Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 2 Finally Explains Wilson Fisk's Ultimate Plan

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Spoilers for "Daredevil: Born Again" season 2, episode 2 to follow.

Since the first season of "Daredevil," Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) has been more than just a gangster. His criminal empire was initially a vehicle to redevelop (read: gentrify) Hell's Kitchen. In "Daredevil: Born Again" season 1, Fisk sought greater legitimacy than ever before and became mayor of New York City. After his crime boss managerial instincts kept butting up against the limits of political power (thus proving it's not the Kingpin who rules New York City), Mayor Fisk declared martial law in NYC.

But it's not enough. Fisk has built an empire, and what do empires do? They expand their territory. "I believe I can do more good than just New York," as Fisk tells his wife Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) in the second episode of "Born Again" season 2. "Have you ever considered that with all that we have and what we've done, that we're obligated to make [a] global impact?"

"How many more worlds do you need to conquer?" Vanessa asks her husband. He answers with his own question: "How many are there?" It evokes that quote from "Die Hard" about Alexander the Great: "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer."

The quote is fictional, but Alexander the Great's empire was very real. Kingpin currently leads one of the largest cities in the world and a cornerstone of the global economy, but is that enough to carve his name into history? "New Yorkers have a short memory," he laments. Does he intend to seize higher office? He's already butting heads with the New York Governor. Is he planning a run against her? From there, the only thing that could sate further ambition is the White House.

Kingpin's empire is missing an heir. He and Vanessa have "always been enough for each other" (even if they had some marital troubles and underwent "Sopranos" style couples therapy in "Born Again" season 1), but they hint that may change. In the comics, they had a son, Richard Fisk, albeit one who often served as a criminal rival to his father.

In lieu of a biological son, Fisk might be grooming an heir in Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini). Introduced in "Born Again" season 1 as a staffer on Fisk's mayoral campaign, Daniel climbed the ranks into Fisk's inner circle with true devotion. He's certainly the right age and green enough for Fisk to rear him as a surrogate son. But Daniel has a weak spot: his relationship with journalist BB Urich (Genneya Walton). Daniel's infatuated with her, but BB is using him to get info and help bring Fisk down.

"Daredevil: Born Again" has pulled a fair bit from Chip Zdarsky's 2019-2023 run on "Daredevil" at Marvel Comics, which also featured Fisk as mayor of NYC. In "Daredevil" #7, after concluding Matt Murdock had abandoned being Daredevil, Fisk decided to dissolve his own criminal empire. He'd fallen into a rut as a crime boss battling a vigilante, he'd decided, and now that he was mayor, it was time to move onto the bigger arena of politics and international business. 

"Have you ever seen someone of any worth be content? In business, you lose your hunger. As an artist, your work grows stale. To be content is to be dead," Fisk mused. His Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart seems to share that mindset, because he refuses to be content with only ruling New York.

"Daredevil: Born Again" is currently streaming on Disney+.