Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1 & 2Following the premiere of Daredevil: Born Again, there are some pretty clear parallels between New York’s new mayor in the MCU, Wilson Fisk, and the real-life President of the United States, Donald Trump. Each of them is a largely controversial figure in their own right, and both have been elected to positions of leadership. To that end, it’s pretty interesting to look at how the former Kingpin has been molded to mirror more than a few traits of President Trump, both intentionally on the part of Marvel Studios and otherwise.
Having been the primary rival to Matt Murdock since the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil in 2013, Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin has committed some terrible crimes and done some truly heinous things in his past. As such, it’s fascinating to see Fisk having now been elected as the new mayor of New York City in Marvel Studios’ new revival series, adapting the Kingpin’s arc from the original comics that also saw Fisk becoming the city’s new mayor. That being said, it’s no accident that Mayor Fisk possesses several key parallels to President Trump, though some are remarkably coincidental (yet quite compelling to think about).
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Both Fisk and Trump Are Convicted Felons
A Matter of Public Knowledge
Regardless of opinion, it’s a matter of public record and fact that President Donald Trump is the first President to be a convicted felon in history. That said, President Trump was still elected for a second term despite the charges and convictions. As such, the parallel being made between Fisk and Trump is quite palpable, seeing how Fisk served time in prison as a convicted felon more than once in the MCU, as seen in Netflix’s Daredevil, and yet still managed to get elected as New York’s mayor despite his past crimes also being a matter of public record.
9
Both Were Political Outsiders
A Shared Trait Many Found Appealing
Before being elected for the first time in 2016, Donald Trump was an outsider without a prior political career. Wanting to shake things up and change the system, many found this to be refreshing and exciting. As such, the same sentiments have been established in the MCU with Fisk, who similarly used his status as a political outsider to his advantage, professing his desire to fix the system and fight for New York in ways other politicians seemingly couldn’t.
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Dedicated Bases Of Support
They Both Have Strong Supporters
Fisk and Trump both have extremely dedicated bases of support. The bulk of Trump’s supporters in particular possess some intense loyalty, as was certainly proven on January 6th, 2021, and the attack on the US Capitol to prevent a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes in former President Joe Biden’s favor. To that end, the same kind of passionate loyalty is already being shown by Fisk’s supporters in the MCU, and they’re eager to see how Fisk is going to fight for them.
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Similar Political Slogans
“Fisk Can Fix It” (Complete With Hats)
While they’re not red with white letters a la MAGA, Fisk does have his own blue and yellow hats with the slogan “Fisk Can Fix It”. Naturally, this shares a similarity with Trump’s campaign in 2024 where he too promised to fix things if he were to be elected for a second term. As such, the parallel between the fictitious leader and the current real-life President is pretty clear to see.
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Underhanded Tactics To Remove Rivals
Fisk Is Already Blackmailing and Threatening Opponents
Image via Disney+
In his second term alone (not to mention his first), President Donald Trump has been documented making several threats, strong arming opponents to his message and those he deems disloyal to his administration. In a similar vein, Fisk’s primary rival in his first few days as mayor in Daredevil: Born Again is Police Commissioner Gallo. Case in point, Gallo has already told Fisk that his personal mission is to ensure that Fisk’s term is the shortest in New York’s history.
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Gallo hasn’t forgotten the kind of man Fisk was before he was elected. However, Fisk has already blackmailed Gallo and threatened him in a bid to keep him in line, as was seen in Daredevil: Born Again episode 2. That said, Gallo will likely continue to be a problem for Fisk until the mayor undoubtedly comes up with a more permanent solution outside the purview of the public eye.
5
Both Have Towers
(At Least Fisk Does In The Comics)
As a wealthy crime lord professing to be a legitimate businessman and philanthropist, the Wilson Fisk of the original comics once owned Fisk Tower, a large skyscraper in New York serving as his home and business headquarters, as well as being a large symbol of his power and influence. That said, the MCU’s Fisk doesn’t have a tower of his own, and he likely won’t as he’s already the mayor. Nevertheless, it’s not hard to make yet another comparison to the real-life Trump Tower located in New York, which similarly serves as the headquarters for the Trump Organization as well as being Trump’s penthouse prior to his presidency.
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They Both Have Spouses Who’ve Distanced Themselves
Vanessa Isn’t Very Interested In Being The Mayor’s Wife
In Daredevil: Born Again episode 2, a key plot point is that Fisk’s wife Vanessa is currently resistant to being part of the narrative, having distanced herself from Mayor Fisk. While this leads to marriage counseling for Fisk and his wife, it also creates a likely unintentional parallel to President Trump, seeing how his own wife Melania has largely been absent from public view since the start of his second term in the White House.
3
Targeting Specific Groups Of People
Kingpin’s Platform Is Anti-Vigilante
The backbone of Fisk’s platform in Daredevil: Born Again is his zero-tolerance policy toward vigilantes in New York. Believing they do more harm than good and that New Yorkers can take care of themselves, it’s clear that Fisk intends to rid the city of masked heroes once and for all. In a similar vein, a big part of Trump’s platform has been his zero-tolerance policy and harsher views towards the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. Likewise, Trump’s hyper-conservative and nationalist views and base have resulted in the targeting of other smaller and often marginalized groups as well.
2
Both Fisk and Trump Were Shot In The Head/Face
Kingpin Was Shot In Echo
In 2021’s Hawkeye, Wilson Fisk was shot in the face by Maya Lopez aka Echo, his “niece” who learned that he’d had her father killed years prior. Despite the gunshot wound, Fisk survived, albeit scarred and temporarily blinded in one eye. Likewise, Fisk has since reframed the attack in Daredevil: Born Again to aid in his campaign, claiming that he was a victim of vigilante violence.
In an act of remarkable coincidence, President Donald Trump was also shot at in July of 2024 in an attempted assassination attempt that thankfully only grazed the side of his head, albeit with conflicting reports about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that struck his ear. Either way, it’s certainly a wild and purely coincidental parallel between Fisk and Trump.
1
They Both Believe They’re The Good Guys
Fisk Believes He’s The Only One Who Can Save New York
Image via Disney+
Ultimately, both Mayor Fisk and President Trump are under the impression that they are the best people equipped for the job of running New York and the United States respectively. They both believe that they’re the only ones who can “Fix It” and “Make America Great Again.” To that end, it’s clear that Marvel Studios is building a foundation to tell a story with key parallels, one that has the chance to be pretty compelling in the long run by giving Mayor Fisk some strong dynamics and dimension that fictitiously mirror what we’ve been seeing in real life since 2016.
New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again release Tuesday nights on Disney+.
Daredevil: Born Again
9/10
- Release Date
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March 4, 2025
- Showrunner
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Chris Ord
- Directors
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Michael Cuesta, Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
- Writers
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Chris Ord