How Strong Is Kingpin In The MCU?

Warning: SPOILERS for Hawkeye ahead.

Hawkeye’s main villain was revealed to be none other than Kingpin, Daredevil's main villain who is also known as Wilson Fisk. Kingpin's MCU version is not only much stronger but also a lot more durable than the one in Netflix’s Daredevil series. Years after the character was introduced onscreen, Vincent D’onofrio’s Kingpin is now officially an MCU Phase 4 character. But while the same actor is playing the oratorically gifted supercriminal, Hawkeye's Kingpin twist makes him notably more powerful physically in the true MCU.

In Daredevil, Kingpin’s primary strength was his criminal empire. But when he ran out of henchmen and legal troubles to throw at Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), he didn’t hesitate to get his hands dirty and take on the superhero himself. And because neither had strength- or durability-related superpowers, both suffered considerable injuries from their altercations, no matter who ended up on top. In contrast, Hawkeye’s new Kingpin would be able to tear Matt Murdock apart with his bare hands. Not only can the new Kingpin tear off car doors, he can also survive getting run over by a car. And perhaps most impressively, even Clint Barton’s (Jeremy Renner) trick arrows aren’t nearly enough to take Kingpin down. The worst that the arrows could do – even the one marked ‘too dangerous’ – is to give Kingpin a slight limp.

Hawkeye’s ‘changes’ in the Kingpin MCU debut are actually consistent with how the character was originally portrayed in Marvel comics. In the comic books, Wilson Fisk realized from an early age that physical strength was necessary to establish power as a criminal. Fisk started training to achieve peak human strength during his teenage years, which was when he developed a fascination for sumo wrestling and other strength-focused martial arts.

Does Kingpin Have Powers?

Apart from Daredevil, whose superpower is his heightened senses, Kingpin (Daredevil's nemesis) also frequently battled Spider-Man, who is notably one of Marvel’s physically strongest heroes. Kingpin’s training and sheer determination gave him a level of strength and durability that was seemingly comparable to the heroes who tried to bring him down. Although Kingpin is not nearly as strong as Thanos in the comic books and technically only has peak human abilities, he is reasonably strong and durable enough to pull off the feats from the Hawkeye finale.

While Kingpin’s humanity was integral to establishing his character as a supervillain in Daredevil, Kingpin’s comic book-inspired incredible strength is right at home in the MCU. That being said, Kingpin’s true strength is his devious mind. Whether in the comics, Netflix’s Daredevil, or Phase 4 of the MCU, Kingpin is a major threat because of his criminal underworld machinery, his ability to stay one step ahead of his opponents, and his sheer greed as the self-professed true ruler of New York City.

Hawkeye is just the beginning for Kingpin. The fact that Kingpin managed to walk off getting run over by a car and avoid getting killed by Clint’s most dangerous arrow means that he’s likely still alive. Considering how the MCU needs a street-level villain to balance its previous reality-altering storylines, Kingpin is bound to return to the MCU soon.

The Kingpin MCU Power Level Is About To Be Wild

Does MCU Kingpin know Daredevil's true identity?

When it comes to the power level of Kingpin, Daredevil likely kept it on the lower end to better accommodate the show's focus on character development. With the Kingpin MCU debut, however, the villain's power is only going to keep increasing, as he now has to contend with a range of heroes that have much more superhuman durability and strength than Daredevil. There's also the important consideration that the MCU's superheroes and supervillains are generally very high-powered, so the series will likely follow suit with Kingpin's abilities. It will still be important to keep character development at the core of Kingpin, however – a task well within Vincent D'Onofrio's range. All of this will provide an interesting new dynamic when Marvel's Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again debuts in 2024. Kingpin is very likely to feature in the show, but with highly increased power levels like he displayed in Hawkeye, it will mean that Charlie Cox's Daredevil faces an altogether more imposing challenge.

More: Daredevil: Born Again Might Have The Opposite Problem Of All MCU Shows