How Marvel's Echo Sets The Stage For Daredevil: Born Again
Spoilers for "Echo" follow.
It wouldn't be a Marvel Studios production without a post-credits stinger. Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) limps (well, flies private) back home to New York City. As fate would have it, the jet's television is playing a new broadcast about the NYC mayor's race, with the subhead "No Clear Frontrunner."
Fisk turns up the volume and hears a panelist recounting polls that show most NYC voters' "ideal candidate [is] somebody who is a fighter." The host adds, "There are legitimate problems in the city right now — the voters want somebody who understands the pain they're going through," and the panelist replies, "A bare-knuckled brawler would do well in this race, an outsider, somebody who is not afraid to take on the establishment." However, as they lament, no such candidate has emerged and the race is in its last legs.
This commentary plays over a slow zoom-in on Fisk's face, with an invisible light bulb going off over it. It's been rumored that "Daredevil: Born Again" would adapt the Mayor Fisk comic storyline — this all but confirms it. What's uncertain is if "Born Again" will include an election storyline or just open with Fisk already as mayor. Going off the comics, what can we expect if the Kingpin of Crime does make his way to City Hall?
Mayor Kingpin in Daredevil: Born Again
"Mayor Fisk" (written by Charles Soule, drawn by Stefano Landini and Ron Garney) unfolds in "Daredevil" #595-600. These comics were first published in late 2017 through early 2018. Soule hasn't explicitly said that Donald Trump's Presidency inspired this storyline, but a famous New York City mogul/criminal attaining political power? The parallels seem more than coincidental (I pray the Mayor Fisk storyline is not again relevant when "Born Again" arrives in 2025 or so).
Soule departed "Daredevil" soon after, so much of Fisk's mayoralty was covered by subsequent writer Chip Zdarsky. Fisk leaves his criminal empire behind entirely and tries to make himself legitimate with his new political connections (he buys up land, intending to grow legalized marijuana and make a financial killing). The thing is, he's still the Kingpin at heart; he doesn't fit in with NYC's upper crust, nor do they respect him.
As New York Mayor, Fisk is also no friend to the superhero community. During the crossover event "Devil's Reign" he bans costumed vigilantism within city limits and turns super-villains into his enforcers as a new Thunderbolts team. New York's heroes go to the ground and ultimately Luke Cage runs against Fisk for Mayor. This is pure speculation, but Jon Bernthal's Punisher is also returning in "Daredevil: Born Again." A "hero" as violent as him could be the ammo Fisk needs to turn public opinion against superheroes.
I have mixed feelings about "Born Again" potentially adapting the comic storyline of Fisk as NYC mayor; I think it runs the risk of repeating beats from "Daredevil" and the MCU's handling of political issues often leaves something to be desired. That said, a mob boss as mayor is a solid hook for a superhero story and, as the last decade has shown, more realistic than we'd like.
"Echo" is streaming on Disney+.