Shortly after the Hawkeye trailer was released, Vincent D’Onofrio seemingly teased a return as Wilson Fisk in the upcoming Marvel series. For three seasons, D’Onofrio played the supervillain also known as Kingpin in the Netflix series Daredevil. There’s been no indication as to if and when he will ever reprise the role, but it’s something Marvel fans have been calling for for years.
Minutes after the Hawkeye trailer was released, Vincent D’Onofrio posted a bizarre poem about a “three legged dog.” The tweet reads, “The three legged dog. run’n, jump’n and with an incredible case of the wiggles. This dog does not ask for pity. This dog looks up to us. Wants to know what’s next. Head tilted it says. Where should we go, what should we do? Why are we waiting? I say to myself. This dog is right.”
Many fans have been taking this as a reference to the golden retriever who becomes Hawkeye’s new best friend in the series. Further teasing that it’s a direct reference, D’Onofrio has been liking tweets speculating that this signifies his return as Kingpin. One such tweet reads “THE KING RETURNS IN HAWKEYE,” while another observes, “Mf just posted a tweet 10mins after the Hawkeye trailer releases.”
D’Onofrio is clearly adding fuel to the fire with the tweets he’s liking. It’s just as possible he has no involvement with the show and is simply having some fun with the fans by generating the speculation. In any case, given the response from {FRb6KCI8JKtwek|+|Marvel fans catching wind of the actor’s teases, there are going to be a lot of people feeling disappointed if there’s a lack of Kingpin in Hawkeye.
Opposite Charlie Cox in the lead, Daredevil featured D’Onofrio expertly portraying the live-action Wilson Fisk. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor awards at the Saturn Awards and the EWwy Awards for his performance. The Marvel shows on Netflix have been treated as canon to the MCU, although the Daredevil characters have not yet crossed over into any of the new Marvel movies or shows on Disney+. D’Onofrio has previously teased his desire to bring back Kingpin in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and that also seems possible given the rumors of Cox’s involvement.
“I could never do with what the actor in the Daredevil movie did,” D’Onofrio said of playing the role, via ComicBook.com. “He was unique to himself and no, this was like a different, a whole different approach for me. I didn’t consider. The only influence that I had from the comics was the art of that I was drawn to was Bill Sienkiewicz and David Mack, those guys, those two artists, I reached out to both of them and they helped me a lot. I asked them for more of their art or any inspiration they could give me. And they gave me a lot those two, I actually still have. I consider friendships with those two artists, I think they’re amazingly talented. And if you look at their particular art in the runs that they did you’ll understand how they influenced my character.”
Hawkeye is developed for Disney+ by Jonathan Igla. Along with Jeremy Renner reprising his role as Clint Barton, the series stars Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Barton’s prot&ég&ée whom he’s training to take over as the new Hawkeye. Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and Alaqua Cox also star. Florence Pugh will make a special appearance as Yelena Belova.
Time will tell if Wilson Fisk returns, but fans can watch out for Hawkeye to premiere on Nov. 24, 2021, on Disney+. The series will consist of six episodes, closing out the year on Dec. 29 with its finale. Meanwhile, there are already plans for a spinoff series featuring Alaqua Cox starring as Maya Lopez, aka Echo.