Daredevil: Born Again brings more nuance to Vanessa Fisk with the Adam storyline. Here's how

Daredevil: Born Again this week finally answered important questions that we have had about Adam ever since the first episode streamed on March 4, 2025. Turns out, Wilson's wife, Vanessa Fisk, had an affair with an artist named Adam when the Kingpin was away. "Sic Semper Systema" explains Vanessa's side during the couples' therapy scene.

She says that she felt lonely when Wilson Fisk left her instantly after recovery in an attempt to convince Maya Lopez/Echo to return to New York. She reveals how Fisk leaving her indefinitely reminded her of her father who left and her mother regularly for indefinite time for business. Vanessa Fisk tells how Adam's company felt refreshing because he was not a part of Wilson's criminal empire.

This scene and episode of Daredevil: Born Again bring in a new dimension to the character not previously seen in the comics. In the Marvel Comics lore, Vanessa Fisk is a more sympathetic character who disapproves of her husband's criminal activities but helps him evade law and capture every now and then. However, the original Netflix series changed the character a bit, and it looks like Born Again is continuing the storyline.

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How Daredevil: Born Again changed Vanessa Fisk for the better?

Vanessa Marianna was introduced in the first season of Netflix's Daredevil's third episode, "Rabbit in a Snowstorm." Throughout the course of the first season, Vanessa is just an art dealer who is also Wilson Fisk's confidante. As Wilson is arrested in the finale of the first season, he sends Vanessa off to another country for her safety.

She returns to New York in the third season and convinces Wilson to make her his partner in crime, which is a change that has worked for the character. She also marries him in the finale of the third season. After Daredevil has a defeated Wilson arrested, the couple is separated once again right after their wedding. After that, we finally meet Vanessa Fisk in the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again.

After her darker turn in Season 3, Vanessa Fisk is revealed to be more the Kingpin now instead of Wilson. When Wilson informs Vanessa about his intention to run for mayor, he tells her that their business should appear legitimate. After winning the mayoral election, Fisk, while celebrating with Vanessa, tells her that he is aware of her affair with Adam and promises her that he won't harm her.

Vanessa's infidelity is a contentious issue for some viewers who can't buy that the Vanessa Fisk from the first three seasons could cheat on Wilson. But in the therapy scene from the latest episode, Vanessa opens up about her past, which may explain her unfaithfulness. She speaks about her childhood abandonment issues as her father frequently left her and her mother for business purposes.

Moreover, she feels unappreciated about the fact that Wilson has also taken away something she was getting good at, running his empire. And she is a bit suspicious about Adam's absence, and she may be right to feel doubtful, as the closing moments of the fourth episode inform the viewer that Wilson has held Adam hostage in a basement.

The first four episodes of Daredevil: Born Again has done a phenomenal job in humanizing Vanessa and introducing new dimensions to her character that feels like a natural progression to her character from the Netflix series.

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Learn what Vanessa Fisk is up to by watching the next two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, which is set to be released next Tuesday.