Kingpin's Past In Marvel's Echo Appears To Make Netflix's Daredevil Part Of MCU Canon
This article contains spoilers for "Echo."
It's long been debated whether the Netflix Marvel series were Marvel Cinematic Universe canon. The shows advertised themselves as being connected to the MCU movies; "Daredevil" obliquely referred to the alien invasion of New York City in "The Avengers" as "the incident," and criminal overseer Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) even quipped to some goons, "If [Daredevil] had an iron suit or a magic hammer, maybe that would explain why you keep getting your asses handed to you." However, these connections were very much a one-way street.
Since then, though, Vincent D'Onofrio returned as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin on "Hawkeye," while Charlie Cox reprised his role as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and "She-Hulk." Cox and D'Onofrio are both returning for the new series "Daredevil: Born Again," as is Jon Bernthal as the Punisher.
And yet, there was still uncertainty. The MCU has introduced the multiverse and shown a returning actor doesn't mean the same continuity as older media (see Patrick Stewart's cameo as an alternate Professor X in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness").
However, "Echo" (a "Hawkeye" follow-up/"Born Again" prequel) strengthens the MCU's connections to the Netflix "Daredevil." Executive producer Richie Palmer told Polygon:
"When different teams of writers and artists picked up different characters from one to another [in the comics], it definitely honored what came before it, and just helped push it forward. And I think that going from the Netflix series, which we all really loved, and our fans really loved, we wanted to be able to honor that, but make subtle nods that these characters are in the MCU now. But really, it's all one universe."
As for those connections? Ol' Hornhead himself wears a costume identical to the Netflix series and Kingpin appears to have the same backstory.
Like a hammer to the head
In the first episode of "Echo" ("Chafa"), Kingpin opens up to Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox), saying when he was 12 years old, he too lost his father. If you've seen "Daredevil," then you know this — and that the Kingpin is lying about how he mourned. Fisk's childhood is shown via flashback in season 1, episode 8, "Shadows in the Glass." Wilson Fisk (Cole Jensen) is a sensitive, overweight momma's boy and a disappointment to his thuggish father Bill (Domenick Lombardozzi).
Fisk Sr. is an aspiring somebody, running for a City Council seat with loan shark money. When he loses, little Wilson gets teased about it by schoolyard bullies — so Bill personally makes him hit back. When Bill starts savagely beating his wife Marlene (Angela Reed), Wilson grabs a hammer and bashes his father's head in, his trauma from beating the bully flaring up with every hit. Wilson and his mother then proceed to slice up Bill's body and dispose of it.
Kingpin arrives in Tamaha, Oklahoma at the end of "Echo" episode 3, "Tuklo." During the fourth episode, "Taloa," he reveals the truth about his father's death to Maya — he's even kept the hammer with him all these years and challenges Maya to "free" herself by killing him with it, for he's failed her as his father failed him.
The Kingpin having an abusive father, whom he murdered, is not exclusive to the Netflix "Daredevil" series (it was also his backstory in "Spider-Man: The Animated Series," for instance). However, the specific details in "Echo" (e.g. the hammer) originate in "Daredevil."
At a minimum, this means the MCU won't shy away from drawing on the Netflix shows if it suits them. After all, with Cox and D'Onofrio back, these are spiritually the same Daredevil and Kingpin no matter what the lore says.
"Echo" is now streaming on Disney+.