The blood is barely dry from the Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 finale and we already have big updates on what’s to come. In an interview with Variety, Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays skull-crushing NYC mayor Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk, reveals how certain parts of the first season’s finale will factor into the next season and the upcoming Punisher special.
The season finale saw Fisk do away with his ruse of being a reformed gangster who, as mayor, had dedicated himself to fixing New York City through stale bureaucracy and decadent ballroom galas. Casting pretense aside, he took his anti-vigilante stance to dictatorial levels by killing the police commissioner and trapping opposing political figures as well as the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) in an underground wine cellar, and placing the greatest city in the world under martial law. D’Onofrio took to X hours after the Season 1 finale was released to inform fans that shooting for the next season has already begun, and sharing a behind-the-scenes photo of Fisk in his cocaine-white power suit. In his Variety interview, he also revealed how Punisher escaping Fisk’s cage will affect the next season.
“I think that he does know that he’s gone. Eventually, he knows that he’s not there anymore. So far it’s a small part of the second season. We have to see what the one-off thing that they’re planning on doing with the Punisher, that should be interesting to see.”
The “one-off thing” he’s referring to is a standalone special presentation centered around the Punisher, which Bernthal will be co-writing. Given that Bernthal almost didn’t return to the new Daredevil series because of his dissatisfaction with Punisher’s return story, and that he’s involved in shaping the story for this special, we can expect it will give us a psychologically complex and morally fraught depiction of Frank Castle. What we seemingly shouldn’t expect is for his captor to make an appearance, as D’Onofrio says it would be “news to me” if Kingpin appeared.
Then again, I’m sure Kevin Feige and the Marvel brain trust have taught their lead talent how to hide future plans behind lies. So don’t be surprised if Punisher and Kingpin finally square off when the Punisher special feature is released in 2026, around the time of the second season of Daredevil: Born Again.