Who Is Maya Lopez’s Uncle on ‘Hawkeye’?

Wow oh wow, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS for Hawkeye Episode 3, “Echoes.” There is no time to waste with a boring intro because we have to get into one of the biggest gags in Marvel television since Evan Peters sped onto WandaVision. So if you haven’t watched Hawkeye Episode 3, go do that and come right back here!

Okay—ready?

Maya Lopez’s uncle is Kingpin played by Vincent D’Onofrio—y’know, from Netflix’s Daredevil!! He’s back, baby!!! Okay—let me rewind a bit because this is just a theory (albeit one with a whole lot of evidence supporting it). Taking it from the top—!

Hawkeye’s third episode begins with the origin of Maya Lopez, a criminal who we will eventually call Echo. She’s got a Disney+ show in the works and everything! We see Maya’s origin, which is pretty much exactly as it unfolds in the comics. Young Maya (Darnell Besaw) is the daughter of a criminal named William Lopez (Zahn McClarnon) who, despite being deaf and attending a school that doesn’t address her needs, is an excellent student and an even better fighter. We cut to a karate class and see Maya’s dad offering her words of wisdom before leaving, telling her that her “uncle” will bring her home after class. And then we see this “uncle.” He’s a big man in a suit.

We don’t see his face and we only hear him chuckle. So, how do we know this is Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, played specifically by Vincent D’Onofrio? Let’s run through the evidence!

1. The chuckle just sounds like Vincent D’Onofrio. Listen to it again. That’s… that’s just Vincent D’Onofrio with little attempt to obscure it.

2. Ronin killed Maya’s dad at Fat Man Auto Repair. In the flashback, we find out that the Tracksuit Mafia were operating out of an auto repair shop called Fat Man Auto Repair. Seems safe to assume that this isn’t a red herring and Uncle is really The Owl or Hammerhead—two Marvel crime lords not known for their size—if Uncle is running a front called Fat Man Auto Repair.

2. Maya Lopez’s comic book origin is inextricably tied to the Kingpin. In 2000’s Daredevil #9-10 by David Mack and Joe Quesada, we learn that Maya’s father worked for Kingpin. And after her dad’s death, Kingpin took Maya in and raised her as his own daughter—well, raised is a strong word because really…

3. Kingpin sent Maya away to a very expensive school for the deaf. This is exactly what li’l Maya asks her dad for in that flashback origin at the beginning of the episode.

4. Everyone is scared of Uncle. The other tracksuit mobsters are scared of him, Hawkeye himself knows he’s bad news—it sounds like all of these people sure are terrified of someone who probably looks and acts an awful lot like Vincent D’Onofrio’s thoroughly intimidating Kingpin.

5. The Kingpin’s Netflix home appeared in Hawkeye Episode 1. The place where the silent auction took place? That’s known as the Lotte New York Palace IRL, and it was used as Kingpin’s home in Season 3 of the Netflix series.

6. An Echo series is already in the works. And no shade to newcomer Alaqua Cox, who absolutely crushes her big MCU—and acting!—debut in Episode 3… but if you want to hook people on a new series about a new character played by a new actor, you pair her with Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin.

Do I need to keep going?? It seems pretty clear that Hawkeye is being used to incorporate some fan favorite parts of the Netflix series into the MCU proper.

Now, whether or not this is going to be the same Kingpin from the Netflix series is still a mystery. It could be D’Onofrio playing the MCU’s rebooted version of Kingpin. Remember: the Netflix shows were made by Marvel Television and not Marvel Studios, which means Marvel Studios—the makers of the MCU movies and new Disney+ shows—don’t really have to honor the continuity established by a completely separate production company on a totally separate streaming service.

The other big question is, when will Hawkeye, Echo, Kate, or viewers come face to face with Kingpin? Will this be a post-credits reveal after the finale? Or could we see him before then and actually get a showdown between Maya Lopez and Kingpin? Oh—in the comics, Kingpin killed Maya’s dad. Now, we saw Ronin do that in this episode, but… come on, he’s the Kingpin. If the show is introducing him as “Uncle,” then clearly he had something to do with Maya’s dad’s death! The Kingpin is a jerk, first and foremost!

Hawkeye Season 1 continues on Disney+ on Wednesday, December 8.

Stream Hawkeye on Disney+