MARVEL.COM: It’s been fascinating to watch Matt and Fisk on these parallel journeys: They’ve both been trying to turn over a new leaf, but they find themselves falling back into their old roles as Daredevil and Kingpin. How did you want to emphasize their similarities?

SANA AMANAT:  That was the most intriguing thing: These two characters are two sides of the same coin. They are ultimately always drawn to each other. They have some strange, magnetic, toxic pull toward one another, and we really wanted to play with that. We wanted to showcase the challenges that both of them are having by deciding to put away their quote-unquote “masks,” as well as the lore of their rivalry. There’s so much story there to tell, and Charlie and Vincent are both such impeccable performers.

Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk are so layered and complex and flawed in similar ways. They choose to have different ends, different means, and different intentions. But oftentimes, their addiction to violence and darkness feels somewhat similar, and it was great to play with that.

MARVEL.COM: This season has also highlighted the complicated relationship between Wilson and Vanessa Fisk. We learn in episode 8 that it was Vanessa who ordered the hit on Foggy Nelson. How did you want to explore their marital relationship?

SANA AMANAT: I remember when we were going back and looking at Vanessa’s character arc, I was intrigued by [Daredevil] season 3, where she decided to tell Kingpin to kill Agent Nadeem. She came in, and she said, “I want to be your partner.” She wasn’t mad that he sent her away. I thought that was interesting, and I thought, what kind of woman decides to be with a man like this? What does it say about who she is? That’s what we wanted to explore, the idea that if he had to go away, she takes over because she’s smart enough to do it.

We were really interested in what that did to the dynamics of the relationship. They were two people who were very much in love, but they also attained so much power. What does that do to their dynamic? What does that do to the concept of trust, especially when he was away? They’re dark souls. They’re doing dark, maniacal things. But there’s real love there, and that is such a fascinating contrast.