When comic fans think of Marvel supervillains, they picture large-scale threats like Thanos and Ultron. However, there are many villains who carve out a name for themselves without threatening the planet or universe. Wilson Fisk is such a character, looking to expand his influence while staying under the radar of the large teams like the Avengers. Now, with Fisk no longer the Kingpin of Crime, somebody else begins vying for that coveted position.
Wilson Fisk has been a mainstay in the New York criminal underground for years, involved with all kinds of shady, illegal dealings. This normally makes him a target for street-level heroes, such as Daredevil or Spider-Man. However, Fisk recently decided to try and walk down a more righteous path in life. To that end, he campaigned for mayor of New York and won. Now in a new position of power, Fisk has stepped down as the Kingpin. Furthermore, he has taken steps to end his criminal activities while simultaneously trying to maintain peace between warring factions in the city.
Kingpin Contender
Of course, after news spread of Fisk’s “retirement”, various criminals began making strides to fill the vacuum left in the wake. Longtime crime boss Leland Owlsley aka The Owl is one such individual. After advancing on rival gang’s territories, Owl meets with the head of the Libris crime family, Izzy Libris, in Daredevil #13. Then, he not only takes responsibility for the attacks but murders the head’s bodyguards as well. Owl then tells Libris to spread the word that there is a new Kingpin of New York City.
It’s too early to tell whether Owl will come out on top. What he doesn’t know is that Fisk is slowly reverting to his old habits and facing a crisis of conscience. Meanwhile, Daredevil will doubtlessly confront the new Kingpin as he is seeing a member of the Libris crime family. Therefore, all three characters are bound to clash at some point.
