The Kingpin Raised One Avenger Like A Daughter
Kingpin may be a villain to many, but he raised Maya Lopez, aka Echo, like she was his own, and apparently Fisk still cares about her.
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When one is asked to describe Wilson Fisk, intimidating, ruthless, cold, and calculating fit the description of the Kingpin, but doting father isn’t a descriptor most would expect. Although many know and despise the infamous crime lord, Fisk is someone capable of love, even if his relationships tend to end tragically. This is shown to be true when readers see Fisk murder a business associate, but also promise to look after his daughter and raise the gifted child as if she was his own. Maya Lopez would grow up to become the vigilante, Echo and would eventually fight alongside other heroes like the Avengers. Despite their history, it would appear that Fisk truly cares for Maya and still tries to reach out, hoping for some glimmer of reciprocation.
Created by David Mack and Joe Quesada, Maya first appeared in Daredevil #9 (1999) as a beautiful young woman who makes up for the fact that she’s deaf with photographic reflexes capable of copying other people’s movements perfectly. Maya became an Olympic-level athlete, dancer, and fighter all under the watch of her adoptive father, Kingpin. With Matt Murdock’s Daredevil interfering in his affairs again, Fisk gets creative with his latest attack by manipulating Maya into confronting him. He lies, telling her that Daredevil killed her father and left the murder weapon behind as a threat to him and his business. Believing Fisk’s version of the truth, Maya spends her nights studying tapes of Daredevil’s battles in hopes of getting justice for her father. Along the way she also begins a relationship with Matt Murdock, unaware of his secret identity.
Taking on the identity of Echo, Maya’s has a series of battles with Daredevil that escalated to the point where she defeated and almost killed the vigilante, stopping only when she learned that Daredevil and Matt Murdock were the same person. Convinced that Matt didn’t kill her father, Echo learned the truth and went to confront the real killer. Fisk didn’t deny the it. But his attempts to appeal to his adopted daughter ended with Maya shooting Fisk in the face and leaving New York, hoping to find a better idea of herself away from Fisk and Murdock.
After enough soul-searching, Maya would return to the same New York, but it’s a different world from the one she knew. Matt Murdock had moved on and was in a relationship and her “father” survived the shooting. In Daredevil #51-55, Maya went to visit Kingpin for the first time in years. Fisk admitted to having manipulated her and killing her father, which was just business to him. But in taking care of Maya, he learned to love her in his own way. Ensuring that she receive the best education and anything she ever desired was his way of giving her the best life considering everything she lost; it was his way of saying that he loved her. However Maya remained unable to forgive Fisk for his deception and betrayal.
In her time away from New York, Maya has worked alongside the Avengers, even adopting a second superhero identity as Ronins. The former Avenger has never let her handicap hold her back and she remains one of the more unique Marvel characters in recent memory. The fact that Maya could be raised by someone considered to be evil incarnate and still become a hero is either a testament to the her character and strength or to the fact that the Kingpin does indeed have a heart. While his continuing to try to reach out could be considered sweet, its amazing Maya has his number at all considering the traumatizing effect he’s had on her life.
NEXT: Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ Kingpin Cameo Explained
Drew is a reader, writer, artist, and creative professional based in Westchester, New York. He dabbles into cosplay, movie references, comics, and some anime while also being a Ghostbuster. He has a Bachelors in History, a Masters in Publishing and is excited to be working with Screen Rant. Previously his articles have been featured on Comic Book Resources and Iron Age Comics and he’s excited to see what happens next!
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