***This article contains SPOILERS for the last episode of Hawkeye, “So This Is Christmas?” as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home, so if you are behind, turn back now or proceed with caution!***
Though it was a poorly-kept secret, Hawkeye ended with the introduction (or is it a return) of a major Marvel baddie. But based on the mid-credits scene, it may have been a short return.
After several teases, Vincent D’Onofrio popped up in the last episode, “So This Is Christmas?” in the role of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin. Of course, D’Onofrio played this same role, or a variation of it, on Netflix’s Daredevil series. This appearance came hot on the heels of Charlie Cox’s cameo as Matt Murdock, Daredevil himself, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the Netflix shows belong to Netflix and Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has pretty publically expressed that those shows are not set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But the question is: will either character be back in upcoming Marvel projects? Alaqua Cox’s character, Echo/Maya Lopez, has already been confirmed to be getting her own Disney+ series, which will likely further explore the criminal underworld of the MCU. But Wilson Fisk may or may not be part of it as it appears that Maya shot him point-blank in the Hawkeye mid-credits scene, although the camera cut away before the gun went bang.
It turns out, there were plans for another post-credits scene, at least according to The Cosmic Circus. I am not familiar with that outlet, so take this with a grain of salt. The outlet reports that a scene was filmed but cut showing that Fisk survived and receives a package from Clint Barton– the Ronin sword that was used to kill Maya’s father, William Lopez. The sword serves as a message to Fisk to stay away from Barton, his family, and Kate Bishop.
It seemed, on the show, that Fisk’s fate was intentionally left ambiguous, but it’s hard to imagine that Marvel will let D’Onofrio slip through their fingers so quickly after his proper MCU debut.
This news follows the revelation from Marvel visual effects artist Elaina Scott that another post-credits scene was planned showing the fate of the Tracksuits in the shrunken down van that was scooped up by Clint’s owl friend in the episode. This scene shows the owl taking the van back to its nest.
Of course, Marvel and Disney chose to close the episode with an extended performance of “I Can Do This All Day” from Rogers: The Musical, something fans had been clamoring for since an edited version was featured in the first episode of Hawkeye.
This was something that director Rhys Thomas was uncertain about:
“It wasn’t planned that that was going to be the way that the show was going to close… I was curious, like, ‘Is this slot going to be reserved for teeing something else up?’ in the tradition that Marvel’s known for. [Marvel Studios] made the decision to put the musical at the end there, which honestly, I was slightly conflicted about because as a fan, I’m like, ‘The people, they want to see something, they want to know what’s coming next. Is this going to disappoint?'”
However, Thomas later came to support the move:
“It’s like, no, no, no, it’s Christmas, it’s light. We’ve got so much blood in this episode, it’s just fun. It’s a fun release at the end, and it’s a nice way to send people off. That’s how that came about and in terms of what it was.”
Did you enjoy watching Hawkeye this holiday season? Would you like to see more from Vincent D’Onofrio’s The Kingpin in upcoming Marvel projects?
