Vanessa Fisk’s Marvel Comics Origins Are Way Darker Than ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

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Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 Episode 4.From the first moment we glimpse the back of his broad, towering frame in Netflix’s Daredevil series, Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) most defining characteristic hasn’t been his compulsion to heal Hell’s Kitchen as its reigning criminal mastermind or heal all of New York City as its reformed mayor, or just burn everything to the ground out of spite — it’s one oft-repeated word: “Vanessa.” The woman in question, Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer), holds nearly limitless sway over her husband’s heart and his criminal empire. Before the villainous lovebirds tie the knot in Daredevil‘s third season, Fisk makes his fiancée a partner in his “business” life as well, introducing Vanessa to the day-to-day details of his work. Vanessa’s orders immediately carry the same weight as Wilson’s commands, and she takes to her calculating, murderous new power like a fish to water.

As of Disney+’s follow-up series, Daredevil: Born Again, Vanessa has assumed full control over her husband’s domain during his emotional sojourn post-Echo. Once again, the former art dealer turned queen of the criminal underworld displays a natural aptitude for the task: under her watchful eye and elegant, iron-clad control, Vanessa raises profits, maintains the peace, and keeps those trigger-happy men in line more efficiently than her husband ever did. Her influence over New York is formidable to the point of omnipresence — but Wilson’s newfound political aspirations force her to surrender her position. That sacrifice, alongside other factors, strains their once-sympatico love story.

From Season 1 of the Netflix series to Daredevil: Born Again, recontextualizing Mrs. Fisk into an active and equal participant in her husband’s world has produced a far superior arc for Vanessa than her common refrain in the comics. Within those pages, Vanessa holds less authority than her live-action counterpart, yet still exhibits a ruthless impact upon the story — qualifications well-matched for being the Kingpin’s resilient spouse.

How Different Is ‘Daredevil: Born Again’s Vanessa Fisk From the Marvel Comics Character?

Writer Frank Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz‘s graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War burdens Vanessa Marianna with a starkly different backstory than the MCU’s interpretation. Instead of meeting her future husband as a self-assured, refined, and age-appropriate career woman, Vanessa encounters Wilson Fisk as a teenager with amnesia and, after one of his empire’s divisions, kidnaps her with the intent of selling her into sexual trafficking. Drawn to one another despite their differences, Vanessa appears to fall for and marry Wilson while she’s still a minor or at least at an uncomfortably young age.

Over the next several decades, Vanessa repeatedly threatens to leave Wilson unless he abandons his corrupt habits. He never does, and his refusal feeds Vanessa’s growing resentment. She despises New York’s depraved underbelly enough to send their only son, Richard, out of the city for his education — which also protects him from his father’s influence. Protecting herself, however, is a trickier task. Vanessa often finds herself the target of abductions and assassination attempts, a narrative shorthand that triggers Fisk’s explosive anger. Simply put, Vanessa’s limiting and mostly stagnant role in Marvel Comics resembles the “gun moll” archetype — a mobster’s female love interest who either accepts and partakes in his criminality or wishes their partner would redeem themselves.

Vanessa Fisk’s Strongest Weapon Is Her Marriage

Even though her authority is nowhere near equal to her husband’s, Marvel Comics doesn’t leave Vanessa entirely helpless. Where she lacks superpowers or enhanced fighting abilities, Vanessa compensates by being a solid shot with a pistol. Otherwise, her best weapons are her strategic intellect (she outsmarts her husband at chess) and the ruthlessness she employs to achieve her select goals. Vanessa boasts enough proactive savvy to bend her husband’s enemies to her legal and illegal will, and she personally rescues Wilson from sticky situations.

Otherwise, Vanessa semi-controls the most dangerous man in New York City purely based on Wilson’s unwavering adoration for her. When she threatens him with divorce, Vanessa persuades Fisk to do things he never otherwise would: he refrains from murdering Spider-Man, discloses his associates’ closest secrets to the Murdock and Nelson firm, and falls just shy of really, truly retiring from his criminal lifestyle. When Fisk’s enemies successfully use Vanessa as a bargaining chip against him, he follows any ultimatum as long as doing so guarantees his wife’s safety.

Marvel Comics’ Vanessa Fisk Despises Crime, but Still Uses Kingpin’s Resources

Two instances outside the norm mark Vanessa’s most fearsome streaks. Comfortably settled in Europe and tending to her fragile health, Vanessa returns to New York specifically to lead a revenge campaign against the people who assaulted her husband and left him for dead in writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev‘s Daredevil line. As Wilson recovers from his injuries, Vanessa seizes control of his firepower and razes Hell’s Kitchen’s crime syndicates to the ground. She refuses to rest until the responsible parties are eliminated — including the main instigator, Richard Fisk, whom Vanessa mercilessly murders for betraying his parents.

Killing her son in cold blood spirals Vanessa’s failing health into a terminal illness. Moments away from her deathbed, she concocts an elaborate and psychologically manipulative scheme against Matt Murdock by faking Foggy Nelson’s murder and framing her husband for the act. Aware of Matt’s costumed identity, Vanessa hopes an enraged Daredevil will break his no-killing Golden Rule long enough to eliminate Wilson, the husband she’s come to despise. However, Matt restrains himself, choosing to honor Vanessa’s memory and forge a reluctant peace with his worst enemy.

After her death, the Hand resurrects Vanessa as one of their soulless yet preternaturally skilled assassins — and there’s also the time Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker, clones Vanessa as well. Neither of her false resurrections survive, as Wilson dismisses them as abominations. Although Kingpin seeks out other romances after Vanessa’s passing, he forever grieves his beloved and regrets ruining their precious marriage. The fluid nature of life and death in superhero comics makes it likely that Marvel hasn’t seen the last of the real Vanessa. Until then, her influence affects her widower from beyond the grave — and let’s hope a similar fate never befalls the MCU’s Vanessa, a Queenpin in all but name.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again premiere on Tuesdays on Disney+.

“}]] Instead of being a powerful businesswoman in Daredevil: Born Again, the Marvel comics give Vanessa Fisk a much darker and more depressing origin.  Read More