Vincent D’Onofrio teases Mayor Fisk in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ trailer (exclusive)

They’re not exactly friends, but they do have a history. The new trailer for Daredevil: Born Again is framed around a scene of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) talking together at a New York City diner. Taking a break from their alter egos as vigilante Daredevil and crime lord Kingpin, these two seem to be chatting rather amiably — but there’s a bloody history lurking beneath their words. 

This scene carries weight, not least because it’s rare. In fact, Cox exclusively tells Entertainment Weekly that he and D’Onofrio worked to minimize the amount of scenes they share together in the upcoming revival series, to save the impact for when it matters most. 

“I believe you have to be really careful when and how you bring these two people into the same room because we have to feel like when they meet, it is an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object,” Cox says. “It has to feel like it could and will explode. The more you bring us together with no consequence, the less that illusion can maintain itself.” 

Cox continues, “there’s actually an episode later on in the season where in an original draft we had a conversation, and I brought this up. I said, ‘I worry that if you tell the story that we can have a conversation and walk away from it at this stage, we lose a lot of stakes.’ So they found a really cool way to not have us do that.” 

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Although the rivalry between Daredevil and Kingpin is likely what Daredevil fans are most excited to see in Born Again, the trailer makes clear that other old friends will be along for the ride as well. Jon Bernthal reprises his role as Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher — and if Matt is asking him for help, you know the stakes are high. On a lighter note, Matt’s old friends Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) are also back, which makes Cox very happy. 

“I think of Karen and Foggy as being the heartbeat of Daredevil,” Cox says. “Without them, nothing that Matt does really has any emotional impact. The humanity and vulnerability that they brought to those characters allows me as Matt to really delve into the darkness.”

The new trailer also confirms something that was first hinted at in the Echo finale: Fisk will be running for mayor of New York City. Hey, if Donald Trump can be re-elected president while under legal indictment, why can’t the Kingpin of Crime become the legal leader of New York? Though the storyline is inspired by the recent “Mayor Fisk” saga in Marvel’s Daredevil comic (written by Charles Soule and Christos Gage, with art by Ron Garney and Stefano Landini), D’Onofrio says viewers should prepare for the unexpected. 

“Anything on our show is, nine out of 10 times, leading to something that’s even bigger and crazier,” says D’Onofrio, talking carefully to avoid premature spoilers. “For Fisk, this journey is a path to more control.” 

Daredevil: Born Again premieres March 4 on Disney+. Watch the full trailer above.