Daredevil Season 3: The Return Of Wilson Fisk Wasn't A Guarantee

Season 3 of Daredevil has hit Netflix, bobbing in the wake of Iron Fist's cancellation. One of the most exciting parts of this brand-new season is the return of fan-favorite villain, Wilson Fisk; however, showrunner Erik Oleson has some different ideas of where he wanted this season to go.

Wilson Fisk--AKA the Kingpin--is up there with the best villains who have appeared in the Netflix Marvel universe, including Jessica Jones's Kilgrave and Luke Cage's Mariah Dillard. Heck, Fisk ranks among the best villains in the live action Marvel universe, period, from the shows to even the MCU films. At the end of Daredevil Season 1, Fisk was locked behind bars, but it's always been clear that he wasn't out of the fray for good. In many ways, Fisk's return in Daredevil Season 3 has seemed inevitable for a long time.

But it turns out that's not actually the case. Fisk's return may be the best case scenario for fans, but it wasn't the only option, Daredevil Season 3 showrunner Erik Oleson told GameSpot during interviews at New York Comic Con over the weekend.

"When I walked in the door, Marvel had a number of ideas as options for me," Oleson said. "For instance, the return of Wilson Fisk. They knew that Vincent [D'Onofrio] was interested in coming back."

Given fans' love of the villain during his previous appearances in the Marvel Netflix universe, including in Daredevil Season 1 and Season 2, it's not surprising that D'Onofrio was willing to return to the role. What is surprising is that Oleson considered other options.

"[Marvel TV head] Jeph Loeb had some cool ideas about it even before I walked in the door," Oleson explained. "There was also the possibility of using another major iconic character from the comics in the show. And I took kind of a bunch of options away to my writing cave, and I came up with what I thought would be a really cool story, and something that meant something also, and then brought it back to Marvel."

Oleson didn't give any hints to who that other character was. But once he'd decided Fisk would make his triumphant return in Daredevil Season 3, there was just the matter of how the Kingpin would come back. After all, in the real world, going to prison tends to be somewhat final. As Season 3 trailers have already hinted at, Fisk is going to broker a deal with the FBI that will get him moved to more luxurious living conditions, although he'll remain in custody.

"I wanted to treat Wilson Fisk like a spymaster this year, somebody who understood the dark arts of tradecraft, and had an expertise in the arts of manipulation," Oleson explained. "That came from, like, my dad worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA--I grew up in that world, and I know a significant amount about operational thinking and creating the conditions for certain things to happen without leaving your fingerprints on it. And I wanted to combine that with Wilson Fisk.

"So in the beginning of the season, he manipulates his way into becoming an FBI informant against other criminal organizations in New York City, and cuts a deal just to get physically out of prison itself," he continued. "And that start his journey of a multi-step process where we begin to understand that he has a much bigger game afloat, and he has orchestrated events in certain ways that leave no fingerprints, but which will pave the way for his ascent and re-ascent to power."

As always, Fisk is going to be quite a bee in Matt Murdock's bonnet.

"He is a highly manipulative mofo," Oleson said. "Hanging out with Wilson Fisk is not going to do anybody any good. It's spiderweb meet fly. Just stay away from that dude."

Wilson Fisk will make his long awaited comeback when Daredevil Season 3 hits Netflix on October 19. Read on about how Daredevil Season 3 is getting political.