Daredevil: Born Again boss reveals cryptic Kingpin line was an "inside joke" about Marvel franchise

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 boss Dario Scardapane has confessed to an "inside joke" about the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) included in their comparatively small-scale show.

Since the Daredevil characters migrated from their now-defunct Netflix corner of the MCU to the in-house Disney+ offering, some fans have noted that its closer proximity to other franchise fare risks diminishing its dramatic stakes.

For example, Marvel's Thunderbolts* premiered only a couple of weeks after Daredevil: Born Again's season 1 finale, but its near-cataclysmic battle with The Sentry (Lewis Pullman) in New York City wasn't at all impacted by Kingpin's vice-like grip on its mayoralty.

Alas, this is a reality of multi-level storytelling that both fans and creators of Marvel's street-stomping stories are going to have to make peace with – just as comic book readers did decades ago.

Still, that isn't to say that Daredevil: Born Again can't give a little wink or nod to its place in an infinite universe, as it did in season 2, episode 2, when Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) considered his long-term legacy.

In a thoughtful discussion about whether New York City alone is large enough a kingdom, Fisk is asked how many more worlds he must conquer to be satisfied. His response: "How many are there?"

Speaking to Radio Times, Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane revealed that the line was "kind of an inside joke between the writers' room, the studio and everything else".

"It's a nod to a misquotation about Alexander the Great weeping because there were no more worlds to conquer," he said, referencing a poetic line that has been liberally re-used in pop culture, including by Hans Gruber in Die Hard.

"But because we're dealing in a world where there are multiple worlds, we wanted to do a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek nod to, first, Kingpin's appetite can never be satisfied… And then, to [Born Again's setting] in a place where there are lots of universes.

"As far as Kingpin moving into those universes, that's way above my pay grade. I've got nothing to do with that," added Scardapane, deferring to the authority of executive producer Sana Amanat, who chose to keep quiet on the subject.

Typically, the character is most associated with Marvel's gritty crime stories, as opposed to any universe-spanning events, although 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse demonstrated that he could be put to good use in certain cosmic contexts.

For now, though, it's probably wise not to get your hopes up for Avengers: Fisk's Day.

Daredevil: Born Again is available to stream on Disney+. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month.

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