When it was revealed that Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin would make his return in the season finale of Hawkeye, fans were skeptical about whether the character would remain the same or present the same brutality he did in Daredevil. Now, D'Onofrio has opened up about those differences playing the same character in Hawkeye.
D'Onofrio's Kingpin managed to become a fan favorite villain from his time on Daredevil, as his brutal yet unpredictable character fit the much darker and bloodier tone of the Netflix series. Now transitioning over to Hawkeye, which is a much lighter and more fun holiday themed series, it was interesting to see if D'Onofrio's Kingpin would have a seamless transition into the MCU.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, the actor touched on the biggest difference between playing Kingpin in the Netflix series and now in Hawkeye. "I think the [different] tones are obvious," said D'Onofrio. "I think it's less bloody. We talked a lot about it, and for me, it's not a worry, because if I ever get the chance to take it further with the MCU, then I'm going to do the same work I did on Daredevil, like I did in Hawkeye. [Fisk is] about emotional brutality, and he is just a mess. He's a broken monster, and he is capable of many different kinds of brutality...so none of that worried me during Hawkeye."
"I did notice obviously that there's less blood and there's less torture. The thing you have to do is, you have to stay away from torture, and that really cuts things down," D'Onofrio added, elaborating on his hopes for Kingpin's future in the MCU after Hawkeye. "A lot of baddies that you play, they're not just baddies, but they also actually torture people. They get control of them, and torture, and that's too hardcore. So that's out for Hawkeye, and hopefully something will happen after this." What is great is that for fans who have had a chance to watch all of Daredevil, they will be able to recall much of D'Onofrio's brutality as Kingpin and hopefully carry over that same fear for the character when watching Hawkeye or any other upcoming MCU projects featuring Kingpin.
While D'Onofrio had limited screen time in Hawkeye's finale, he will no doubt show up again in either another series (most likely the upcoming Echo spin-off series starring Alaqua Cox's Maya Lopez as the titular character) or another feature film (as Charlie Cox's Daredevil from the same Netflix series made his MCU debut in last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home). But until that announcement is made, fans will have to catch up on all of Daredevil and Hawkeye to catch more Kingpin in all his glory.
Hawkeye follows Renner's Clint Barton / Hawkeye post-blip in New York City during the holidays, as he is forced to team up with the young archer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to stop enemies from his past when he was Ronin in Avengers: Endgame. The series was met with much praise from critics, as it currently has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. While a second season has not been announced, Renner and Steinfeld are rumored to appear in Echo.
Hawkeye is available to stream on Disney Plus while all three seasons of Daredevil are now on Netflix.
Source: ComicBook.com