Supervillain Origins: Kingpin

Supervillain Origins: Kingpin

This mobster is the Marvel universe’s king of crime. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we will explore the origins of Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as Kingpin.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1967’s “The Amazing Spider-Man #50” which was expanded upon in 1981’s Daredevil #170 and 1994’s Spider-Man cartoon series.

In his debut appearance, the Kingpin was first seen after Peter Parker decided to give in to Jonah Jameson’s smear campaign, and step down as Spiderman due to the fear he caused people.

Throwing his suit in the garbage, Jameson came to gain possession of it. This prompted the word to spread that Spider-Man was no more. As a result, the Kingpin, a self-proclaimed underground crime lord emerged to seize control of the city.

While Peter decided to quit his newspaper job as well and devote himself to studying, he did eventually give in to helping a man being attacked by thugs. Reminded of his Uncle Ben and why he became spider-man in the first place, he broke into Jameson’s office, retook his costume and swung into action.

With Kingpin unaware that Spidey was back in town, he planned to “silence” Jameson from printing negative coverage about him, preventing any public connection between him as a legitimate businessman and the citywide crime spree that was taking place.

Meanwhile, a rival gang member challenged the large Kingpin for leadership, but was quickly defeated as he was unaware that Kingpin’s appearance was a ruse. While he looked obese, he was actually completely composed of muscle and not fat as one might assume.

After kidnapping Jameson, the Kingpin was tracked to his hideout by Spiderman and the two quickly began to fight. Gaining the upper hand by using knockout gas, Kingpin prepared to execute both the webslinger and the meddlesome newspaper chief.

Leaving the duo in a giant water-tank chamber, Spider-man awoke and managed to break free of his bonds, creating an airtight web bubble out of webbing for the two to breath in.

Believing the two to be dead, the tank was drained of water, giving Spider-man the chance to free Jameson and mount an escape. While Jameson got knocked unconscious in his frantic run for safety, Spider-man battled the Kingpin once gain, before the criminal mastermind managed a narrow escape.

Though he would regularly to cause problems for the city and its webslinger protector, he jumped franchises in 1981. This saw him appear in Daredevil #170, wherein his true identity of Wilson Fink was revealed.

A recently retired mobster, Fisk continued to vie for control of the East Coast by blackmailing his rivals with evidence against them. In turn, those rivals eventually responded by capturing Fisk’s wife. This series of events led Daredevil to infiltrate the Kingpin’s organization to recover the evidence. However, Kingpin caught him in the act and stopped him before he could do so.

Following this, Kingpin arranged to trade the valuable evidence for his wife’s safe return, but he was led to believe that she had been killed anyways. Enraged, Kingpin took control of the mob and hired Bull’s-eye as his assassin. While Daredevil eventually managed to defeat this fearsome enforcer, this allowed Kingpin the time he needed to fully rebuild his organization and become Daredevil’s arch nemesis in the process.

Ultimately, while the Kingpin’s backstory had been alluded to, his full origin story was best told in 1994’s “Spider-Man” animated series.

Here, it was revealed that his father looked down upon him as a child, as he was overweight and could not help his father with his own criminal endeavors. Eventually committed to prison, there he began working out until he was a juggernaut of strength, changing his identity upon his release and using his vast intellect to build a criminal empire.

The greatest crime lord in the Marvel universe, Kingpin has appearing in various media, making frequent appearances in comics and cartoons, before he was finally depicted by the late Michael Clarke Duncan in 2003’s “Daredevil”.

Are you a fan of this deceptive crime lord with only one percent body fat? For more in-depth origins of your favorite comic book characters, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.