Daredevil Star Says Toxic Marvel Fans Are No Longer a Problem

By Klein Felt Posted:
Kingpin Daredevil MCU

Vincent D'Onofrio has been anything but quiet since he showed up as Kingpin last year's Hawkeye. The Marvel veteran returned to the role of Wilson Fisk after seemingly having to leave the character behind when Netflix's Daredevil was canceled back in 2018. D'Onofrio has made it known that he loves playing Marvel king of crime, and fans seem to share the sentiment. 

The actor reprised his Daredevil role in the same month that his Netflix costar Charlie Cox made his return as Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) in Spider-Man: No Way Home. While the question about to what this means regarding the canonicity of these Netflix characters in the greater MCU is still a hot topic, audiences have held out that these two were perfectly cast for their roles. 

Now, these two actors may be new to some MCU fans, but they carry the benefit of years of experience dealing with the ups and the downs of working within a fandom. 

Vincent D'Onofrio Brushes Off The Haters

Kingpin, Daredevil, Hawkeye
Marvel

In a recent interview with ComicBookHawkeye's Vincent D'Onofrio revealed that toxic Marvel fans no longer bother him. 

The man who brought Kingpin to life in Daredevil and last year's Hawkeye admitted that he "used to have trolls," but learned to "ignore [the hate]." The actor noted that he "used to get combative" when haters came at him, but "it was hurting nobody but [himself]:"

 "I did. But, what I did was, I just stopped… I put them in a box where they don't exist and I ignored them for a long period of time. They've just kind of gone away. Every once in a while, one will show up, and I just ignore it. Because I think that there's too much going on in the world to perpetuate negative stuff. I used to get combative, and it was hurting nobody but myself."

Don't Come at the Kingpin

While the intense fandom of it all has scared actors from joining franchises like the MCU in some cases, it is amazing to see that D'Onofrio has learned to embrace it. The Kingpin actor has reveled in his appearances in the character and has fun with fans online. He has truly learned to take the good and ignore the bad. 

Online hate is something that anyone involved with a name as big as Marvel Studios has to become accustomed to. And no matter how loud the praise and love can be, the vitriol and negative sentiments that can be lobbed at these actors or creators create something infinitely more deafening than the positive. 

But there is so much love in the fandom community that it is amazing to see what happened when these faces of the franchise hit the block button and focus on the good stuff. 

D'Onofrio loves playing this character and does not seem to be going anywhere, despite what a certain gunshot may have indicated at the end of Hawkeye. So the watchful eyes of the Marvel fandom (both good and bad) are not going anywhere in Mr. D'Onofrio's life any time soon. 

- About The Author: Klein Felt
Klein Felt is a Senior Editor at The Direct. Joining the website back in 2020, he helped jumpstart video game content on The Direct. Klein plays a vital role as a part of the site's content team, demonstrating expertise in all things PlayStation, Marvel, and the greater entertainment industry.