Up until now, the only official image of Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, in the upcoming Netflix series Marvel’s Daredevil has been a shot from behind. Now, thanks to USA Today and Netflix, we can come face to face with Matt Murdock’s arch-nemesis. But that’s not all, thanks to the actor and showrunner/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight, we’ve also got some insight into what we can expect from the villain when the series premieres on April 10.

In order tophysically prepare for the role, D’Onofrio shaved his head and packed an extra 30 pounds onto his 6’3, 250 pound frame. “I wanted him to have an appearance of being super-powerful so that when he throws a punch, it’s a major punch,” the actor told the newspaper. “There’s a lot of weight behind it.” He also studied the source material- comic books- to really get the “whole feeling and mood” of Kingpin.

When it comes to temperament, DeKnight revealed a somewhat surprising approach they’re taking for the classic villain: He’s not fully formed yet. He says that the show isn’t only an origin tale for Daredevil, but will also follow Fisk’s transformation into Kingpin. In the series, Fisk wields so much power that others fear to even mention his name in the shadows, while in public he comes off as insecure and unsteady. Whenever he is shown disrespect, though, things can get downright deadly.

“I just brought in this kind of character who in one sentence could easily go from being a child to a monster, depending on where his emotions take him,” D’Onofrio added on his mercurial take on the character. As for how much of a monster, let’s just say that D’Onofrio incorporated past research he’s done about serial killers when putting together his performance. DeKnight loves his level of commitment. “He had a passion and an understanding of what we were trying to do, of making it a very grounded, gritty, realistic show,” DeKnight raves. “Here is an actor who’s really thinking about it on not only a character depth but a visual depth that I really loved.“

He mentions visual depth because in one scene, after dispatching of someone, Fisk looks in the mirror and sees himself as paler than he actually is. This came from research that intrigued the actor, where he learned that some serial killers suffer from body dysmorphia and do not see themselves the same as everyone else does.

Very interesting stuff. With everything I hear about Marvel’s Daredevil, it truly sounds like it’s in the right hands. I don’t really do comic book TV shows. Have never seen a single episode of Agents of SHIELD, Gotham, Constantine, or The Flash. But you can count me in on Daredevil. How about you?

SOURCE: USA Today