The seventh episode of Daredevil: Born Again, “Art for Art’s Sake,” ended with a stunning cliffhanger. It appeared that Vanessa Fisk, the wife of the Kingpin, may have turned upon her infamous husband. Something like this did happen in the original comics. However, the streaming series drastically deviates from the source material in regards to Vanessa’s character.
The original Daredevil series on Netflix detailed the romance between Wilson Fisk and Vanessa Marianna. An art dealer by trade, Vanessa was not scared away when Fisk revealed his secret life as the Kingpin. Indeed, she eagerly assisted in his criminal activities. The opening episodes of Daredevil: Born Again revealed that she had taken over the management of Fisk’s “other life” while he recovers from the injuries acquired in Hawkeye and Echo.
(Image Source: Marvel Studios)
Daredevil: Born Again implies that Vanessa is was unhappy with her new role as the mayor’s wife. She argues with her husband about her management of their business affairs while he is away. It seems that she was happier as a de facto crime boss.
This culminates in her conversation with a dissatisfied underboss named Luca. Vanessa tips Luca off to where her husband would be eating dinner alone. Luca is dispatched by Wilson’s underling, Buck.
It is unclear if Vanessa set Luca up or if she honestly was trying to have her husband killed. However, the possibility that she might have turned on Kingpin is revolutionary on its own. It is also a drastically different take on Vanessa Fisk from the comics.
(Image Source: Marvel Comics / Keith Pollard)
When first introduced in Amazing Spider-Man, Vanessa Fisk was ignorant of her husband’s double life as a criminal. When she discovered he was the Kingpin, she gave him an ultimatum: give up crime or I leave. Fisk chose his wife, leading some of his former associates to turn on him and to try to kill Vanessa. She survived the murder attempt in part thanks to Daredevil, and Fisk secreted Vanessa away to a safe location in Europe as he rebuilt his criminal empire.
When Vanessa recovered, she responded as a woman scorned. Blaming both Daredevil and Kingpin for destroying her family and corrupting her son, she arranged for Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk to kill one another. She also murdered her own son when he declared his intention to kill his father for ruining their family with his criminal activities. However, apart from overseeing the dissolution of Fisk’s empire after he was nearly assassinated, the Vanessa Fisk of the comics never acted as a crime boss as in Daredevil: Born Again.
Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 1-7 are now streaming on Disney+.