“Daredevil” showcases heartfelt, beautiful friendships, specifically between men, which are often confined to certain norms. The main relationship focused on is usually the one in the original Daredevil series between Matt and Foggy. A lesser appreciated relationship, but one that I think warrants praise, is the one between Fisk and his secondhand man, Wesley.
Seldom are we able to see male friends show one another love and physical affection in media, especially in the superhero genre. Even more so, we never see a comprehensive portrayal of the secondhand man to a criminal, a character that is quite common but not thought of much. There are typically two archetypes of this character: incompetent but highly loyal or intelligent but ambitious. Rarely do we see an archetype outside of these two, but with Wesley’s presentation in the original series, we do.
Wesley was given thought and attention, not just in his relationship with Fisk, but in his personality, abilities and how he holds himself. These all make for a much more interesting character that became the favorite of many viewers. He was competent and capable, while still being a diva, making him entertaining as well as crucial to the story.
We unfortunately see in the new series, “Daredevil: Born Again,” that the creators have fallen into the trap of confining the henchmen, Buck and Daniel, into the stereotypes. Whether this was done unintentionally or not isn’t clear. Perhaps it’s to show viewers that the original Wesley was one of a kind, and if that’s the case, I respect the decision to avoid writing in a perfect Wesley replacement. I would prefer that they didn’t ignore the existence of Wesley, as he hasn’t been mentioned, which seems unlikely seeing as Fisk cared for Wesley and these two new henchmen of sorts are quite involved this season.
What made Wesley’s portrayal so important to the henchman-boss relationship was his emotional proximity to Fisk. Wesley was completely involved in every aspect of Fisk’s life. Fisk’s mother knew Wesley. Wesley knew and cared for Vanessa, Fisk’s wife, and he was present for nearly every meeting Fisk was involved in.
Fans can see that Wesley admired Fisk, and he didn’t seek to overtake him at any point; rather, his goal was to remain exactly where he was, working under Fisk. While we typically see that these relationships are one way, meaning the henchman would do anything for his boss while the boss cares little for him, we don’t see this with Risk and Wesley. Instead, Fisk respects and cares for Wesley just as much as Wesley does him. Fisk may lose his temper at Wesley and, for a moment, treat him as though they aren’t friends, but he makes it up to Wesley eventually. This truly emulates a real-life partnership.
At the core of it, the two are best friends, and while this friendship has an unorthodox power structure, they care for one another as best friends. Wesley was one of the few people Fisk could, or was willing to, trust. It seemed Fisk was just about the only person Wesley cared about. He devoted his life to him, was always on call and was never unhappy to be as such.
While this isn’t a relationship dynamic that should be emulated by real-world-viewers, it makes for a great duo, one that I miss and haven’t seen replicated in any other series or movie. Ultimately, it’s nice to see two best friends show their love and admiration for one another, as is done throughout the original Daredevil series. We’re able to see physical affection between two male friends, despite them both being big, tough and bad guys. We see a truly unique relationship that makes the series stand out, and I wish that we saw something similar this time around.