There's been a staggering amount of new MCU stuff this year, but the last piece of MCU media for 2021 is finally complete. Let's talk about the Hawkeye Disney+ series. Like before, I'm splitting this into non-spoiler and spoiler sections. Warnings will be placed throughout. The series starts off with Clint Barton spending some pre-Christmas quality time with his kids, but due to the antics of a young woman named Kate Bishop, he's dragged back into the dark chapter of his life when he was Ronin. Now, he has to clean up Kate's mess and hopefully get home in time for Christmas. Up to this point, Hawkeye's been mostly a secondary character in the movies, getting only bits and pieces of a character in the occasional ensemble movie. Here, you get to see more layers to him, as his love for his family is reaffirmed throughout the series. You also see quite a bit of his remorse for the time he spent as Ronin (though I feel like the show could have done more with that), as well as him dealing with the grief that comes with losing Natasha. In the physical sense, you get to see Hawkeye be substantially more human than his fellow Avengers, as the ass-whoopings he takes have a profound effect on him. Most notably, they've also incorporated a detail from the comics version of the character into the MCU: Hawkeye is hard of hearing and needs a hearing aid, something that I've observed has resonated with a lot of fans who deal with or know someone in a similar situation. Although Clint is the titular hero, this is just as much Kate Bishop's show, as we get pretty much her full story in the series. Her origin is straightforward but meaningful (and connects her to Hawkeye in a cool way), she's super entertaining personality-wise, and she serves as an excellent foil to Clint's more level-headed demeanor. I was delighted to see my favorite Young Avenger in live action portrayed pretty much as I remember her in the comics, and her dynamic with Clint here was more or less everything I could hope for. As Ronin, Clint slaughtered quite a lot of organized crime members, and here, he must face off against one group he's encountered before. Enter the Tracksuit Mafia, who are Russian mobsters.... who wear tracksuits. They're as goofy as they are on the show as they were in the original comics, which, again, was exactly what I wanted. The otherwise lovable henchmen are led by another debuting character in the MCU: Maya Lopez. In the comics, she's a hero named Echo, but in the series, she's yet to become that character. I was quite intrigued by her introduction in the show, as she's a character I mostly see in Daredevil comics, but not only does her backstory in the MCU mesh well with established lore, it's compelling and ties in perfectly within the context of this continuity. This series is mostly just her starting point as a character, but she gets more than enough to justify the Disney+ spinoff she's getting in the future (I was equally shocked to learn of that show at first, but it makes perfect sense after finishing this series). [Spoiler section incoming: it's five paragraphs down] It's also important to note that, like the comics character she's based on, Echo is Native American and deaf. The latter is a big focal point of the character when she's introduced, which is nice. We're also introduced to a bunch of other characters, like Eleanor Bishop (Kate's mom, and her relationship with her daughter is a big focus of the show), "Jack" Duquesne (who is Swordsman in the comics, but doesn't get to do much here other than be comic relief), and Kazi (Maya's right hand man). With the focus being on the main duo, we don't get as much from these folks in terms of character until the latter half of the series when certain revelations come to light. In terms of action, I'd say this show was pretty solid, with a bunch of exciting hand-to-hand sequences in multiple episodes. The personal highlight for me in this respect is when both Hawkeyes get to brandish their bows, as the trick arrow sequences (one of which is a nod to the spectacular car chase in the first volume of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye comic) are a delight to watch. Coming into the show, my one wish was a bunch of ridiculous trick arrow action scenes, and I got exactly what I wanted, so I'm quite happy. As for tie-ins to other MCU stuff, there's a healthy amount of them to go around, from cute nods, small but meaningful references, new perspectives on established MCU events, and one big "holy fucking shit, movie stuff is actually paying off in the TV shows" moment. And if that's not enough, this show does something that I did not foresee it doing, and made me lose my mind in excitement as a result. More on all this in the spoiler section. Overall, I enjoyed the Hawkeye series. It's grounded and smaller-scale compared to other MCU adventures, Clint got to shine as a character, Kate Bishop was fantastic (more of her in the MCU, please), and the show satisfied a lot of what I was looking for in terms of MCU world-building, adaptations of comic elements, and action. I certainly have my gripes, like more exploration of Clint's chapter as Ronin (I personally just wish there were more of it), and some clunky elements of the earlier episodes, but I think this show was a net positive in my mind. [All right, this is the spoiler section. You've been warned.]
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June 2024
Derryck
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