Daredevil’s arch-nemesis Kingpin just took control of the X-Men’s most dangerous foes

In the wake of Fall of X, the X-Men have sustained massive losses and are facing huge changes. Now their rival organization, the Hellfire Club, is seeing new leadership – The Kingpin.

Fall of X sees the X-Men undergoing some big changes in the wake of the Hellfire Gala Massacre. Now one revelation is that the Hellfire Club has changed leadership, thanks to the machinations of Emma Frost. 

The Hellfire Club has always been something of a direct counterpart to the X-Men, and its members are behind some of the most memorable moments in X-Men history. Most recently, the Hellfire Club allied with Dr. Stasis and Moira X to orchestrate the Hellfire Gala Massacre. 

With most mutants dead or missing and Professor X in exile, Hellfire Club leader Sebastian Shaw thought he would have made a fortune. Instead, he’s found himself destitute and the Club in the hands of a new owner – the Kingpin. 

The Kingpin takes over the Hellfire Club

It’s been known that Kingpin and Emma Frost were up to something, though it wasn’t clear what. In an issue of Invincible Iron Man set shortly after the Massacre, Frost and Fisk are seen working on a contract, but it’s not revealed what it was at the time. 

In Immortal X-Men #14, Wilson Fisk is finally revealed to have become the new White King of the Hellfire Club. He takes over the organization and rescinds Shaw’s membership, making him an outcast. 

This version of the Hellfire Club is a return to form. While the Club itself has never really been disbanded, its most recent iteration was reimagined as an international trade organization for the mutants. Dubbed the Hellfire Trading Company, it took on a notably more pirate theme with Kate Pryde in command of operations.

The latest development sees Sebastian Shaw, long one of the X-Men’s most manipulative foes, up against the ropes. In addition to losing his seat within the Hellfire Club, he voluntarily gave up his mutant power at the wishes of Orchis.  

It’s also a huge twist for Kingpin. The former mayor and arch-nemesis of Daredevil has found himself changing allegiances often over the years. Most recently, he’s claimed citizenship of Krakoa through is wife, Typhoid Mary. Regardless, becoming the Hellfire Club’s White King puts Fisk in an entirely new ball game as a Marvel villain. 

The Fall of X has been full of twists and turns so far, from the resurrection of Ms. Marvel to the dramatic character shift of Kitty Pryde. Sebastian Shaw’s shift makes him even more dangerous than ever and puts the X-Men’s father figure right in his crosshairs.