Death in the MCU doesn’t always mean a lot. Only a handful of characters have died in any meaningful way, with far fewer heroes than you’d ever imagine. Hell, even the MCU’s single biggest death event at the crescendo of the Infinity Saga lasted only a year. We’re all primed to expect either fake-outs or near-misses, or for death to be a temporary measure, even, so when someone genuinely dies, it tends to leave a mark. T’Challa’s death mattered. Natasha’s death mattered. Tony’s death mattered (albeit with a Doom-shaped complication to come). And another new MCU death just joined them at the very top tier. Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2 episode 4.
It might sound like a cliché, but Daredevil: Born Again Season 2‘s explosive episode 4 genuinely changed everything. Bullseye’s thwarted attempt on Kingpin’s life seemingly took Vanessa’s life instead, turning a potential martyrdom into a different kind of nightmare. Vanessa ended up with part of a garish glass Kingpin trinket embedded in the side of her brain, a look of shock on her face so chilling it almost counterbalanced the irony of the situation. She’s not dead yet, but it doesn’t look good. The season so far has explored types of justice, and Bullseye’s place at the extreme end of the spectrum looks like it’s come to the worst conclusion.
Vanessa’s Death Will Give Us The Worst Version of Kingpin
While calling Wilson Fisk calm at this point is frankly ridiculous, Vanessa represents a sort of anchor to him from the real, reasonable world. She’s his reason to want to be a better man (after all, during the events of Echo, he consciously removed himself from her to at least partly avoid appearing vulnerable). Removing Vanessa is bad enough, but her being killed by a vigilante might as well be like waving a red flag to a steroid-laced bull. A steroid-laced bull who just happens to be a champion boxer, and a real anger problem. In short, this is the spark that lights the powder.
Mayor Kingpin is a compelling figure, of course, and the real-world allegory that has annoyed so many people is great storytelling, but nothing compares to the idea of a Fisk driven by vengeance. If Vanessa dies (and Bullseye doesn’t often leave anyone alive), not only will Kingpin be consumed with wrath, but he will have the most valuable martyr to the cause he could ever have hoped for. In other words, not only will Fisk be unleashed, he’ll have even more public backing to do whatever it takes to take down not only Bullseye, but every hero and vigilante in the same bracket.
This is exactly the kind of escalation we need as Daredevil: Born Again hurtles into its second half. Episode 4 was the high point so far, not least because of the Bullseye elements, but I’ve always worried that Kingpin being sat behind a desk – even with his hands on the marionette strings – can only be appealing for so long. Now, we have the perfect setup for him to step out from behind it. Or smash through it, more likely.
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