The original post: /r/television by /u/AngryGardenGnomes on 2025-04-16 11:36:34.
I have been loving Michael Gandolfini’s addition to the Marvel universe. Daniel Blake is a great character who we’ve seen blossom into an A-Grade scumbag through his unwavering support of Wilson Fisk.
I didn’t think much of Michael when he played a teenage Tony Soprano in The Many Saints of Newark, to be honest. That whole movie actually made me cringe. I felt one of the major problems was that Michael just didn’t have the presence of his father. And that’s to be expected, those are massive shoes to fill.
I also felt like he was perhaps thrown into the limelight with such a prominent role, with massive expectations, way too early. I kind of respected him for going for it as well.
I’ve been really enjoying his performance in Daredevil Born Again. I think it plays to his strengths better…or should I say his vulnerabilities. He starts out as a rather green young guy working for the Kingpin Fisk on his election. Over the course of the series we see him become more and more corrupted by politics and Fisk’s methods. He idolises Fisk who is not too dissimilar to Tony Soprano in many aspects…and vastly different in a lot of ways, of course.
Michael had this great monologue on the final episode of Born Again. He’s speaking to a group of very high level council members. He’s perfected the act of an utter slimeball, knowing exactly what to say to rattle them and bend them to his will. It’s such a great moment. He’s casually blackmailing them and reminding them of the threat Fisk poses to them. Really slickly done.
I think James would be very proud to see his son completely owning a mature role. Especially on a popular prestige style show. I think the fact Michael is playing an utter slimeball makes it all the more delicious.