WARNING: Spoilers for Hawkeye Episode 5, “Ronin.” After insiders hyped up the fifth episode of Hawkeye with a big moment/reveal, fans finally got to find out what all of the fuss was about this week. The identity of Maya Lopez/Echo’s mysterious uncle was finally revealed, and it’s one of those cases where the anticipation lived up to the expectations. The closing moments of “Ronin” saw Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) send Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) a text message with a photo of her mother, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga). Standing next to Eleanor is Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of Crime.
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Seeing as how the end credits began rolling shortly after the reveal, it’s understandable for some viewers to miss smaller details in the shot. However, if you go back and pause the episode on the Kingpin/Eleanor Bishop image, you’ll see D’Onofrio wearing a white jacket while leaning on a cane in his left hand. The Kingpin in the Marvel Universe is usually seen with this familiar cane, but the character depicted in Seasons 1-3 of Netflix’s Daredevil never used one. No matter what side of the fence you fall on regarding the Netflix slate of Marvel shows’ place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we can all admit the Kingpin in Hawkeye is sporting a comics-accurate look.
Earlier in the day, Vincent D’Onofrio broke his silence on Kingpin’s return to the MCU. “When I was a boy,” D’Onofrio tweeted alongside a picture of the Hawkeye end credits, showing his character looming large over Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop.
The actor had previously downplayed rumors of his appearance in Hawkeye, refuting “leaks” and dropping cryptic clues along the way. Directors Bert and Bertie told ComicBook.com that Hawkeye’s uncle tease wouldn’t leave fans hanging.
“[The filmmakers at] Marvel are experts are teasing things in their shows,” Bert said. “But they never leave you hanging.”
She then started to smile and added, “for too long” before moving on to the next question.
Only one more episode remains in the Disney+ series. There is still a lot to wrap up: Eleanor’s relationship to Kingpin, whatever it is the two are planning, Echo learning that Kingpin is responsible for her father’s death, Hawkeye vs. Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop vs. her mother, and much more.
The season finale of Hawkeye airs Wednesday, December 22nd on Disney+.
