- "It's not me you need to worry about. It's the city you just blew the hell out of."
"You think anyone's gonna believe that?"
"You're running around in a mask, holing up with a known felon in the wake of a series of bombings. There's that police officer you're holding hostage, so yes, actually, I do." - ―Wilson Fisk and Masked Man[src]
The Bombing of Hell's Kitchen was the destruction of the Russian Mafia's holdings planned by Wilson Fisk in order to rebuild Hell's Kitchen.
Background[]
- "We all knew that we would need to eliminate the Russians one day. They were too unpredictable."
- ―Wilson Fisk[src]
While working with Wilson Fisk and his associates, the Russian Mafia was responsible for distribution of Steel Serpent heroin among other things, however, their operations were disrupted by the Masked Man. James Wesley approached Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov on Fisk's behalf and offered them help to consolidate their operations, but Vladimir knew that Fisk wanted to take over and adamanly refused, while Anatoly was more open to the offer. In an attempt to get rid of the vigilante, they spoke with Semyon who was still comatose after their altercation and found out that the Masked Man was connected to Claire Temple.
Wilson Fisk murders Anatoly Ranskahov
Vladimir arranged for Temple to be kidnapped, however, the Masked Man was able to track down the Russian Mafia to Veles Taxi Garage and liberated Temple. Due to their failure, Anatoly insisted that they needed Fisk's help to recover and even though Vladimir refused to bow down to him, he allowed Anatoly to start the negotiations with him. However, as Anatoly sought Fisk to discuss their alliance, he interrupted his date with Vanessa Marianna, embarassing him in front of the woman he loves. Fisk was enraged and while Anatoly was led to believe that there will be negotiations, Fisk instead brutally attacked him and after a prolonged beating, he beheaded Anatoly with his car door.[4]
Fisk ordered Wesley to send Anatoly's corpse to Vladimir, being fully aware that it would mean war with the Russian Mafia, but he also planted a black mask with his body to distract Vladimir by incriminating the Masked Man. While Vladimir was busy with hunting the Masked Man and getting revenge for his brother, Fisk met with Leland Owlsley, Madame Gao and Nobu Yoshioka, informing them that the Russian Mafia was no longer a part of their organization, and Gao and Yoshioka both expressed his displeasure with Fisk making decisions without consulting them. Fisk promised that it would not disrupt their operations and he will handle the distribution himself, dividing the profits equally between the four of them.
Vladimir Ranskahov prepares for the war on Wilson Fisk
Fisk then started making preparations to bring down the Russian Mafia once and for all, deeming their organization too much of a liability. Fisk provided the New York City Police Department officers on his payroll with the locations of their holdings, although Christian Blake's phone with addresses ended up being stolen by the Masked Man. Wesley then paid off Turk Barrett to tell Vladimir that Fisk might be involved in Anatoly's murder, making him believe that Fisk had been conspiring with the Masked Man against him all this time. Vladimir was furious that Fisk had been playing them all along and ordered his men to prepare for the full-scale war on Fisk, unknowingly going along with his plan.[5]
Bombing[]
Russian Hideout is destroyed in explosion
- "El cielo…¡El cielo esta cayendo otra vez![6]"
- ―Elena Cardenas[src]
Per Vladimir Ranskahov's orders, the Russian Mafia members gathered at their locations across Hell's Kitchen to prepare an attack on Wilson Fisk, which he was counting on. He sent Madame Gao's couriers to each location, being aware of every one of them, while having them carry explosives instead of the Steel Serpent. Acting as suicide bombers, the couriers pushed their detonators and triggered a series of massive explosions across Hell's Kitchen, killing dozens and dozens of the Russian Mafia members. The bombing also greatly affected the city in general, causing destructions of numerous buildings, as well as multiple injuries and casualties among the civilians.[5]
Aftermath[]
- "Why all that with planting the mask, why not blow him up from the start if that's what you were gonna do?"
"It takes time to arrange something like this and help from friends. We needed to keep Vladimir off balance until everything was in place." - ―Turk Barrett and James Wesley[src]
Following the bombings, the New York City Police Department officers who were paid off by Wilson Fisk carried out their order to search the ruins and finish off every remaining Russian Mafia member. Vladimir Ranskahov managed to survive the explosion at Russian Hideout and as he was about to be executed by Corbin and his men, the Masked Man intervened and dragged Ranskahov away, intending to force him to give out information on Fisk. He managed to hide at an Abandoned Building with a heavily injured Ranskahov, who refused to talk as he was still certain that the vigilante killed his brother.
Meanwhile, Metro-General Hospital and other hospitals in New York City were overrun due to civilians who were affected by the bombings, among which were Elena Cardenas and Foggy Nelson.
NY1 reports on the Masked Man
While the police surrounded the area to find both of them, the Masked Man had to take Sullivan hostage but failed to prevent him from alarming his colleagues of their location. Fisk then paid off an ESU Sniper to open fire at the police officers, injuring Christian Blake, and leaked the footage of the Masked Man beating Corbin and his men to the police, incriminating him as a perpetrator behind bombings and attacks on the police.
The Masked Man and Ranskahov attempted to escape now that the SWAT was onto them, and realizing that he did not have much time, Ranskahov realized that Fisk would get what he deserved only if the Masked Man brings him down. Ranskahov told him about Leland Owlsley who handled their finances and stayed behind to slow down the SWAT officers, sacrificing himself so the vigilante could escape.[7]
As New York City suffered considerable destructions and the Masked Man being considered a terrorist, Fisk decided to come forward as a public figure, presenting his Better Tomorrow Initiative to rebuild Hell's Kitchen.[8]
References[]
- ↑ Jessica Jones: 1.13: AKA Smile
- ↑ Daredevil: 2.10: The Man in the Box
- ↑ Daredevil: 3.11: Reunion
- ↑ Daredevil: 1.04: In the Blood
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Daredevil: 1.05: World on Fire
- ↑ Translates from Spanish to: "The sky…The sky is falling again!"
- ↑ Daredevil: 1.06: Condemned
- ↑ Daredevil: 1.07: Stick