The following contains spoilers from the season finale of Hawkeye, “So This Is Christmas?” and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The latest Marvel and Disney+ series Hawkeye wrapped up its six-episode run just before Christmas and it included Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, a.k.a. Wilson Fisk from Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix. His return was teased in the previous episode at the end and fans were plenty excited about his return. However, the big bad surprise wasn’t always going to be him.
Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas discussed the Disney+ series with Variety, including bringing on Vincent D’Onofrio. Thomas admitted that the Marvel Netflix star was not always in the cards, but instead a different big bad was:
The Kingpin of it all was not on the cusp when I started the show, but I feel like his presence was never far. Like, we were always circling this other ‘big bad guy,’ but there was a moment when a Marvel executive came over and said, ‘You know, this is what we’re gonna do about that.’ As far as a larger plan and a crossover with Spider-Man: No Way Home, I did not know that they would do that. They do a wonderful job at Marvel of keeping everybody quite siloed, and I think they do this for your own security. People seem to sort of assume that there is this room where everything is all mapped out, but, no, they keep you kind of focused on your own show and only give you the information that they feel they need to give.
It's interesting to know that Kingpin wasn’t always considered, since I can’t imagine Hawkeye without Wilson Fisk. Add on the fact that Rhys Thomas didn’t even know that Charlie Cox was going to show up in Spider-Man: No Way Home makes it all the more interesting. It just shows that Marvel is always three steps ahead and even when you think there won’t be a connection, there is.
As for who the other big bad would have been, Thomas never admitted who they were planning on. With so many villains planted around the MCU and plenty others from the comics, it’s hard to tell who Eleanor Bishop would be dealing with, if she would be dealing with anyone at all. Having Kingpin in the series is a perfect callback to Daredevil at the perfect time with Spider-Man: No Way Home, even if the crossover wasn’t intentional.
With the way Hawkeye ended, a gunshot in Kingpin’s vicinity, it would be cruel for the show to not continue on. There is no telling who got shot, but the assumption is very clearly Kingpin. Hopefully there is a Season 2 of Hawkeye, or we get the conclusion in some other way.
All six episodes of Hawkeye are streaming now on Disney+!
