The 60th anniversary of Daredevil crowns a new crime leader, but some fans hate the choice

Warning! Spoilers for Daredevil #8 and potential spoilers for Daredevil #9 ahead!

As Daredevil is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Wilson Fisk has returned to claim his mantle as the Kingpin of crime. Some fans are upset by the development and believe Fisk's return to the top of New York's criminal underworld undoes months of storytelling. However, there may be more to the Kingpin's comeback than meets the eye.

Last months Daredevil #8 was an oversized special issue that marked six decades since Daredevil's introduction. In the issue's cover story, “Introductory Rites” by Saladin Ahmed, Aaron Kuder and Jesus Aburtov, Daredevil and Elektra crash a meeting of the Heat, a gang of former police officers who terrorize Hell's Kitchen. Bullseye gives a rousing speech introducing Fisk, who reclaims his title as Kingpin while planning to use the Heat as his personal army.

After the recently concluded Gang war At the event, criminals vied to take on the role of the new kingpin. Fisk reprising the role may seem like a major step backwards to some readers. This fact was not lost on Matt Murdock himself in a preview Daredevil No. 9, which suggests there's more at play here than a simple return to the status quo.

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Why fans are upset about Wilson Fisk's return as Kingpin

The preview for Daredevil #9 by Saladin Ahmed, Juann Cabal, Jesus Aburtov and VC's Clayton Cowles begins immediately after Fisk reveals himself as the Kingpin. As Daredevil and Elektra fight their way to the stage where Bullseye gave his speech, Matt thinks about how Fisk got back to Hell's Kitchen.makes no sense.” Fisk was mayor of New York City and black king of the Hellfire Club. He even considered running for president. That he runs a street-level operation with gangsters like Bullseye, “It's as if he has traveled back in time.” There are some fans who can understand the feeling.

Gang war was a month-long event that saw multiple criminal operations in New York battling to take over the underworld. Madame Masque, Hammerhead, Beetle, Shang-Chi, Diamondback and more all fought for territory as a coalition of heroes led by Spider-Man attempted to restore order. Fisk seemed to throw his own hat into the ring at one point, but it was a conspiracy to remove his son from the chaos. It all ended with Tombstone triumphing as the undisputed leader of New York crime. If Fisk didn't want to reclaim his throne until two months later, that means all the events of Gang war Did it matter? Not exactly…

Fans shouldn't get too upset about Kingpin's “return.”

Things were not as they seemed in the current series Daredevil by writer Saladin Ahmed and artists Aaron Kuder, Farid Karami, German Peralta and Juann Cabal. After his recent death, Matt Murdock is resurrected as a priest who runs a youth shelter in Hell's Kitchen. As he tries to stop the Heat's violence, he also struggles with the fact that some of his friends are possessed by demonic entities that represent the Seven Deadly Sins. Daredevil had to exorcise Sloth from Elektra, Envy from Ben Urich, Gluttony from She-Hulk, and Lust from Wolverine. Each of these demonic possessions has caused their victims to behave out of character, just as Wilson Fisk is doing now.

There are three more deadly sins – greed, pride and anger. Previously, these units were only possessed by Matt Murdock's allies. But if someone has taken control of Fisk, that could explain why he seems to have reverted to his old ways. Wilson Fisk's return as the Kingpin Hell's Kitchen is probably not a reversal of Marvel's recent stories, but a scenario in which Daredevil must save his oldest enemy from an even greater threat.

Daredevil #9 (2024)
	Author: Saladin Ahmed Artist: Juann Cabal Cover Artist: John Romita Jr. Variant cover: Jonboy Meyers, Mahmud Asrar, Christopher Allen