It’s Time for Spider-Man and Daredevil to Stop Sharing Kingpin

As they’re both based out of New York City, Daredevil and Spider-Man are both known to tangle with the Kingpin, but it’s time that Matt Murdock stopped sharing his arch-nemesis with Spidey. Matt and Peter are in very different places at the moment in their battles against Kingpin and the other villains of New York City. Spider-Man will soon be in for the battle of his life as a villain civil war brews, while Daredevil is doing his best to dodge assassination attempts in prison while Elektra dons his mantle on the outside.

Wilson Fisk’s status quo has proven to be an interesting one as well, as he’s the current mayor of New York City. One of the few to benefit from the invasion of an all-powerful alien god, Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Daredevil sees Kingpin has been navigating the world of politics while Izzy Libris runs his criminal empire (though Fisk’s son Butch is planning on dethroning Izzy and taking his father’s title). However, over in Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley’s Amazing Spider-Man book, Fisk is resurrecting his psychotic son and causing chaos all over New York.

Kingpin’s activities over in Spider-Man’s book are loud and comic book-y. So much so, that a group of heroes, which includes Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Hawkeye, Jessica Jones and Wolverine, is planning on taking him down and getting New York City a mayor who isn’t a blatant criminal. The grounded political maneuvering of Fisk’s that is taking place in Daredevil is a jarringly different take on the character from the one seen in Amazing Spider-Man. Those distinctions are so extreme that it makes the case that this might be the best time for Daredevil to stop having to share Fisk with Spider-Man.

The fact of the matter is, Spider-Man has lots of villains. Some of them are among the finest villains in all of comics. Daredevil doesn’t. While Peter is off fighting Norman Osborne or the Sinister Six, Matt is stuck with guys like Stilt-Man. Kingpin, one of the most intimidating and complex villains at Marvel, is the exception to the rule. It’s not really fair for Spidey to get to hog all of his other great villains while also getting to use Fisk too. Plus, if he needs to fight a gangster, he’s got villains like Hammerhead and Silvermane at his disposal. If Luke Cage and Peter’s band of heroes actually takes him down in Amazing Spider-Man , it will cut short an awesome story that’s happening in Daredevil. On that note, Kingpin has always been Daredevil’s own pristinely dressed white whale. When he eventually gets dethroned from his position as mayor, Matt should be the one to take him down.

The interconnected nature of comics is part of the reason why the storytelling medium is so beloved. And there’s nothing wrong with the action going on in Spider-Man’s book right now either. But Wilson Fisk is at his most interesting when he’s in the grittier world of Daredevil comics. Kingpin is at his best when he’s making Matt Murdock miserable. That’s not to say that he can’t appear in other books. But Kingpin is a better character with better stories when he stays over in Daredevil’s little corner of the Marvel Universe.

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