Warning: This article will containHawkeyespoilers from the outset, so please turn back now if you do not want to know the latest secrets from the series.
Marvel are constantly building and delivering on expectations of their most avid fans, and while the very wild ideas ofLokifollowers about who would possibly be making an appearance in theTom Hiddleston-led seriesdidn’t quite equate to the first season’s finale, it seems that the much more grounded seriesHawkeyeis giving fans exactly what they have been asking for. We are now five episodes into the Disney+ series, and having seen the return of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, this episode brought another long awaited character into the MCU in the form of Kingpin, played by none other thanVincent D’Onofriodespite the actor’s many protestations to the contrary.
Ever since he posted an image on his Twitter account prior to theHawkeyeseries’ premiering, D’Onofrio has been attempting to firefight the growing number of fans theorizing that he was about tobring his character of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin into the MCUafter playing him in the now defunct NetflixDaredevilseries. However, all of those denials became redundant whenHawkeyereleased its fifth episode today, as the actor made his debut in Marvel Studios’ Mangum Opus.
The episode sees Yelena telling Kate Bishop that she was hired to kill Clint Barton by Kate’s mother, Eleanor Bishop. At the end of the episode, Kate receives a photograph from Yelena that shows her mother standing next to Fisk, and when she questions Clint about who the man is, he reveals that it is who he has been worried about, leaving us to head into the finale of the show with D’Onofrio’s Kingpin now a fully-fledged member of the MCU family.
D’Onofrio became one of the highlights of the three seasons ofDaredevil, but when the series – and soon after the entire Marvel Television collection – was cancelled in 2018 it seemed like it could be the end of the road for the likes ofCharlie Cox’sDaredevil and Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones. While there was a two year block put on the characters of Marvel Television characters, which came to an end in late 2020, from June this year it was strongly rumored that both D’Onofrio’s villain and Cox’s Matt Murdock would be returning screens as part of the MCU’s future plans.
“I do take it as a compliment. I so badly want to play that character again,” D’Onofrio said shortly after the rumors began to swirl. “I love that character. I just have towait for Marvel to ask me. I think it’s very clear that I would, and the fans know that I would jump at the chance to play again. I just need to be asked.”
While these rumors were strenuously denied by all parties for a long time, in the last few weeks Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has spoken about Charlie Cox, confirming that when Daredevil does make an appearance in the MCU proper, then it will be the actormaking a return to the role.With this in mind, and D’Onofrio now having already made his first appearance, the doors are wide open for some other characters to make an unexpected but welcome return to the Marvel fold should they wish to do so.
The sixth and final episode ofHawkeyepremieres Dec. 23 on Disney+.
