Vincent D'Onofrio reprised the role of Daredevil villain The Kingpin in Hawkeye's penultimate episode, but Wilson Fisk had definitely undergone some changes since we last saw him. Primarily, he appeared to be considerably stronger, shrugging off being shot with an arrow, getting hit by a car, and a massive explosion. Fisk also threw Kate Bishop around with ease, but she was giving up a lot of size and strength, to be fair.
Some fans have still been critical of what they perceive to be a significant change to the character since his Netflix debut, and D'Onofrio tackled those complaints head-on while talking to ComicBook.com.
"You know I learned recently, a couple of the fans, they were very excited about it, they were commenting about the strength that I have," he started. "Because I'm throwing Kate [Bishop] around and stuff. But, I totally forgot. I just saw a clip on Twitter of me and Charlie [Cox] fighting in [Stephen] DeKnight's first season. Obviously, he's an incredible director. He helped develop the character of Wilson Fisk."
"There's a scene that we shot on an alley, in a street in Brooklyn, where I'm literally throwing Daredevil (Charlie) through the air. Like, I'm picking him up and swinging him 15 feet into a garbage can. I do it a few times in that fight. It's no different, it's really not," D'Onofrio continued. "So, I keep saying that it's the same Fisk that was in Daredevil. It's the same canon, but people get confused about things. I understand."
Everything is a little muddled right now, and only Kevin Feige truly knows what is and isn't canon. As for The Kingpin's apparent upgrade (he did tear a car door from its hinges with ease), that could be explained by him taking the Power Broker's Super Soldier Serum. It would also make the villain surviving his confrontation with Maya Lopez a little more believable.
It hasn't been confirmed, but the expectation is that The Kingpin will return in Disney+'s Echo.