Kingpin

"The underworld will now be run like a business.. and the Chairman of the Board will be .. The Kingpin!"

- Kingpin

The Kingpin is a major Marvel Comics villain that originated in the Spider-Man comics and media. He has since then gone on to be a major enemy of Daredevil as well as a recurring villain for the Punisher. In recent years he has been revised as being more of Daredevil's enemy rather than Spider-Man's.

Origin
Growing up as Wilson Fisk the Kingpin grew up in poverty and was tormented by his classmates for being overweight. Tired of being bullied, he began to train himself in physical combat. When he gained a powerful physique, he forced his former tormentors into joining his gang, and thus, his desire for absolute control began. Later on in life, he met a crime boss named Don Rigoletto. At first, he fostered an alliance with Rigoletto, but then, betrayed him and murdered him. The Kingpin, then, took over Rigoletto's gang, and took Rigoletto's place as the most powerful crime boss in New York City. He would later join the international terrorist syndicate HYDRA and become a prominent figure as one of their heads of operations.

The Daredevil grudge
Although Kingpin started off as a Spider-Man villain, it's thanks to Frank Miller that Wilson Fisk is now the arch-nemesis of the Man Without Fear. It was in Miller's storyline, Born Again, that the Kingpin earned this title; using information from a drug addicted, porn starring Karen Page, Kingpin slowly began to ruin Matt Murdock's life, destroying his home, lose his sanity and leaving him a derelict. It was only thanks to his mother that Matt regained his confidence to fight again, and the Kingpin was exposed as a criminal, being given a taste of ironic justice.

Spiderman: TAS
The Kingpin is the main antagonist in the 1994 series, Spiderman: The Animated Series, also the most recurring villian.

This Kingpin is fairly close to the comics version, but he is often occupied with manipulating superpowered characters to do his bidding. In addition, as opposed to just being a crime lord in New York, Kingpin has a global criminal organization; his headquarters is simply located in New York (in the Chrysler Building, which he dubs "Crime Central"). His physical abilities are generally depicted the same as his comics counterpart, except in one instance when he toppled a huge robot. His bodymass is stated in this continuity as being only "2% fat", a statement followed by the declared possession of "350 pounds of muscle". He's the mastermind behind the creation of the Spider-Slayers and is responsible for the creation of the Insidious Six, the animated equivalent of the Sinister Six.

He's also involved in a power struggle with crime boss Silvermane. Initially, he operated behind the scenes until the "Framed/The Man Without Fear" two-part episode, where his identity was revealed to Spider-Man with the help of Daredevil, who was seeking revenge for his father's murder at Kingpin's hands. The Kingpin's main associate here was at first Alistair Smythe, but after Smythe nearly betrayed the Kingpin because he believed Kingpin was going to kill him for placing his son in jail during the Daredevil two-parter, Dr. Herbert Landon replaced him. Kingpin remained at large throughout the series, although an alternate dimension's version was arrested in the series finale. Another alternate version was shown to be the lawyer of that dimension's Peter Parker, though he proved just as underhanded as his counterparts. The Kingpin has proven to be more than a match for Spider-Man, eluding capture and even capturing Spider-Man on occasion. This series also described an origin for the Kingpin as seen in "The man without fear," somewhat different than the comic book version. As a boy, Wilson Fisk was influenced by his father, who sought employment as a mob criminal. When older, Fisk assisted his father in robbing banks and jewelry stores, culminating in one robbery where his father escaped but Fisk, hampered by his already-considerable weight, was captured by police. Fisk did not name his father at his trial and was sentenced to prison, where he resolved to survive. In adulthood, Fisk emulated his father's goal and climbed to a position of seniority within the mob, adopting the alias "Kingpin". He has had his police file destroyed, removing all record of his earlier arrest – effectively making his former life "cease to exist." He then exacted revenge against his father, who was implied to have been killed by the Kingpin's henchmen. It was also revealed that his real name was Wilson Moriarty. He maintained a strained relationship with his wife Vanessa, who was well-aware of his activities and wanted him to let it all go. Though he loved her, she eventually left him after being briefly kidnapped by Silvermane.

His son, Richard, works for him until he was arrested at the end of the Daredevil saga and contemplates how long until his son takes his revenge on him like he did with his father. His final appearance in in the Spider Wars saga.

Daredevil (Film)
Kingpin also appeared in the 2003 film Daredevil and he was portrayed by the late Michael Clark Duncan. He serves as the main antagonist of the film. In the film, the Kingpin appears to be an overweight corporate head that takes the name Wilson Fisk, but in fact he is the sole person running organized crime. Duncan signed on for the role in January 2002, though he had been attached far earlier. When Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked to gain 40 pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for 30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted. Despite this, Duncan's biggest concern was that he is an African-American, while Kingpin had always been portrayed as Caucasian in the comics. He spoke on the fans' loyalty to the source material by saying "they watch movies to say, 'Hey, that's not like the comic book.' But I want them to get past that and just see the movie for what it is and see me for what I am—an actor."

In the film, the Kingpin started out as an enforcer for a mob boss named Falon, in which capacity he was hired to kill Jack "The Devil" Murdock after he refused to throw a fight, leaving a signature red rose at the scene of his crimes. Years later, Fisk became a crime boss in his own right and successfully hid his criminal activities from the public, although the media picked up on reports of a "Kingpin," running all crime in the city. He hires Bullseye to kill Nikolas Natchios after Natchios attempts to leave his organization, attempting to frame Natchios as the Kingpin in the process by leaving a fake paper trail. Though Bullseye is successful, Fisk also wants Natchios' family killed and hires Bullseye to kill Natchios' daughter Elektra, although Bullseye also states an interest in killing Daredevil for free after the hero made him miss a target. After he supposedly kills Elektra, Bullseye is defeated by Daredevil after he reveals during the fight that Fisk is really the Kingpin, unknowingly revealing his role in Murdock's father's death as well. Having learned of his assassin's failure, the Kingpin is prepared for the subsequent confrontation with Daredevil, severely beating the hero- expressing regret that Daredevil came to him injured rather than fighting him in his prime- before he unmasks him, learning that Daredevil is Matt Murdock, whom Fisk met prior to Nicholas Natchios' death. Daredevil nevertheless manages to trigger the sprinkler system in Fisk's office, thus allowing him to better 'see' his opponent. Daredevil then breaks Fisk's legs, but refuses to kill him despite having the opportunity, having realised that he is 'not the bad guy' and thus has no right to kill his foes. Daredevil leaves the Kingpin for the police and Fisk threatened to tell everyone who Daredevil really was, until the lawyer pointed out that revealing to his prison inmates that he had been beaten by a blind man was the equivalent of suicide. Nevertheless, the Kingpin swears that he will eventually get out of prison and kill Daredevil, with the hero simply responding that he will be waiting.

Trivia

 * Although The Kingpin appears overweight this is actually muscle, making him an individual who, while not superhumanly strong, is at peak human physical condition.