The MCU is in desperate need of a new big bad after Marvel was forced to cut ties with Jonathan Majors following his domestic violence conviction, and in a surprising move, the studio has already subtly revealed the next villain to cause a fuss. And the fandom’s Spider-Verse senses may be tingling.
While exactly who will take over from Majors’ Kang as the central antagonist of the Multiverse Saga remains unknown, we can say for certain that another big bad is in the process of rising up to become an overarching threat of the more grounded side of the franchise. Echo brings back Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk for the first time since Hawkeye, but it definitely won’t be the last time we see him.
Despite being deployed under the Marvel Spotlight banner, reserved for more standalone projects, Echo is just one part of the puzzle that builds towards Daredevil: Born Again, the much-anticipated follow-up to the newly re-canonized Netflix show. Sure enough, it looks like Echo will set Kingpin up as a major force to be reckoned with going forward. So much so that he can be compared to the Infinity Saga’s Thanos.
While speaking to ScreenRant, producer Brad Winderbaum was quizzed on if Echo will establish Fisk as “the Thanos of this street-level corner of the MCU.” In a rare move for a Marvel exec, Winderbaum admitted that, yes, this is exactly what it’s doing.
“Oh, man, you kind of hit the nail on the head. I can’t say too much,” he teased. “Only that as a chapter in Wilson Fisk’s life, this is a crucial one and sets the stage in some remarkable ways for what’s coming next.”
Kingpin being utilized as a big bad is nothing new to screen audiences, of course, as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse already established that Fisk could be a multiversal threat in the right circumstances. In fact, given Kang’s exit and D’Onofrio’s popularity, maybe it wouldn’t be so crazy for Marvel to borrow from the Spider-Verse a little more directly and cast Fisk as the Multiverse Saga’s main foe.
If you recall, the first film in Sony’s super-successful animated franchise saw Miles Morales and the other Spiders team up to stop Fisk — who was attempting to resurrect his lost wife and son — from using a multiversal gateway to inadvertently tear apart reality. So there’s nothing conceivably stopping Fisk from becoming aware of the multiverse in the MCU either. Although I highly doubt that the 616 take on the character would require such sentimental motivations behind his evil schemes.
After all, it’s not like this guy is one to let a power vacuum pass him by. Like the man once said, “there’s only room for one Kingpin.” Kang’s replacement might want to watch his back.
