Hawkeye may have been a family-focused Christmas adventure complete with song-and-dance routines, but it did a lot of work to establish important parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future. One of the many pieces it put in place was the character of Maya Lopez, aka Echo (Alaqua Cox). Echo, a Deaf Indigenous hero from Marvel Comics, made quite the splash in Hawkeye’s series, and now she’s getting a show of her own.
But just who will her big bad be? Leaked set pictures tease a villain we thought met his demise in Hawkeye. Here’s what you need to know.
In pictures posted by Atlanta Filming on Instagram, Vincent D’Onofrio is shown as Kingpin, complete with his iconic white suit. This, understandably, is leading fans to believe he’ll be the main villain of Echo. Kingpin was a huge part of Echo’s childhood, and she holds a grudge against him that we thought was settled in Hawkeye.
In Hawkeye, we see Echo shoot Kingpin at close range, but his appearance on the set of Echo implies he somehow survived the attack. That would make sense; Wilson Fisk is a huge part of the Marvel world, and writing him out of the MCU so quickly would be a missed opportunity, especially with a new Daredevil project on the horizon.
However, there’s also the possibility that Kingpin’s scenes will be set before the final confrontation in Hawkeye. The first sign of Kingpin’s surprise role in Hawkeye came during a flashback to Maya Lopez’s childhood, so maybe we’ll see more of this device in Echo, filling in the blanks as to just what he meant to a young Maya.
Still, if there’s one rule in the MCU, it’s that no one’s dead until we’re told they’re dead. Even when you’re certain a character has kicked the bucket, they can always find a way to return through multiversal hijinks, time travel, a hologram, or a clever escape route. Until we get confirmation that the Wilson Fisk of Earth-616 is undisputably dead and gone, it’s best to assume he’s somehow still alive. He is, after all, a character famous for being physically sturdy.
We may not know much about Echo, but we can assume it will dive deep into the complicated relationship she has with Wilson Fisk, a relationship with a rich comic book history that Hawkeye only scratched the surface of. Regardless of whether Kingpin is still alive or just lurking in Maya’s memories, the iconic villain is here to stay.
Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+.
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