Marvel and Disney have been on a roll as far as movies, character development and storytelling goes. The success of Spider-Man: No Way Home is another testament to the fact that the formula is working. Recently, Hawkeye, the latest Marvel series to stream on Disney+, wrapped up its first season and not only paved the way for the future but introduced or reintroduced the world and the MCU to a notorious villain... Kingpin.
Fans have been hoping and waiting for the return of the criminal mastermind since we last saw him on Netflix's Daredevil. As the series continued to go deeper and deeper into the story, many were suspecting that he would make his presence known one way or another before the show came to an end and he did just that. Pulling the strings in the criminal underworld from the shadows, the giant vicious figure showed his true strength as he tossed Kate Bishop around like a toy doll. Which brings up a great question. "How strong is the Kingpin?"
Vincent D'Onofrio Discusses Kingpin's Enhanced Strength
The amazing actor Vincent D'Onofrio who plays Wilson Fisk/Kingpin recently discussed the strength of his character and how many thought he was stronger in Hawkeye than Daredevil. D'Onofrio portrayed Fisk in all three seasons of Netflix's Daredevil, serving as the main antagonist of seasons 1 and 3. After Netflix canceled the series in 2018, it was uncertain if D'Onofrio would ever be back as Kingpin. It was this past December that the actor finally reprised the role for the final two episodes of Disney+'s Hawkeye, officially cementing the Kingpin as MCU canon.
"You know I learned recently, a couple of the fans, they were very excited about it, they were commenting about the strength that I have," D'Onofrio told ComicBook.com. "Because I'm throwing Kate around and stuff. But, I totally forgot. I just saw a clip on Twitter of me and Charlie [Cox] fighting in [Stephen] DeKnight's first season [of Daredevil]. Obviously, he's an incredible director. He helped develop the character of Wilson Fisk."
The actor continued, "There's a scene that we shot on an alley, in a street in Brooklyn, where I'm literally throwing Daredevil through the air. Like, I'm picking him up and swinging him 15 feet into a garbage can. I do it a few times in that fight. It's no different, it's really not. So, I keep saying that it's the same Fisk that was in Daredevil. It's the same canon, but people get confused about things. I understand."
D'Onofrio refers to the huge fight scene at the end of Daredevil's season 1 finale. The scene is brutal and Kingpin shows just how strong he is by tossing a much bigger person around multiple times. D'Onofrio says that this Kingpin has been through a lot and lost a lot since then. Let's not forget that Thanos took out half the world, which means Kingpin lost a lot if he was not snapped himself. We know he is trying to regain power as he stated in Hawkeye, but if you rewatch Daredevil, you can see that he is still just as strong. If anything the version we see in Hawkeye shows another side of him, someone who did lose more than he thought he would. Which spells trouble for anyone standing in his way.
All six episodes of Hawkeye are streaming now on Disney+.