We’re finally in the Hawkeye era, folks! 🏹
This two-episode premiere of Hawkeye was a great way to end November! Hawkeye has become my most anticipated MCU project after I read the Matt Fraction & David Aja’s Hawkeye comic run. The series was heavily influenced by that run, and I had a Marvel Unlimited subscription so I figured why not read it?
And well, I completely fell in love with the narrative and art style, it’s one of my favorite comic runs and seeing it become alive in the show was truly amazing!
This review contains spoilers so please tread lightly or watch the show first.
Hawkeye Episode One: Never Meet Your Heroes
Quick Recap 📝
Going back to New York in 2012 during the Battle of New York, a young Kate Bishop witnesses Clint Barton fight off the Chitauris on top of a building. The battle wrecked Kate’s home and she lost her father during the event. But seeing Clint inspired Kate to be a hero like him.
In present day New York, Clint spends Christmas with his kids by watching Rogers the Musical. Still affected by the battle and Natasha’s death, Clint and his kids leave halfway through. Kate attends a gala with her mother, Eleanor, and learns that her mother is engaged to Jack Duquesne. She witnesses Eleanor and Jack’s uncle, Armand, in an argument. Suspicious about Armand, she follows him and uncovers an underground black market auction which includes stuff from the Avengers Compound such as the Ronin suit and sword. Kate sees both Armand and Jack in attendance, but the auction was attacked by the Tracksuit Mafia.
Jack steals the Ronin sword during the attack while Kate disguises herself with the Ronin suit and fights off the Tracksuit Mafia. She rescues a stray dog and successfully escape to her apartment. She breaks into Armand’s home to investigate further but finds him dead on the floor. On her way back, she is cornered by the Tracksuit Mafia but Clint, who saw her on the news wearing the Ronin suit, fights off the Mafia and discovers Kate under the suit.
Episode Thoughts 🧠
Words cannot fully express how much I enjoyed the first episode! I’m loving the Christmas in New York vibe and the bits of easter eggs and references back to the comics! I’m so tempted to re-read the Fraction-Aja run but maybe I’ll save it once the series ends.
The opening credit sequence was a homage to David Aja’s art style (I hope he gets paid or something, just to give credit where it’s due) and I loved how they made it a storytelling device as we see Kate’s training weaved into it. Also, Hailee Steinfeld is the perfect Kate Bishop! Her portrayal is just so amazing and she really captures the Kate Bishop I loved from the comics!
Like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, we spent the first episode with the main characters separate from each other. But them meeting during the last scene, plus the clips Marvel has released really builds up to my anticipation of their dynamics as a team. I also loved that the Tracksuit Mafia says their trademark “bro” like their comic counterparts! Also, Lucky the Pizza Dog!!! Although, he hasn’t earned the name Lucky yet, I wonder at which episode the name drops.
Of course, I can’t miss talking about Rogers the Musical! I would totally pay to see that, even though it’s a little bit cheesy! And I would pay more for Sam and Bucky to watch that too!
Hawkeye Episode Two: Hide and Seek
Quick Recap 📝
Clint rescues Kate from the Tracksuit Mafia and they go to her apartment. Kate returns the Ronin suit to Clint, but they were forced to evacuate as the Tracksuit Mafia finds them and sets Kate’s apartment on fire. They break into the apartment of Kate’s aunt who’s on vacation. Clint fails to recover the Ronin suit from Kate’s apartment but discovers a NYC Larper sticker on one of the fire trucks.
Clint sends off his kids back home and meets back with Kate and walks her to her workplace, giving her his number for emergency. He attends a LARP event to recover the suit from a guy named Grills.
After a dinner meal, Kate challenges Jack to a fencing duel in an attempt to prove Jack’s involvement to Armand’s death. Kate fails to convince Eleanor and contacts Clint, who intentionally lets himself be captured by the Tracksuit Mafia.
Kate tracks down Clint and breaks into the roof to rescue Clint, but ends up getting captured as well. The Tracksuit Mafia informs their boss, Maya Lopez, about Kate and Clint.
Episode Thoughts 🧠
While the first episode was more Kate-centric, this one focused more on Clint. One thing I loved was how they finally incorporated Clint’s hearing aids to his character. In the comics, Clint is partially deaf due to different injuries. But I remember in the Fraction run, he was partially deaf when he was still a child as he suffered abuse from his father. I like how they somehow made the explanation of his hearing aids in the show a little bit lighthearted. When Kate asked about it, they showed a montage of Clint surviving different explosions in different missions as Hawkeye, which totally made sense.
One of the things I loved about the comics was how they showed Clint always getting beat up. He’s always had bandages in most of the comic panels, which really grounds his character and makes him more relatable. I love that they were able to bring that side of Clint in the show!
I also found it very interesting how the contrast between Kate and Clint’s characters in the show versus the comics was. They gave some of the aspects of comic Clint to Kate in the show and I’m definitely digging it. Their chemistry was truly amusing and I love the grumpy-sunshine dynamic between them!
I’m also very intrigued with Maya Lopez/Echo, whom I know as Kingpin’s adoptive daughter. And if the rumors are true, we might see Vincent D’onofrio as Kingpin once again. I’ve been hoping for this for a while now because it makes sense for him to be part of Hawkeye, since he was present in the comics as well! If it happens, I’m going to flip out for sure!
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Let’s Chat! 💬
Are you tuning in to Hawkeye? Let me know what you think of the first two episodes!
