There was a lot going on in the Hawkeye finale, titled “So This Is Christmas?” But one event loomed over nearly ever other: the return of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin. The fan-favorite character was teased in last week’s episode, but made his official, triumphant return in the final episode, revealing himself as the guy pulling the strings all along. And then — and spoilers past this point — Kingpin died at the end of the episode.
…Or did he? Did Marvel really bring back one of the literally biggest bad guys in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) just to off him in an alley? Is Kingpin dead in Hawkeye?
To back up the Trust-a-Bro truck for a second, here’s how things went down. After sending an army of Tracksuit Mafia soldiers after Kate Bishop’s (Hailee Steinfeld) mom Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) for leaving his business, Kingpin himself showed up on the scene in a white suit and Hawaiian shirt to kill her personally. Kate, trying to stop him, shot an arrow into his chest, which barely phased the crime lord, and they proceeded to have a pitched battle in FAO Schwarz, with Kate barely holding her own.
Why is Kingpin so strong, you may be wondering? Particularly because he not only survives an arrow, and multiple explosions, but also throws Kate around the store like she was a teddy bear and not a person? The answer is… Kingpin is just that strong. It’s definitely an upgrade from where he was when we last saw him on Netflix’s Daredevil, but in the comics, Kingpin is super-strong just because he’s large. The in-canon explanation is that all that body weight isn’t fat, it’s dense muscle, and he’s regularly seen throwing Daredevil through walls and nearly ripping Spider-Man in half. No magic stones, no battle armor… Nothing. Just Kingpin being jacked as hell.
So not a great explanation there, but Kingpin is so strong because… He is. Don’t question it, just enjoy.
Anyway, after surviving his battle with Kate, Kingpin is seen stumbling through an alleyway, when Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) drives up to confront him. Though Kingpin raised Maya, she found out in last week’s episode that he actually ordered the hit that killed her father. Earlier in this week’s episode she killed her best friend Kazi (Fra Free), who was instrumental in setting up her father. And now she’s not going to let Wilson Fisk (that would be Kingpin’s real name) get away with it, either.
“What a surprise,” Kingpin says, before noticing that Maya is holding a gun. “Maya. You and I. We’re family. Family. Sometimes family doesn’t see eye to eye…”
As Maya raises the gun, the camera pans up and away from the two figures. We hear gunshots, and that’s the last we see of Maya and Kingpin… At least for now.
So preamble out of the way, is Kingpin dead, or what? The short answer is: probably. Despite seeming nearly impervious to any sort of injury throughout the rest of the episode, Maya seems pretty bent on vengeance, and certainly two gunshot wounds to the face or chest would be tough for anyone to recover from. If Kingpin is dead, it’s a surprising end for the big return of the character. It’s also a bummer considering we won’t get to see Kingpin come face to face with — another spoiler warning here, this time for Spider-Man: No Way Home — Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, who is also officially back in the MCU. Hey, maybe they wanted to give the character one more go as a fitting tribute/goodbye?
On the other hand? Kingpin has always been surprisingly difficult to kill, and without seeing a body or watching the life go out of his eyes, there are a ton of options for how his story could continue. Maybe he wrestled the gun from Maya’s hands just as she was shooting. Maybe he shot her, and she’s lying in the alley bleeding out. Or maybe he even got shot, and next we see he’ll wake up in a hospital. He’s certainly survived worse in the past.
Keeping Kingpin alive — somehow — would also open up a lot of story possibilities, particularly with the Hawkeye spinoff series Echo already in the works, which will follow the continuing adventures of Maya Lopez. He’s clearly a big part of her origin story, one we haven’t seen a lot of yet. So whether it’s through flashbacks, or a surprise resurrection, there are a lot of ways that D’Onofrio might not be done with the role yet. And given that killer fight with Kate Bishop? We need more Kingpin. Come on, Marvel, make it happen.
Where to watch Hawkeye