SPOILERS FOR HAWKEYE EPISODE 5

“Ronin”

It has happened.

After weeks of speculation and trepidation, Marvel Studios brought the first character from the Netflix Marvel shows into the MCU, and it was one of the characters/actors that everyone wanted.

Yes, Vincent D’Onofrio is now a member of the MCU playing the one and only Kingpin. Wilson Fisk appeared in a photo, a blurry and out of focus cell phone picture on Kate Bishop’s phone.

Technically, I suppose that could be any actor, but Vincent D’Onofrio’s name was in the end credits so it is 100% confirmed. One of the greatest villain performances of all Marvel projects is D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and now he is in the MCU.

This was, of course, the conclusion of the episode, but the show had so much more to it than just a Kingpin cameo. We had a flashback to 2018 as Yelena was out trying to free another former Black Widow agent when we saw her get dusted during the Blip. However, we saw the event from Yelena’s perspective and it looked as if she was only gone for a matter of seconds, but it turned into 5 years. When she came back and realized that she had been gone for 5 years, her first thought was of Natasha, and that was heartbreaking considering that she had no idea about Natasha’s sacrifice.

Then in present day, we get a fantastic conversation between Yelena and Kate Bishop. Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld showed just how much charisma and chemistry they had. The discussion between them was as compelling as any action scene that the show gave us. These two women are incredible performers and will be vitally important to the MCU over the years.

Clint, meanwhile, got himself back into the Ronin costume for a confrontation with Echo. During this fight, Clint revealed himself as Ronin to Maya and then told her that her “boss” had an informant send info to Ronin about her father. He told her that the boss wanted her father dead. I have a feeling that we just saw the set up for the Echo Marvel Studios series that is in the works.

We also got to see a cool thing with a monument in NYC honoring the Avenger members for their efforts of the Battle of New York. Clint came here to talk with Natasha.

It is just another example of Marvel’s expert world building. Yelena also mentioned the “improved Statue of Liberty” which was an allusion to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which I will be seeing tomorrow night.

Next week, the Hawkeye series comes to a conclusion and they seem to have a lot of area to cover before it is over. Just looking at a possible list of things that they may need to cover includes:

• Kingpin’s plans
• Who killed Armond?
• What is up with that watch from Avengers Compound? How does it tie with Laura Barton?
• Hawkeye and Yelena’s problems
• Echo and “Uncle”
• Is Elenore the real power? Did she frame Jack or is that part of their plan?
• Name the Pizza Dog!
• Will Clint make it home for Christmas?

Hawkeye has been a great series so far and I am excited to see the finale next week.