On December 15, 2021, Marvel Studios brought one of the most popular and notable supervillains back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Hawkeye season 1, and made viewers very happy. Hawkeye premiered on Disney+ on November 24, 2021, as the first solo MCU project for Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), the sharp-shooting former SHIELD agent who became a founding member of the Avengers in 2012. It was fantastic to see Hawkeye get more development, and we relished the MCU debut of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), but the series also brought back one of the franchise’s most iconic antagonists.
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Hawkeye episode 5, “Ronin,” which first released on Disney+ on December 15, 2021, brought Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) back to the MCU. We last saw D’Onofrio’s Kingpin in Daredevil season 3, part of Netflix’s Defenders Saga, but the Marvel Television franchise’s cancellation left his future in jeopardy. Matt Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) return in Spider-Man: No Way Home opened the door for more Defenders Saga characters to come back, too, and eventually led to the entire franchise being integrated into the MCU’s official timeline, cementing Kingpin as a crucial part of the MCU going forward.
How Kingpin Has Changed Since His Return in Hawkeye
Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock butted heads on several occasions in Daredevil on Netflix, and we got to know the supervillain fairly well, but Hawkeye established a huge new aspect of his history. Hawkeye revealed that Fisk had a long history with the Lopez family, having employed William Lopez (Zach McClarnon) as a part of his Tracksuit Mafia, and subsequently became an uncle-figure to Maya Lopez (Darnell Besaw and Alaqua Cox). Fisk helped to raise Maya, and eventually took her under his wing as his prospective heir when her father was killed by the Ronin.
This allowed Kingpin to be a huge presence in Echo, which showed him recovering from the gunshot wound inflicted by Maya in Hawkeye. The new hero ultimately chose to renounce her past with Wilson Fisk in Echo, however, which pushed Fisk to try and acquire more power another way—by running for Mayor of New York City. This all came to a head in Daredevil: Born Again, the revival of Daredevil for the MCU proper. Fisk manufactured a vigilante threat allowing him to outlaw heroes in New York, establish the Anti-Vigilante Task Force, and put the city under martial law.
Wilson Fisk’s Kingpin has an immense amount of influence and power going into Daredevil: Born Again season 2, so he has come a long way since his 2021 return in Hawkeye. Back then, he was picking up the pieces after the Blip and Daredevil’s actions decimated his criminal empire. Now, however, Kingpin is back on top and will pose a huge threat to many of the MCU’s superheroes, including the members of Daredevil’s army in Born Again season 2. We can’t wait to see how Kingpin continues to grow for years to come in the MCU’s future.
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Image Courtesy of Ufotable -
Image Courtesy of Marvel
