Did This Tiny Detail In Hawkeye Hint At A Daredevil Crossover?

As a limited series, it’s not likely Hawkeye will get a second season, but that doesn’t mean the series’ characters won’t go on to other shows. Maya Lopez already has a series, Echo, in production, and most fans assume Kate Bishop will be promoted to big-screen adventures as Hawkeye’s replacement in the Avengers lineup. But one character may tie back to older Marvel shows that are no longer streaming, like the man in charge of the Tracksuit Mafia. But who is Maya’s uncle in Hawkeye? Dp fans already know him?

Warning: Spoilers for Hawkeye Episode 3 follow. As part of setting up for her eventual leading role in Echo, viewers were given a rundown of Maya Lopez’s backstory. Her father, William, was a loving dad but he was not well off and couldn’t afford to send her to a school for those with hearing impairments. He also worked for people who were less than above-board. Not only was he murdered by Ronin during Barton’s rampage against organized crime, but also, he worked for someone mafia-like, a man he called “Uncle.”

One might assume at first blush this was Maya’s actual uncle, but in the flashback, the way the man in the expensive suit chucked Maya’s chin and William immediately hurried to move her along said otherwise. And in present-day, when Kazi and Maya discussed their present chase for Ronin, they both referred to “Uncle” as if it were an honorific title, not a familial relation.

So, who is Uncle? In the comics, it’s a major antagonist who fans have already met streaming on the small screen: Kingpin.

Kingpin is the nickname of Wilson Fisk, who fans of Netflix’s Defenders franchise series will remember as Daredevil’s main villain. Played by Vincent D’Onofrio, Fisk was one of the most complex bad guys of the Marvel pantheon when he was introduced, both utterly ruthless yet entirely sympathetic. But notably, he was never actually called Kingpin, as the MCU wanted to reserve that name for the big screen if needed. As fans well know, the Netflix shows and the big screen films were deliberately kept separate at the time.

When Marvel confirmed it would be doing multiple series starring the same actors who played MCU characters in the films, it was the end for shows like Daredevil on Netflix. All six of Netflix’s Marvel series were canceled. That cancelation came with a caveat: The characters would most likely be recast should the MCU decide to revive them for Disney+. That’s in keeping with the MCU’s strategy; The X-Men and Fantastic Four are also expected to be recast as well now that they’ve come over from Fox, for example.

But fans were deeply disappointed to lose D’Onofrio, as well as Daredevil’s leading actor Charlie Cox, and rumors have run rampant that the MCU may give in on this point, and one or both may reprise their roles in Hawkeye. However, whether or not the man viewers glimpsed as Uncle will be played by D’Onofrio (or will even be Wilson Fisk) remains to be seen.

Hawkeye continues with new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.