Is Kingpin Alive After Hawkeye? Even Vincent D'Onofrio Doesn't Know

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Hawkeye season finale AND Spider-Man: No Way Home

The once Daredevil actor, now MCU baddie, Vincent D’ Onofrio weighs in on Kingpin’s fate after Hawkeye’s finale. D’Onofrio made his debut as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Daredevil, which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2018. While the bulk of Netflix’s Marvel shows, including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Ironfist, and The Punisher, were praised for their casting, Daredevil’s two-headed monster of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock vs. D’Onofrio Kingpin reigned supreme. However, Netflix canceled all of its Marvel TV proprieties in 2019 as Disney geared up for the launch of its streaming service. Despite fan campaigns to resurrect Netflix’s “street-level heroes,” it was unclear whether the Defenders would ever truly be introduced to the MCU.

Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series, Hawkeye, followed Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and his super fan/mentee Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) as they come into conflict with the Tracksuit Mafia, Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox), and their boss, Maya’s “Uncle,” aka "the big guy,” aka Kingpin. In Hawkeye episode 6, “So This Is Christmas?” D’Onofrio’s Kingpin made his official MCU debut. After a brutal fight with Kate that showcases his MCU power-up, Kingpin is confronted by Maya, who found out that he was ultimately responsible for her father’s death. In their final scene, Maya seemingly shoots and kills Kingpin as the camera cuts away.

Following Hawkeye’s finale, D’Onofrio spoke with Collider about his return to the MCU. While explaining whether this latest version of Kingpin is a continuation of the one in Daredevil, the actor weighed on whether he thinks his character survived that final confrontation with Maya. Read what he had to say below:

"I can comment personally. I can't comment about any fact because [Marvel Studios] just don't tell me ... So, it made me hope that it would continue, and it still makes me feel that way. I mean, in my mind, she definitely shot him. And, I walked away from Daredevil, at first, I thought, 'Maybe he'll come back somehow.' And then very quickly after that, I thought I was walking away for good ... So I had always hoped because of the fans wanting him back and everybody, I'd hope that I would come back. So, I feel the same way now."

Maya points a gun at the Kingpin in Hawkeye

It's unlikely that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and company would bring back such a beloved villain for one episode before killing him off. As one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains, Kingpin represents a well of untapped potential in the MCU. On top of that, Cox recently made his very own MCU debut as Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which certainly isn’t a coincidence. Given all this, it seems likely Kingpin survived Maya’s attack and will be featured in her spinoff series.

Both Daredevil and Kingpin have ties to Echo in the comics. For example, in Daredevil (Vol. 2) #15, Maya shoots Kingpin after he manipulates her into believing Daredevil was responsible for her father’s death, which, of course, mirrors her plotline in Hawkeye. Kingpin survives and is temporarily blinded by the attack. In the aforementioned interview, D’Onofrio was asked how he felt about returning in his villain role for Marvel's upcoming Echo series on Disney+, to which he replied, that he thought it "would be great." "It was one of my favorite [comics]," D'Onofrio said, praising King and Maya's father-daughter relationship. "I would love the opportunity to do that.” Suffice to say, fans would love that too, and it's unlikely that Marvel would deny them more Kingpin after such a great comeback.

More: All 18 Marvel Shows Releasing After Hawkeye (& When)

Source: Collider