Estratto di Devil’s Reign n. 1 (Image credit: Marvel Comics)
L’ascesa di Wilson Fisk da Kingpin del crimine a sindaco debitamente eletto di New York City ha raggiunto il suo apice in Devil’s Reign #1 dell’8 dicembre dello scrittore Chip Zdarsky e degli artisti Marco Checchetto e Marcio Menyz, in cui Fisk mette in atto il piano al centro del Devil’s Reign evento, per bandire i supereroi da New York City – e, si spera, oltre.
Tuttavia, Devil’s Reign #1 rivela che mettere fuorilegge i supereroi è solo la punta dell’iceberg di ciò che Fisk sembra stia pianificando, non solo per i cinque distretti, ma per l’intero Universo Marvel – e se i suoi piani dovessero realizzarsi, potrebbero rappresentare una minaccia del tutto senza precedenti per il mondo dei fumetti Marvel.
Spoilers ahead for Devil’s Reign #1
Devil’s Reign #1 excerpt (Image credit: Marvel Comics)
Following New York City Mayor Wilson Fisk’s realization that, though he once had files containing the secret identity of Daredevil, they’ve suddenly turned blank and he can no longer remember who Daredevil is, he announces his policy that all superheroes are banned from New York City.
What’s more, he institutes a special police force of roaming bands of super-powered villains and lackeys he names the Thunderbolts, (including former Thunderbolts warden John Walker/US Agent, who was part of the Thunderbolts when it was a rehabilitation program for villains).
The new Thunderbolts immediately begin trying to arrest heroes such as Miles Morales, Captain America, and Luke Cage, who is tricked into displaying his powers and technically breaking the law by the Shocker, one of the villains who was under Cage’s supervision when he too was part of the former Thunderbolts rehab program.
Devil’s Reign #1 excerpt (Image credit: Marvel Comics)
As the Thunderbolts spread across the city, a resistance of heroes including Cap, Miles, Moon Knight, both current Daredevils Matt Murdock and Elektra, and more begins forming underground. And at the same time, Tony Stark announces a plan to run for mayor against Fisk to help fight his plans above board – a somewhat ironic position considering he was on the side of superhero registration back in the landmark Civil War event.
And at the same time, Doctor Octopus, under the auspices of Fisk’s Thunderbolts, takes control of the Fantastic Four’s Forever Gate which can travel to any place or time in all the Marvel Multiverse, setting up the upcoming Devil’s Reign: Superior Four tie-in.
But beyond his plan to outlaw superheroes in New York City, theoretically paving the way for his son Butch Fisk, the current ‘Kingpin of Crime’, to run the city unopposed, Fisk reveals much larger ambitions.
Behind the scenes, Fisk has captured Zebediah Killgrave, the mind-controlling villain known as the Purple Man, whose children used their own mind-control powers to help hide Daredevil’s secret identity by messing with Fisk’s mind. Confronting Killgrave, who is imprisoned in a chamber that renders his pheromone-based mind-control powers inert, Fisk at first seems to want to enlist the Purple Man.
Devil’s Reign #1 excerpt (Image credit: Marvel Comics)
However, when he lets Killgrave out, Killgrave predictably tries to mind control him to kill himself – though Fisk’s “will is too strong” to be subject to Killgrave’s powers. And in this moment, Fisk reveals the next stage of his plan.
As Fisk seemingly stabs Purple Man to death, he states that “someone more worthy” should possess Purple Man’s mind control powers “for a better world” – while elsewhere, the Stromwyns, Fisk’s big money political allies, scheme over posters that say “Fisk for President.”
That’s right – Wilson Fisk is planning a run for US President.
The story continues in December 29’s Devil’s Reign #2.
Kingpin isn’t the first Marvel character to run for US President – in fact, several superheroes including Captain America, Wonder Woman, and even Thor have won the highest seat in the US. Read all about it in our superheroes as super Presidents article.
George Marston
I’ve been Newsarama’s resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I’ve also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)