'Hawkeye' shocks fans with reintroduction of an iconic Marvel villain. Here's what it means for the finale.
- Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Hawkeye" on Disney+.
- The end of "Hawkeye" episode five reintroduced an iconic villain from the Marvel universe.
The fifth episode of "Hawkeye" finally gave audiences the first look at an iconic Marvel villain after teasing him previously.
From episode three, there have been multiple references to the boss of the Tracksuit Mafia, the gang Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is trying to protect Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) from. There is even a small glimpse of him in a flashback during episode three to explain Maya Lopez's (Alaqua Cox) origins.
But the mysterious character's first proper appearance was at the end of episode five, when Yelena (Florence Pugh) reveals who hired her to kill Hawkeye. Yelena sends a grainy photo to Kate Bishop of Kate's mother, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) with Kingpin, a character who has already appeared in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and the "Daredevil" live-action TV show and movie.
If you think the character looks familiar, that's because Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Kingpin in Netflix's "Daredevil," is reprising his role as the character, as confirmed by the episode credits. Here's what this means for the finale of "Hawkeye" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
Kingpin is a criminal mastermind who is probably behind all the attacks on Hawkeye.
Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, is a renowned Marvel villain who is often a thorn in the side for New York street-level heroes such as Daredevil and Spider-Man. Fisk first appeared in the comic "Amazing Spider-Man #50" in 1967 and has since made multiple attempts to create his own criminal empire.
While Kingpin's main threat comes from his criminal genius and ability to outwit heroes, the mob boss has a significant amount of physical strength, making him a match for Spider-Man. Kingpin also sends multiple villains to do his work instead of incriminating himself. This is likely what is happening with "Hawkeye," as he seems to be behind both the Tracksuit Mafia and Yelena's attacks on Hawkeye.
Now that the Kingpin has finally been revealed, he could be part of the big showdown among all the main characters in the finale.
'Hawkeye' could be leading to a showdown between Maya Lopez and Kingpin.
There are many signs that "Hawkeye" will have an explosive finale after episode five. First of all, there was the revelation that Kate Bishop's mother is working for Kingpin and hired Yelena to kill Hawkeye. This is a big blow for Kate as part of her motivation to be a hero was to protect her mother.
"Hawkeye" also seems to be leading to a showdown between Maya and Kingpin. Although Maya is working for Kingpin, Hawkeye reveals in episode five that Kingpin was the one who sold out Maya's dad to Hawkeye.
This is similar to Maya's storyline from "Daredevil Vol 2." In this comic-book volume, Kingpin, who has adopted Maya (aka Echo), frames Daredevil for the murder of Maya's father in an attempt to get Maya to kill his nemesis. Maya eventually learns the truth and goes after Kingpin instead.
This could open the door for more of Netflix's Marvel characters to make an appearance in the MCU
D'Onofrio is the first Netflix Marvel character who has officially made his way across to the MCU.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently told CinemaBlend: "If you were to see Daredevil in upcoming things, Charlie Cox, yes, would be the actor playing Daredevil. Where we see that, how we see that, when we see that, remains to be seen."
Cox played Daredevil in the "Daredevil" series opposite D'Onofrio and has been rumored to appear in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Feige also teased to ScreenRant that the other Netflix Marvel heroes could also return in the future.
But how "Hawkeye" handles Kingpin's introduction will also reveal whether story lines from the Netflix shows will be kept when the other heroes return. The Netflix shows were more mature and gritty than the MCU movies, which means with the move to Disney, the characters might be watered down.
The "Punisher" actor Jon Bernthal recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he would come back to play the character only if the character is able to keep his "darkness."