Hawkeye directors discuss bringing [SPOILER] into the MCU

Marvel loves nothing better than to link up disparate parts of its universe, and its new Hawkeye could be the poster child for this. Every episode seems to forge connections. First we met Echo (Alaqua Cox), who already has a spinoff series planned. Then Yelena (Florence Pugh) came in, lately from the movie Black Widow. And finally, in the most recent episode, we saw…

Well, I should probably pause to say that there are SPOILERS beyond this point. I’ll just give you a second to consider.

Okay, second over: the most recent episode of the show concluded with the revelation that Kate Bishop’s mother is working for none other than the Kingpin, a powerful crime boss who has tangled with a number of Marvel heroes in the comics over the years. What’s more, he’s being played by Vincent D’Onofrio, who also portrayed him the Netflix show Daredevil.

Daredevil and its sister shows — Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and so on — have been in limbo since Netflix cancelled them. Are they part of the MCU? Are they not? Kingpin’s presence in Hawkeye seems to confirm that indeed they are!

Hawkeye directors explain their take on the Kingpin

Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood, a directing team credited as Bert & Bertie, helmed this episode. They talked to Polygon about bringing in this fan favorite character. “That was as exciting to us as it was to the fans, knowing what everyone else would feel,” Ellwood said. “It’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, these worlds are now able to meld, and there’s this extra layer that can come into the the MCU that had previously been separate.’”

At the same time, Bert & Bertie were able to portray the character how they wanted, even though he only showed up for a second right at the end of their episode. They also directed next week’s finale, so hopefully we’ll see more of their interpretation then.

“I think you just respect the character, and where the character is in the universe,” Templemore-Finlayson said. “So when Kingpin comes in, he’s massive, you know? He’s huge. As the story goes, he’s later in a more difficult place, but he comes in as his big self, with his big hands. In that picture, you see him in his iconic suit. So how to shoot him came from where the character is, rather than us trying to match our universe to anything in the past.”

And of course, this could just be the beginning of a Marvel crossover extravaganza. Will Krysten Ritter return as Jessica Jones? Will Mike Colter as Luke Cage? Finn Jones as Iron Fist? Marvel rarely leaves a stone unturned, so I wouldn’t be surprised by any of that.

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