It was a big surprise bringing in characters from other Marvel shows likeDaredevilthat have little to no connections with Marvel Cinematic Universe. So when Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin made his return in the season finale ofHawkeye, fans were skeptical about whether the character would remain the same and present the brutality he did inDaredevil. Now,Hawkeyecostume designer Michael Crow weighs in on theDaredevilseries' canonicity to the MCU.
Phase four is no doubt the MCU’s most expansive phase yet, as the focus on a wide array of new characters and the multiverse have allowed for characters from previous Marvel projects outside of the MCU to make an appearance. Other thanCharlie Cox’s Daredevilcameo inSpider-Man: No Way Home, another surprising yet exciting return was D’Onofrio’s Kingpin from the NetflixDaredevilseries.
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D’Onofrio’s Kingpin managed to become a fan favoritevillain from his time onDaredevil, as his brutal yet unpredictable character fit the much darker and bloodier tone of the Netflix series. When Kingpin transitioned over toHawkeye, which is a much lighter, more fun holiday-themed series, it was interesting to see the notable character differences, whether that involved his more playful personality, his attire, or his strength. In a new interview with GoldDeryb, Crow, who also worked on several other MCU projects, recalled that it wasn’t very clear (even still to this today) if D’Onofrio’s Kingpin was the same one from the Netflix series. “[It’s] from Kevin [Feige] and Vincent [D’Onofrio], they definitely want to bring down Kingpin to a couple of notches. Based on what happened during the Blip and with Ronin and the history that we don’t really see, we wanted to dial him down and not have him be as polished as he was in theDaredevilseries. Plus, through the entire shooting, I wasn’t — and I don’t know if I still am — very clear on if it is in the same universe as that one,” Crow shared.
Because the MCU is now centering on the multiverse/alternate universes,D’Onofrio’s Kingpin seen inHawkeyecould very likely be completely different from the one seen inDaredevil, but Crow would reiterate that he is still unsure if the Kingpin inHawkeyeandDaredevilare the same person. “Yeah, it’s a Multiverse. Maybe it’s a different version of that [character]. I don’t know. It was not made clear to me as we were going.” But what Crow did add is that some of the same costume design fromDaredevilwas carried over intoHawkeye, one being Kingpin’s cufflinks. “There were certain things that we brought from theDaredevilseries. His cufflinks were important from that show, which he stole from his father. We recreated [that] for him for Hawkeye because it is an important character point for Vincent. Later, in reshoots, it became the thing that Kate uses to take him down at the end of the show.”
With crew members like Crow unaware of theDaredevilcanon status, this could mean that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and other MCU team members could be hiding key story elements behind closed doors that could be revealed later. While this debate seems to continue, it appears that fans will soon have answers, as D’Onofrio’s Kingpin and Cox’s Daredevil are rumored to appear in theupcomingEchoseries, a spin-off of Maya Lopez’s character fromHawkeye, and will no doubt cross paths in the newly announcedDaredevilseries for Disney Plus.
