Hawkeye Producers Reveal It Was Kevin Feige's Idea to Bring Back Kingpin

December was an exceptionally large month for fans of Marvel Television's now-defunct DefendersVerse, with both Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk returned during the events of Hawkeye, largely thanks in part due to the brainstorming of Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.

In the latest episode of Marvel Studios: Assembled (via The Direct), Hawkeye producer Trinh Tran revealed Feige dropped the Kingpin bomb during a Zoom call they were having with another producer, Brad Winderbaum.

"Kevin threw out the idea that 'What if this could be Kingpin?' And I think all of our jaws just kind of dropping our Zoom meetings, and we're kinda like, 'Wait, you're joking, right? This can't be serious. Are you serious?" Tran said during the docuseries. "This is… You really think that there's a chance that we can actually get Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Kingpin in Daredevil in the series, as a cameo for a couple of scenes? Like, he is our big boss?' And Kevin made a call to Vincent."

"We were all on a call, me and Kevin and Trinh, and we were talking about the Tracksuit Mafia and the criminal organization behind this story," Winderbaum added. "We needed a really big threat, like something that, you know, would make Eleanor Bishop shake in her boots and Hawkeye, you know, get a little bit afraid. It had to be someone powerful."

According to D'Onofrio, Feige called him directly and he quickly accepted. As far as his MCU future goes, the actor says that's still up in the air.

"No," D'Onofrio answered when asked on the Sarah O'Connell Show if he's signed on or scheduled to film any Marvel projects in 2022. "I've been through this before with Daredevil. It's very clear to them all that I really want to play this part, keep playing it. You know, I'm just hoping that continues. I'm just beginning to have fun with it."

All six episodes of Hawkeye are now streaming on Disney+.

What other DefendersVerse characters do you want to see appear in the MCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.