Daredevil In No Way Home Totally Beat Kingpin In Hawkeye

Daredevil's appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home totally beat Kingpin's in Hawkeye. In the same week, two of the most popular characters from Netflix's Marvel shows made their MCU debuts — Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin was revealed to be the main villain in the Disney+ Hawkeye series, and Charlie Cox's Matthew Murdock had a small cameo in No Way Home. Ever since these characters first appeared in Netflix's Daredevil series, many viewers have wished for their stories to continue in the MCU, and their shared history made a comparison between the two's introductions inevitable.

In Netflix's Daredevil series, Matt Murdock repeatedly faced off against Kingpin, otherwise known as Wilson Fisk, both as a lawyer and as his vigilante alter ego, Daredevil. Despite the show's eventual cancellation, Daredevil garnered a loyal following of fans who hoped to see its characters return in any capacity. Finally, after years of no news, Kingpin was revealed to be the "boss" of Hawkeye's Tracksuit Mafia as well as Echo's uncle, and Daredevil showed up in No Way Home as Peter Parker's lawyer. In a comedic moment, Matt effortlessly caught something out of midair, saying only that he was "a really good lawyer" when asked how he did it. He never appeared in the movie again, but Daredevil's MCU return was still better than Kingpin's.

Although Daredevil's role in No Way Home was much smaller than Kingpin's in Hawkeye, it was executed much better. Such a brief scene left things fairly open for Matt's future and kept viewers excited for where he'll appear next. Kingpin's MCU return, on the other hand, ended up being a bit underwhelming. By setting up his character as the main villain behind all of Kate Bishop and Clint Barton's problems, with Clint repeatedly expressing how dangerous he was, Kingpin's arrival should have been more consequential. Instead, he felt tacked onto the end of the Hawkeye series with a final battle against Kate that lacked the kind of stakes expected from such a powerful adversary. Being defeated in a one-on-one battle against someone far less powerful — at least, someone meant to be far less powerful — downplayed all of the anticipation that the show built up for the character until that point. Kingpin's supposed death in the Hawkeye finale did not do him any favors, either.

Matt's brief cameo also felt more true to his character in Daredevil, in which his reserved sense of humor was often utilized to deflect attention or defuse tension in a room. On the other hand, Wilson's personality and style was slightly altered for the MCU, outfitting him with a more flashy wardrobe complete with bright Hawaiian print shirts. Kingpin's power increased as well; while his physical strength in Daredevil was within the limits of a normal human, in Hawkeye he could rip off car doors with ease. Wilson even survived being struck by a vehicle and attacked with Clint's trick arrows, making him more accurate to his comic book characterization, which portrayed Kingpin as strong enough to take down heroes like Spider-Man.

Although Daredevil's return in No Way Home was less relevant to the plot of the movie, it was better handled than Kingpin's in Hawkeye. Despite Kingpin's supposed importance in the series, he didn't actually affect much of the story, making his role rather underwhelming for viewers who eagerly anticipated his MCU debut. In the end, both his and Daredevil's appearances were meant to tease their futures in the MCU, and in this respect, less was definitely more.

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