Summary

• Kingpin's potential as the next Thanos-level antagonist in the MCU shouldn't be dismissed, as he has shown in the comics that he can become a powerful god.
• Kingpin's character has evolved throughout Marvel Comics, going from a petty gang member to a mob boss and even serving as the Mayor of New York City.
• Kingpin's constant evolution makes it logical for the MCU to allow his character to continue growing onscreen, potentially suring Thanos as the next major threat in the franchise.

It shouldn't be so hard to believe that Kingpin, not Kang, as its next Thanos-level antagonist. Granted, since Wilson Fisk is traditionally portrayed merely as a street-level mob boss of a human, this theory is easy to scoff at for many readers.

However, he's proven in the comics that he's capable of being much more than just that, particularly in War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2 for the story "The God Without Fear Part Two" by Jason Aaron, Andrea Sorrentino, and Matthew Wilson. It is this issue that reveals Kingpin has become an actual god, interlocked in battle with an equally god-enhanced Daredevil.

Kingpin Becomes a God in the Comics

Once he lays waste to nine out of the Ten Realms, Dark Elf King Malekith brings the War of the Realms to Midgard, which results in Heimdall becoming blinded. In that time, Daredevil takes up his duties by taking Heimdall's sword for himself and in his place decides to command the Bifrost on his own. In the previous issue, Malekith tortures Kingpin for information on how to take out Daredevil. By the time this issue rolls around, it is revealed that Malekith has personally enhanced Kingpin, giving him godlike abilities, to kill Daredevil himself. Needless to say, Kingpin is elated at what he can do now. He ultimately uses his newfound powers (as well as a hammer akin to Thor's Mjolnir) in order to capture news footage of himself fighting to "save the city" in order to secure his re-election bid as Mayor of New York.

The Evolution of Kingpin Never Ends

Kingpin has always steadily evolved throughout his history in Marvel Comics. The character himself has steadily evolved across his life, slowly ri the ranks from petty gang member, to mob bodyguard, to mob boss. His evolution has taken him in directions well beyond just being involved in high-end crime. This is not just in regard to him becoming a god, but before that as he'd graduate from being a Spider-Man villain to Daredevil's archrival and tussling with other notable Avengers. Perhaps most notably, he recently served as the Mayor of New York City. To this day, he continues to propel himself into new heights, as he's currently become the new White King of the Hellfire Club and a pro-mutant ally to the X-Men, thanks to his marriage to Typhoid Mary.

The point here is that the Kingpin has always proven himself to be far more than just the underboss of Hell's Kitchen or a mastermind of the criminal underworld. Never stagnant, he's constantly evolving both in personality and in rank within the larger scope of the Marvel Universe. It only makes sense for the MCU to allow Kingpin to follow suit and continue evolving onscreen, even if it means he sures Thanos as the next franchise antagonist.