Why MCU’s Kingpin Should Be Introduced In No Way Home (Not Hawkeye)

Warning: SPOILERS for Hawkeye and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

As Hawkeye continues to tease the arrival of a major Marvel villain, it becomes more and more clear that the MCU should introduce Kingpin in Spider-Man: No Way Home instead. Plenty of signs in Clint Barton’s Disney+ show point to the imminent arrival of Kingpin, but the big cameo in Hawkeye episode 4 turned out to be Yelena Belova rather than Wilson Fisk. While this no doubt disappointed some fans, Kingpin’s on-screen history with Spider-Man makes him a much better fit for the multiversal movie Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Kingpin has been a major part of multiple Marvel-related projects in recent years.  The character was brought to life by Vincent D’Onofrio for the 2015 Marvel Netflix Daredevil series and voiced to perfection by Liev Schreiber in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. With theories already abounding as to how the character might be introduced and if Thanos’ snap helped Wilson Fisk gain power, it’s only a matter of time until Kingpin is officially introduced into the MCU.

The fact that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse already establishes Kingpin as a major Spider-Man villain paves the way for a much stronger introduction in No Way Home. While Wilson Fisk has no on-screen history with Hawkeye, Kingpin is the primary antagonist in Into the Spider-Verse, and even kills Peter Parker before ultimately being defeated by Miles Morales. Given that No Way Home promises to include “visitors… from every universe,” it would only make sense for the villain from the first multiversal Spider-Man movie to appear.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is reaching huge levels of hype in large part because it promises to reunite villains from across multiple Spider-Man universes. While Doctor Strange makes it clear in the trailer that the villains “die fighting Spider-Man,” the tease of Venom in No Way Home (not to mention Sandman) already contradicts this theory. Though Kingpin doesn’t die in Into the Spider-Verse, he’s still a prime candidate for No Way Home.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Kingpin hints in Hawkeye is that it appears Vincent D’Onofrio will reprise his role as the character. While the Kingpin in Into the Spider-Verse is notably different from D’Onofrio’s Kingpin from Daredevil, it’s likely that D’Onofrio will be playing a new variant of his character regardless of where and how he’s introduced. Having D’Onofrio play Kingpin from Spider-Verse would at least establish him as a character who has a history with a Marvel superhero (and surely any differences between his animated and live-action look would be forgiven).

Of course, Green Goblin’s costume change in No Way Home may suggest that Willem Dafoe and other veteran Spider-Man villains may be playing variants of their original baddies. Regardless, a rivalry between Kingpin and Spider-Man is still better-known than one between Kingpin and Hawkeye, so a Wilson Fisk introduction in No Way Home would be stronger either way. However Kingpin is introduced into the MCU, he will likely join shortly in either Hawkeye or Spider-Man: No Way Home.

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