average
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  girl. To put it plainly, she is
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  bananas. Not because of her mental
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  illness, but because. Of who she is.
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  So she married Kingpin and actually became the First Lady
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  of New York when Kingpin was mayor.
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  Of course, Kingpin's reign as mayor didn't last, and the two
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  left town when things got. Real bad.
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  Where did they go, you ask? Well, none other than.
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  Krakoa, actually. You see, Mary is actually a
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  mutant and she has Krakoa in citizenship and by marriage.
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  Kingpin also has a citizenship. She was.
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  Able to extend it to. Him.
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  They arrived in Krakoa. At the exact worst time.
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  Because it was in time for the. Hellfire Gala.
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  Which, as some of you may know, was an absolute disaster.
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  It resulted in many deaths, much destruction.
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  It resulted in Mary being separated for Fisk for a time.
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  But they. Got back.
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  Together and she worked as Kingpin's bodyguard and his wife
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  during New York supervillain gang war.
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  So Kingpin comes with so many layers as a character.
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  We've seen so many different stories and events and things
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  with him, and I think he's being brought to life perfectly by
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  Vincent D'onfrio and Daredevil Born Again.
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  So that's all I have to say on Kingpin.
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  That is my breakdown of Kingpin. I hope you enjoyed it.
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  I hope you'll like and subscribe, and I hope you have a
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  marvelous day.