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(SeaPRwire) –   Among all Marvel Comics villains that have transitioned to the big screen, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin ranks as one of the most successful. He has consistently been a stubborn, dangerous thorn in Daredevil’s side (a run most movie villains would not survive this long), and he pulls off his schemes in a way few other villains can match — Netflix’s Daredevil Season 3 saw him fully manipulate the FBI into helping him wipe out his criminal record, and the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again shows him winning election as mayor, passing anti-vigilante legislation targeting costumed heroes and cracking down on crime fighters like White Tiger and the Swordsman. He is an omnipresent, unstoppable force whose corruption has no limits and reaches every corner of Hell’s Kitchen.

Kingpin has never truly operated alone on screen. In the first season of the original Netflix show, he had James Wesley, his bodyguard, close friend, and most trusted confidant, who was fatally shot by Karen Page. There is also Vanessa, his beloved wife, muse, and partner in crime, who encourages all of his most ruthless instincts. But Daredevil: Born Again introduces a new trusted ally within Fisk’s administration: Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), a character who, despite his unassuming appearance, actually has a deep history rooted in Daredevil comics.

Heads up! Spoilers ahead.

Who is Buck Cashman In The Comics?

In the original comics, Buck Cashman made his first appearance in the pages of Daredevil #250, as part of Ann Nocenti’s 1990s run on the title. Unlike his live-action counterpart, he is a super-powered government operative with top-level security clearance, gifted with super strength, inhuman speed, and enhanced durability. He is deployed by the U.S. government to handle unsavory, highly covert missions that can never be traced back to official government channels. The first time he crosses paths with Daredevil, he has been contracted out by the U.S. Army to work for none other than Wilson Fisk, as part of a plot to frame a grassroots environmental protection group for an act of domestic terror.

Ever since his 1990s debut, Buck (also known by the codename Bullet thanks to his abilities) has been frequently spotted working alongside Kingpin or assassins in his employ. Most notably, he teamed up with telekinetic assassin Typhoid Mary to try to kill Daredevil once and for all. More recently, however, Matt Murdock convinced him to switch sides and turn toward heroism, joining Daredevil’s crusade against the ancient ninja clan The Hand in Chip Zdarsky’s acclaimed run on the character (the same run that Daredevil: Born Again draws most of its core narrative from). Most of Buck’s emotional depth is tied to his young son Lance, a paranoid teenager terrified of nuclear war, who is constantly put in tough positions by his father’s life of crime and forced to cover for Buck’s actions again and again.

The Biggest Changes to Buck in Born Again

When you compare the comic version of Buck to his appearance in Born Again, it is clear how little the two have in common — Arty Froushan’s portrayal of the character has no metahuman abilities at all, and instead frames him as a calculating, endlessly loyal bodyguard and right-hand man to Wilson Fisk, willing to do anything to keep Fisk protected and in power. While he does not have a son in the television series, his gentle, warm dynamic with Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) can be read as a loose father-son parallel. Interestingly, Buck’s comic backstory as a government operative shares a lot of similarities with the mysterious Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) in Born Again: a well-connected government agent given full freedom to complete his mission, who ends up in Kingpin’s orbit, this time tasked with overseeing New York City’s unruly new mayor.

Buck, like many characters from the original Netflix show and its revival, is another example of the MCU reworking a more fantastical Daredevil villain to fit the grounded, crime-thriller tone of the series. While the character currently seems set to stay as Fisk’s loyal, highly capable right-hand man, there is always the possibility that down the line Buck could grow into a far more formidable enemy for Matt Murdock — or, given how much the show borrows from Zdarsky’s comic run, we could even see him make a last-minute turn against Wilson Fisk later in the season.

As Kingpin’s grip on New York tightens steadily, Matt certainly needs all the help he can get, and a turncoat from inside the mayor’s office could be exactly the trump card he desperately needs.

Daredevil: Born Again streams new episodes every Tuesday on Disney+.