Who is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most fearsome villain? Is it Thanos, the mad Titan who destroyed billions of lives? Is it Namor, the undersea monarch who almost made Wakanda crumble? 

Some would argue that it’s Wilson Fisk, a crimelord who rules Hell’s Kitchen with an iron fist. When you watch Marvel’s Daredevil, there is no denying the strength of his onscreen presence. One of the most iconic things about him is his voice. It sounds threatening and it seems to demand power and submission. 

If you heard Vincent D’Onofrio in other roles, then you know that his normal voice is much different than the one he uses for Kingpin. How did D’Onofrio find this voice? Speaking to a crowd at Tampa Bay Comic Convention, the Marvel actor revealed his process for finding Fisk’s cadence. 

“When it came to doing a television series of whatever kind, I’ve never played a layered character part like that for so long in so many episodes. I used to do this show called Criminal Intent, and that guy was closer to me in real life. I wasn’t ridiculously smart like he was, and I still am not, but I was much closer to me. My voice was mine. I changed the rhythm of his voice, he talks more like Captain Kirk than me, but it’s very close to me.”

“I’ve never done like a voice, a posture, and this emotional temperament that’s running through Fisk in every situation he’s in. I had never played that before, and I wasn’t sure I could actually maintain it. One of the things I learned is that if you put in the work and make concrete choices that actually help tell the story properly, rather than whimsical choices to make yourself come across better or more fabulous, but if they’re firm storytelling choices that you apply to your character, they kind of last for as long as you play the character. I’ve learned a lot over the years from many different directors and situations, but that was a big lesson for me.”

Vincent D’Onofrio will return as Kingpin in Daredevil: Born Again, streaming on Disney+ March 2025. 

Fear not, we have the essentials when it comes to Marvel's Daredevil. From the best Daredevil stories of all time, to a guide to watching Daredevil, a comprehensive guide to Marvel Studios' Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, Marvel's Daredevil actors, ranked from Charlie Cox to Ben Affleck and even Rex Smith, how Frank Miller accidentally killed a Daredevil cartoon (and Marvel killed a book to avoid pissing him off), and even that time we caught Daredevil actor Charlie Cox sneaking into New York Comic Con as Bluey.