Spider-Man 4: Why Kingpin Must Be The Trilogy’s Main Villain

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

Kingpin must be the main villain of the new Spider-Man trilogy, which starts with Spider-Man 4. Though not fully confirmed, Spider-Man: No Way Home sets the groundwork for a new set of films to follow Tom Holland’s depiction of the character. Fortunately for the MCU, Hawkeye has already set up the perfect villain.

Following Mysterio exposing his identity in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker goes to Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home in an attempt to have him cast a spell that makes everyone forget he’s Spider-Man. After accidentally botching the spell, Peter is forced to contend with several supervillains from both the Raimi trilogy and Amazing Spider-Man duology, even losing Aunt May to Green Goblin in the process. It’s only with help from both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men that he manages to defeat the villains. In order to prevent more multiverse chaos, Peter has Strange essentially erase him from existence, leaving him on his own as he continues his work as Spider-Man.

Now that Spider-Man is on his own, Spider-Man 4 and its sequels will likely focus on his dealing with crime throughout New York City. This is the perfect setup for Kingpin to be the major overarching villain of the trilogy. The groundwork laid by Daredevil and his surprise return in Hawkeye leave him in a place where he stands to pose a major threat to the wall-crawler.

Despite his arrest in Daredevil season 3, Kingpin has managed to evade the law for so long in the MCU because of how many authorities and high-ranking officials he has in his pocket. His return in Hawkeye all but confirms that to still be the case and likely to continue if he remains in power. This will offer Spider-Man a particularly grueling challenge, similar to what Daredevil faced in his series, as he contends with Kingpin. Not only will he have to contend with the crime running rampant in the city on account of his organization, but he’ll also have to face several corrupt officials on his payroll who will gladly work to smear his name and make him a target.

Kingpin’s influence throughout the city could even allow him to pull the necessary strings to form the MCU’s version of the Sinister Six. In Daredevil season 2, he is shown to be able to assert control even when behind bars, and as previously mentioned, he’s able to manipulate events to fit his grand scheme. He does this with Agent Ray Nadeem in Daredevil season 3 and can likely do the same (if he hasn’t already) to several prison wardens. This will allow him to release the likes of Vulture, Shocker, and Mac Gargan before building from there.

As of now, there is no confirmation that a new Spider-Man trilogy is happening, let alone Spider-Man 4. Hawkeye‘s finale even leaves Kingpin’s fate currently in question. And since Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s post-credits scene sets up a future for the symbiote, it’s likely Venom is set to be the main villain. However, given the history between both characters, if the new trilogy happens, the MCU would be remiss not to include Kingpin in some capacity.

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