'Hawkeye' Continues Marvel Shows' Love Of Mystery Villains

Episode 3 of Hawkeye continues to make the Renner-headed stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seem way cooler than ever before, mostly thanks to a slick car chase and a quiver full of trick arrows that, frankly, we really could have used like four Avengers movies ago.

Hawkeye also seems like it might be following in the footsteps of previous Marvel Disney Plus shows, most of which have revealed deep into the story that a major villain has been operating in the shadows. Sharon Carter turned out to be the mysterious Power Broker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, most of Loki centered around the quest to discover the identity of Kang, and most memorably, Agatha Harkness was secretly manipulating the events of Wandavision, to the shock of nobody with internet access. 

It’s possible that Hawkeye might be doing something similar; it sure seems like they’re teeing up the return of Wilson Fisk, the villainous Kingpin, last seen in the canonically-ambiguous Daredevil series played by Vincent D’Onofrio.

Episode 3 introduced us to Maya Lopez, AKA Echo. In the comics, Maya became “ward” to Fisk after her father’s death, and the show gives us subtle suggestions that that’s the case here too. For one thing, Maya makes reference to the fact that a powerful “Uncle” is in charge of the Tracksuit Mafia. And in Maya’s flashback, we actually see the meaty paw of an unseen figure next to her dad, which pinches her on the cheek – presumably, that’s Kingpin.

Hopefully, if Hawkeye is building to a big Kingpin reveal, it will come sooner rather than later. Then again, Echo is reportedly getting her own Disney Plus series, meaning that this entire storyline and its Kingpin allusions could very likely just amount to a prolonged set-up for a whole other Marvel show.

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Top Image: Marvel Studios