Vincent D’Onofrio Says Kingpin is Stuck on TV: “It’s All Caught Up in Rights and Stuff”

Vincent D’Onofrio has been portraying Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin, for a decade now. The character first appeared in Daredevil on Netflix back in 2015 and later returned in a supporting role in the 2021 series Hawkeye. Fans were thrilled when Kingpin made a full-scale comeback in Daredevil: Born Again, a continuation that viewers have been eagerly waiting for.

D’Onofrio’s take on the character has been widely praised, and it’s clear he enjoys playing the iconic villain. That’s why many fans were excited when rumors began circulating that Kingpin might appear in the upcoming Spider-Man 4 movie, especially since early reports hinted it would focus on a street-level story.

However, as time goes on, those rumors seem less likely to come true. And when it comes to Kingpin appearing in other Marvel projects, D’Onofrio may have just dashed fans’ hopes. In a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor revealed some disappointing news that could explain why we won’t be seeing Fisk on the big screen anytime soon.

D’Onofrio was asked about his future appearances in the movies and his answer was simple: he has no idea but it’s complicated.

“I don’t know about the movies at all” the actor stated, “nobody ever talks to me about the movies.”

Horowitz asked D’Onofrio whether fans can expect to see his name on the Avengers: Doomsday cast chair, he explained that even if his name was mentioned Horowitz would be finding out at the same time as he did:

“If they mention me on this call that would be great because you would be finding out at the same time I would that would be awesome.“

D’Onofrio also acknowledged the rumors regarding his involvement with Spider-Man 4:

“The only thing I know that it’s not positive is that it’s a very hard thing to use my character…for Marvel to use my character,” D’Onofrio said. “It’s a very hard thing to do because of ownership and stuff, right now it’s still…I’m only usable for television series you know, that kind of a thing. Different kinds of series wherever it is but not even a one-off Fisk movie or anything like that 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 actually really but um yeah for me, it’s like, you know my job is to service a story as an actor and you know, give me a series, give me a film and I’ll do my best, whatever that is. My mind is on the second season now, and the fun we’re having doing that.” He continued.

And that’s all, folks. As it stands, a big-screen appearance for Wilson Fisk isn’t happening anytime soon, at least not unless Marvel Studios finds a way to resolve the ongoing rights issues.

Kingpin isn’t the only character caught in this legal limbo. The rights situation surrounding the Hulk is already the stuff of legend, and it’s one of the main reasons the Green Goliath, despite being one of the MCU’s most beloved characters, has only one solo film to his name.

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