Kingpin Bought Avengers Tower: This Hawkeye Theory Makes So Much Sense

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Hawkeye episodes 1 & 2.

Hawkeye is expected to see Vincent d’Onofrio reprise the role of Kingpin he played in Daredevil — and he could be the one who bought Stark Tower. Captain America: Civil War saw the Avengers relocate to a new headquarters, moving out of New York city center to one of Howard Stark’s old storage facilities in upstate New York. It naturally raised the question of just what happened to Avengers Tower — a question that began to be answered in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The Spider-Man film explained that Tony Stark had sold Avengers Tower, but the actual buyer was never revealed. Spider-Man: Far From Home added to the mystery, further revealing Avengers Tower was undergoing significant redevelopment, but still avoiding disclosing the identity of the buyer. There’s been intense speculation over the identity of whoever bought the Avengers Tower; are they the Fantastic Four, making this the new Baxter Building? Or was it Norman Osborn, setting up a potential Dark Reign era? An Easter egg in Loki suggested in at least one timeline it was bought by Kang the Conqueror, of all people, but that’s not necessarily true in the main timeline.

Avengers Tower has a background presence in the first two episodes of Hawkeye, simply because the Bishop family’s penthouse overlooks Avengers Tower — meaning it was struck by Chitauri during the Battle of New York, tragically resulting in the death of Kate Bishop’s father. The episodes then avoided giving any glimpse of the tower in the present day, which seemed rather pointed. That raises the possibility Hawkeye is about to reveal just who is really the new owner of Avengers Tower — and it could be Vincent d’Onofrio’s Kingpin.

Vincent d’Onofrio’s Kingpin Would Be A Perfect New Owner For Avengers Tower

Marvel Television cast Vincent d’Onofrio as their version of the Kingpin in Daredevil, and he was the perfect choice: a phenomenal actor with tremendous gravitas, able to switch from vulnerable and emotional to brutal and aggressive at the drop of a hat. There have been repeated rumors d’Onofrio is reprising the role of Kingpin in Hawkeye, albeit likely as one who’s been rebooted for the mainstream MCU. Hawkeye episode 2 introduced Alaqua Cox as Echo, Kingpin’s adopted daughter — apparently running crime gangs in New York, which certainly seems to set up the Kingpin’s criminal empire. In the comics, and indeed in popular portrayals such as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Kingpin is based in Fisk Tower, a high-tech headquarters from which he runs crime around the world.

It’s entirely possible Stark Tower could be converted into the MCU’s Fisk Tower. It would be entirely in-character for a man as wealthy as Wilson Fisk to acquire a landmark like Avengers Tower, and he’d take a great deal of pride in seeing his name replace Tony Stark’s on the building. No doubt Fisk would also find it rather amusing to know the old Avengers base was now being used for the purpose of crime. Even better, while Tony Stark would surely have removed most of the advanced technology, some of it could still remain; at the very least the basic design would still support the landing of private jets and helicopters, given the previous quinjet landing pad. Avengers Tower would make the perfect base for the MCU’s Kingpin, giving him a vantage point from which he can overlook the entire city, confident of his own superiority.

How Kingpin Could Fit Into Hawkeye

It’s already clear Hawkeye will deal with the various street-level criminals of the MCU; given Echo has been set up as a power player, she could well be reporting in to her adopted father, the Kingpin, acting as the face of his operation. It’s quite possible Kingpin was only in the early days of establishing his criminal empire during the Blip, and Ronin would have been a serious thorn in his side. The apparent return of Ronin would be a matter of considerable interest to Wilson Fisk, and he’d be particularly interested in finding out the vigilante’s true identity and having them killed in an act of revenge. But Kingpin could have another motive as the main villain of Hawkeye as well.

Hawkeye episode 1 introduced a black market auction where items from the Avengers Compound were up for sale. One of these items was a mysterious watch stolen from the Avengers. Little is known about the watch at this point, but it’s likely only one of the Avengers would possess a wristwatch that’s worth anything — Tony Stark (it would also be quite appropriate because in the real world Robert Downey, Jr. has a collection of watches). But a wristwatch that used to belong to Tony Stark may not be an ordinary one; after all, as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Stark was the kind of man to install a sophisticated drone control system in a pair of glasses. That watch could be the key to unlocking yet more Stark secrets. Those secrets could even conceivably lie in the old Avengers Tower, something ultra-high-tech that he was unable to remove but figured was locked down because he was the only one to possess the key — the watch. Thus the wristwatch could be of particular interest to the tower’s new owner, potentially the Kingpin himself.

What Fisk Tower Would Mean For The MCU

Kingpin may not be a Thanos-level threat, but in truth, he’s one of Marvel’s most important villains, particularly notable as an enemy of the various street-level superheroes; in fact, a leaked contract revealed the film rights for Kingpin were at one time shared between Marvel, Sony, and Fox, giving a sense of his significance. Assuming reports of Kingpin’s presence in Hawkeye are true, then he could be positioned as a recurring threat for everyone from Spider-Man to Blade. Ownership of Avengers Tower would immediately position the Kingpin as a symbolic force to be reckoned with, establishing the sense a dark shadow had been cast over the MCU’s New York in the wake of Avengers: Endgame. What’s more, depending on the outcome of Hawkeye, Wilson Fisk could even be left in possession of Stark technology — a fitting twist, establishing him as a corrupting force who had even tarnished the legacy of the Avengers’ greatest hero. That would make him a particularly potent enemy for Spider-Man, given the close relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark in the MCU, and it would mean Kingpin’s story could ripple on throughout the MCU — with Hawkeye simply serving as setup.

Hawkeye airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
(4908 Articles Published)

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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