While the MCU has been venturing into slightly unknown waters on the big screen, it continues to explore some more familiar areas over on Disney Plus. Following on from WandaVision and the Falcon and Winter Soldier series, we now get Hawkeye. *Warning! Some Spoilers Ahead!*
In many ways Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is a bit of a low-key avenger and doesn’t receive anywhere near the amount of focus or attention that the more iconic ones do. Obviously, with the likes of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America around, there are others that will be more secondary, but it always felt that Hawkeye got a bit of a raw deal. This series balances that up somewhat and gives some closure that was lacking in Avengers: Endgame.
How they’ve approached this is to give us a sort of Die Hard meets Hallmark mix, with a murder mystery thrown in for good measure. While it has that Christmas angle though, they haven’t leant into it too much, other than to use it as a device that gives Clint a time limit. This is a big plus, as it could easily have fallen into the hands of schmaltz if that road had been taken, which wouldn’t entirely fit here.
Hawkeye starts with a neatly wrapped up origin story for Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) that sets up that she is a big Hawkeye fan after he essentially saves her during 2012’s battle with the Chitauri. It’s a nice big action sequence to open a show that then proceeds to have a lot of action in a much more contained way. Kate is the sort of character we get a lot in comic book fare, as she is rich, damaged in some regard, and because of that seems to have spent years learning some unusual skill to go along with their seemingly endless resources.
It’s her world that much of the plot occurs in, and so there is a lot of setting up to do alongside finding out who she is. We learn that her mother (Vera Farmiga), a successful businesswoman, is engaged to the slightly dodgy character Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), and Kate doesn’t approve. Then, at the same party where Kate learns this, there is also suddenly a secret auction of stolen items, a disagreement with Armand Duquesne III (Simon Callow), Jack’s uncle, and then a robbery by the ‘Tracksuit Mafia’. It’s a lot to throw in very quickly, and seems a bit ridiculous, but we can let that slide, as it is entertainingly delivered.
The one action amongst all that that starts off Hawkeye’s interest is that one of the items is his old Ronin costume. Sadly, for Kate, she chooses to use this when the opportunity arises to disrupt the robbery. On the face of it, it’s not a terrible choice, but she isn’t to know the history of the suit. That Armand is then found murdered just caps it all off.
This of course is what drags Clint into the whole debacle and distracts him from family activities, such as seeing ‘Rogers: The Musical’, replete with abysmal facsimiles of the Avengers. Knowing what is to come once people see Ronin back in action, he tries to protect Kate, although as expected things only get murkier.
The series hinges on a few elements, one of which is its combination of pain and bitterness allied to humour. The Rogers musical for instance is comical in itself, but also allows for some reflection by Clint when he sees the actor playing Natasha (Meghan Manning), picking at that wound. Much of his early scenes are typical of a family Christmas movie though, and establish things well for him, giving us a rounded picture of Clint as a lovable curmudgeon.
The relationship between the wide-eyed fan and that curmudgeon is one of the other key elements, and Steinfeld and Renner have an interesting dynamic that works very well. It isn’t quite as distinct as say the Peter Parker/Tony Stark, father and son angle, as Kate is far too assured or cocky for that, but it is reminiscent. It’s a humour filled and witty dynamic that has a gulf of knowledge, but also a respect. What it also allows for is her innocence and enthusiasm to get ahead of his wisdom and ruin things somewhat as Clint is trying to fix everything.
As a basis for this ongoing story, these first two episodes have outlined the characters well and established their credentials. They have managed to keep on the right side of the schmaltz line, including Clint’s family and the Christmas angle without it becoming too Hallmark. At the same time, Kate has proved that she has skill, but also a lot to learn. It should be interesting where they take it from here.
