10 Marvel Heroes Kingpin Targeted During Devil’s Reign

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Wilson Fisk is the most powerful and notorious crime boss in the Marvel Universe. Since his first appearance in 1967’s Amazing Spider-Man #50 (by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Mickey Demeno, and Sam Rosen), Fisk has been the unrivaled Kingpin of New York City and ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist. The Kingpin has faced off against nearly every hero who resides within the Great Apple and has taken over the city numerous times.

Among his many hostile takeovers, none were as successful as his ascension to Mayor in Chip Zdarsky’s Devil’s Reign event (by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles). While trying to leave his old life behind, he discovered that his memory had been tampered with to forget Daredevil‘s identity, and he launched a campaign outlawing all vigilantes. While he was after anyone who fought crime under a mask, Mayor Fisk put a few specific targets at the top. With Daredevil: Born Again pulling from the event, there’s no better time than to look back at Kingpin’s comic hit list.

10

Foggy Nelson Was A Hero of the People

Not even citizens were safe from Fisk

After Fisk’s Thunderbolt crew arrested many of the heroes of New York, Matt Murdock’s longtime partner and best friend, Foggy Nelson, began representing the heroes alongside the assistant DA, Kirsten McDuffie. Trying to fight Fisk with the law, the Kingpin sent his goons to beat Foggy in his office to intimidate him and McDuffie to stop their defense. Foggy survived but was nearly beaten to death, which forced Matt to put more pressure on his and the heroes’ war against Fisk.

While not a vigilante, Foggy is a hero in his own right. While the rest of the city was either scared or on Fisk’s side, Foggy and McDuffie were some of the only ones brave enough to stand up to the Kingpin and show that no one is above the law. Foggy’s role in the event was a tipping point that led to Daredevil taking the fight to Fisk head-on, proving that everyone could step up and be a hero even without a mask.

9

Miles Moralas Was Essential In The War

Spider-Man was a key player in gathering the heroes together

When Fisk first enacted the Powers Act that outlawed all vigilantes, his newly formed Thunderbolts and the rest of his police force quickly began combing the streets for any hero they could find. One of the first heroes Fisk’s forces found was Miles Morales, as he was saving people from a burning building alongside Captain America. The police force subdued Spider-Man and tried to arrest Cap. Rogers freed Spider-Man and the two fought the soldiers off until being saved by Ben Reilly/Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Elektra.

Miles then joined Daredevil’s group of heroes to take on Fisk and played a crucial role in taking the Kingpin down. Miles was involved in nearly every major battle, even saving Daredevil during a fight with Doc Ock in Devil’s Reign #4. Miles was also the catalyst for the hero’s victory by discovering that Fisk was after the children of the Purple Man after saving the Champions from Rhino. During the final battle in Devil’s Reign #6, Miles brought in the Champions along with Rhino, who had come to their side to provide essential backup during the fight.

8

Emma Frost Beat Fisk At His Own Game

The X-Men took on Fisk politically

As Fisk waged his war on the heroes of the city, he also set his sights on the X-Men. Having a Krakoan safe house in the middle of the city, the Thunderbolts attacked the X-Men but were stopped after the U.N. ordered that the Krakoan structure would not be violated per their diplomatic immunity. Not being able to take them down by force, Fisk implicates Emma Frost in a murder and attempts to smear the X-Men’s reputation in the media. Frost ultimately wins the optics battle after saving the girl she supposedly killed and having Ben Urich expose Fisk’s smear campaign against her. Frost then ambushes Fisk in his home by mind-controlling his wife, Typhoid Mary, and leaves him with the warning that she will come for revenge.

During the time of Devil’s Reign, the X-Men had plenty of problems of their own while on their island state of Krakoa. Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men actually planned on giving up the New York sanctuary until Frost stopped the Thunderbolts by going to the U.N. Despite Emma Frost’s immense powers, she beat Fisk at his own political game and exposed the Kingpin’s lies and dealt a massive blow to his public appeal which was his greatest strength during the Devil’s Reign.

7

Spider-Woman’s Attack Was Personal

Kingpin brought back Jessica Drew’s greatest enemy

After learning Spider-Woman’s secret identity, Fisk set out to destroy her and everyone she loves. Fisk’s Thunderbolts set a trap by badly beating one of her friends. Spider-Woman confronted Fisk and learned that he had freed one of her old villains, the Skrull Queen, Veranke, to hunt her and her friends down while he was busy with New York. After attempting to steal her child and deliver him to Fisk, Veranke was defeated by Spider-Woman and Captain Marvel.

While not necessarily involved with the main event, Fisk’s attack on Jessica Drew was personal. Not only did Fisk take a personal interest in taking out Spider-Woman, but he wanted to systematically destroy everything she loved. Veranke was the Skrull who impersonated Spider-Woman during Secret Invasion, making their riverly deeply personal and yet another way in which Fisk sought to not only defeat Drew but take her off the board completely.

6

The Fantastic Four Provided Backup

Reed and Sue rescued all the heroes caught by Fisk

During Fisk’s initial assault on the city, some of the first people on his list were the Fantastic Four. Ambushing them at the Baxter Building, Doc Ock took Sue and Reed into custody while Ben, Johnny, and the kids managed to escape. While imprisoned, Reed and Sue enacted a plan to free all the heroes who had been arrested, including Moon Knight, Iron Man, and Iron Fist. With all the heroes free, the Fantastic Four led them into the final battle in Devil’s Reign #6 (by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles), and were the deciding factor in the hero’s victory over Fisk and saving the city.

Without the Fantastic Four, it would have been impossible for Daredevil and his band of rogue heroes to defeat Fisk and his army of supervillains and mind-controlled civilians. Along with playing a pivotal role in the final battle against Fisk, Reed and Sue also dismantled the entire prison while freeing the other heroes. Dealing a massive blow to Fisk’s infrastructure and control over the city.

5

Moon Knight Gave In To His Brutal Past

The Fist of Khonshu was right at home in prison

In Devil’s Reign #1 (by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles), Fisk’s Thunderbolts swept the streets to arrest anyone wearing a mask. One of the first heroes they encountered was Moon Knight, who was taken into custody after fighting off numerous members of Fisk’s task force. Once in prison, Moon Knight gets involved in an underground fighting club and leaves a trail of bodies as he fights his way to the top of the ranks. After fighting his way to the champion, Man-Mountain Marko, Moon Knight revealed that being arrested was all part of his plan to get to Marko after his wife sought the protection of the Midnight Mission in fear of his release.

Even while Moon Knight was playing his own games, he was still a vital part of the heroes’ escape from the prison, if only by thinning out the herd before they executed their escape. While caring for the city, Moon Knight has his own convictions and was willing to do whatever necessary to save the people he swore to protect. While the other heroes plot and scheme ways to outsmart Fisk, Moon Knight took the hits head-on and was willing to fight violence with violence.

4

The Winter Soldier Hunted The Mayor

Bucky Barnes took back his life

Of all the heroes targeted by Fisk, there was one who was targeting him. In Devil’s Reign: Winter Soldier #1 (by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Nico Leon, Felipe Sobreiro, and Joe Caramagna), Bucky found himself haunted by visions of his victims as the Winter Soldier. After learning that Fisk had files on all the heroes and their identities, Barnes tracked Fisk for three weeks in hopes of recovering his file. He infiltrated Fisk’s mansion and encountered Kingpin sleepwalking before engaging in a brutal battle across the mansion. After nearly being beaten to death, their fight leveled Fisk’s mansion and Bucky was barely able to escape with the file and his life.

Among all the heroes involved in the Devil’s Reign event, Bucky was interested in his own victory. Constantly at war, being hunted was nothing new for the Winter Soldier, and he only wanted the chance for closure. While Bucky nearly lost his life in this battle with Fisk, his file revealed to him the truth about his involvement with the Outer Circle and put him on his current path as the Revolution, as seen in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty.

3

Spider-Man Gave The Heroes A Chance

Ben Reilly stepped up when needed

During Devil’s Reign, Ben Reilly was operating as Spider-Man and was attacked by Taskmaster, leader of Fisk’s Thunderbolts. After a brutal battle with the villain, Reilly was severely injured after falling from a building and taken into custody. Reilly was later saved by the Human Torch and The Thing before joining Daredevil’s rebel group of heroes. Ben played a crucial role in the final battle against Fisk by reverse-engineering neural disrupters to protect the heroes from Purple Man’s powers.

No matter what version of Spider-Man it is, they are always a hero and Ben Reilly is no different. While Peter was out of commission, Ben stepped up to fight in one of the biggest battles New York has ever seen. With how popular and influential both the wall-crawlers are, it’s not surprising that both Ben and Miles were some of the top names on Kingpin’s list.

2

Elektra Faced Her Past

The world’s greatest assassin becomes more

Shortly after Elektra became Daredevil and Fisk became Mayor, she paid him a visit to kill him after he enacted his war on heroes. However, due to her promise to stop killing, she holds herself back and Fisk gives her a message that someone is looking for her. Elektra then finds herself in a battle against Kraven the Hunter as he seeks to add the world’s deadliest assassin to his trophy room. Elektra beats Kraven, along with her old mentor from the Han,d and joins the final battle for New York in Devil’s Reign #6 (by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles).

Elektra played one of the most critical roles in the Devil’s Reign event but also in Matt’s ability to stay in the fight when all seemed hopeless. Fisk’s attack on New York came at a time when Elektra was struggling with her past as a killer and now as a hero. Elektra’s journey through Devil’s Reign allowed her to fully put her violent past behind her, with her even being the one to stop Matt from killing Fisk in their final battle. Showing her growth from being a cold-blooded killer to the new hero she has become by embracing her darkness.

1

Daredevil Started It All

Matt Murdock is always Kingpin’s #1 target

When Fisk became Mayor, the former crime boss made a genuine effort to put his past behind him and become a Mayor who fought for his city through justice. However, Fisk discovered a file with Daredevil’s identity that he could not read. He learned his memory had been tampered with to forget the true name of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Fisk became obsessed with learning Daredevil’s identity and who took his memory, setting off the entire Devil’s Reign event and his war on superheros.

Daredevil and Fisk have been mortal enemies since their very first meeting in Daredevil #170 (by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Glynis Wein, and Joe Rosen), so it’s no surprise that Kingpin’s entire vendetta against masked heroes revolved around Matt Murdock. During the event, Daredevil fought off Fisk’s Thunderbolts numerous times and was the leader in gathering all the heroes together to fight against him. While all the heroes became targets during Fisk’s time as Mayor, Daredevil has always been and forever will be Kingpin’s number one target.

“}]] During Wilson Fisk’s war on vigilantes during Devil’s Reign, many of Marvel’s heroes became targets in the Kingpin’s hostile takeover as Mayor of NYC.  Read More