- "That's how your father died? You... killed him?"
"I killed him to be free. To move forward in my life." - ―Maya Lopez and Wilson Fisk[src]
The Murder of Bill Fisk was Wilson Fisk's retaliation against his father following another fight between his parents, Bill and Marlene Fisk. When Bill began beating his wife, Wilson stepped in and smashed his father's head in with a hammer, killing him.
Background[]
- "It wasn't your fault. You were protecting your mother."
"I didn't do it for her, I did it for me." - ―Vanessa Marianna and Wilson Fisk[src]
Bill Fisk lived with his wife Marlene and their son Wilson, being a hardworking, but abusive husband and father. Running for the position in the Third District Council, Bill took a loan from Don Rigoletto to fund his campaign, however, he ended up losing.
Wilson saw Bernie Walker knocking down the signs for the campaign once his father lost, calling the Fisk family losers. Wilson tried to stop him, but Walker beat him up. Bill forced Wilson to tell him about what happened when he saw his son's bruises. Afterwards, Bill took Wilson and confronted Walker personally, demanding an explanation for his insults, but Walker replied that he was only repeating his own father's statements. Bill attacked Walker with a bat and forced Wilson to kick him, while he was on the ground, no matter how scared Wilson was.[2]
Murder[]
- "When I was a boy, I beat my father's skull in with a hammer. I was twelve years old. Young for my age, in fact. Terribly inexperienced. I'd never been to a dance with a girl or stayed up past midnight. Never been out of the city or even taken the subway on my own. Yet there I was, twelve years old, standing over my father's body watching him die by my hand."
- ―Wilson Fisk to Benjamin Poindexter[src]
Later, Bill Fisk told Wilson to sit in a corner and stare at a wall to make him think about his future. As Fisk was about to leave to talk with Don Rigoletto, he is stopped by Marlene, who confronted Bill on his recklessness. Being drunk, Bill lost his temper and began beating his wife, while Wilson was listening. Hearing his father abusing his mother, Wilson could not take it anymore and grabbed a hammer, demanding Bill to get away from Marlene.
Bill only scoffed at the idea that Wilson might do something to him, seeing him being paralyzed from fear, and turned away to Marlene. However, Wilson hit him over the head with a hammer, and continued hitting, losing control over himself. Marlene stopped Wilson and comforted him, while looking at the body of her husband, and noticed that Bill's fingers were twitching. Marlene then used a saw to dismember Bill's body.[2]
Aftermath[]
Fisk Family[]
Wilson Fisk wears his father's cufflinks years later
- "We carried him in bags down to the river. One every night, for the next week. Everyone in town knew that he owed money to Rigoletto. So, I guess they thought that... he'd left town to avoid him."
- ―Wilson Fisk to Vanessa Marianna[src]
Marlene and Wilson Fisk placed the dismembered remains of Bill Fisk in garbage bags and carried them to the river, one bag every night. With Bill nowhere to be found, the community assumed that Bill abandoned his family and fled town to avoid paying his debts to Rigoletto.[2] Knowing that staying in New York City would be too dangerous, Marlene sent Fisk away to live with relatives at a farm.[2] Wilson was unaware that his mother kept the hammer he used to kill Bill, as she had been secretly grateful that he had saved her from her abuser.[3] Traumatized from the murder, Wilson continued wear his father's cufflinks to convince himself that his actions as a crimelord were not being done for cruelty's sake. Now freed from Bill's abuse, Marlene married two more times after Bill's death, keeping Arthur Vistain's surname.[2]
Kingpin of New York City[]
Marlene Vistain divulges that Wilson Fisk killed his father to Karen Page and Ben Urich
- "I keep this with me. It's to remind myself of where I come from, and what I had to do to get there. It's something that I wanna pass on to you. My father felt stronger when he beat my mother, until I got strong enough to stop him with that."
- ―Wilson Fisk to Maya Lopez[src]
Many years later, Wilson Fisk returned to New York, taking over Don Rigoletto's assets and business and becoming one of the most powerful criminals in New York City. When Karen Page and Ben Urich strived to get Fisk arrested, they found Marlene Vistain at the Saint Bénézet Retirement Care and she admitted to Page that her son murdered his father.[4] Although the fact of the murder was inadmissible in the court without evidence, Fisk ended up imprisoned regardless, because of Nelson and Murdock.[5] While Fisk served his sentence at Rikers Island, Marlene died and Fisk found the hammer that she kept, understanding that his mother supported him no matter what.[3]
In 2017, when Fisk manipulated the FBI into moving him into the Presidential Hotel, Foggy Nelson showed Page a document detailing the terms of his house arrest and that violating any one of them would send him back to prison. Page quickly noted one item stating that any crimes committed prior to his house arrest were still valid and suggested revealing his father's murder, but Nelson argued they had no evidence. Page later confronted Fisk to try and trick him into admitting his father's murder on camera without success.[6]
Maya Lopez contemplates killing Kingpin
Throughout his relationship with Maya Lopez, Fisk used his father's death as a common tragedy to lead her into a valiant leader and criminal that he wanted. However, he always framed his father's death as a tragic moment in his life, relating it to William Lopez's death. It was not until Lopez and Fisk were at odds when Fisk revealed the hammer and told Lopez the truth surrounding his father's death. Fisk then handed Lopez the hammer, stating that he killed his father to be free.[7]
Wilson Fisk revisits his trauma
During the Battle at Haskell County Fairgrounds, Lopez was able to use her powers to place Fisk in an illusion where he was forced to relive his trauma as he listened to his mother cry as Bill physically assaulted her.[8]
Appearances[]
| Appearances for Assassination of Bill Fisk |
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In chronological order:
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