LM23 Rating: Will check back next week for more
When I think of the Avengers, Hawkeye isn’t the character that comes to mind first. Between the six of them, Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, it’s clear the latter 3 are Group A and the other 3 are Group B.
But out of all the 6, Hawkeye is the only one that hasn’t had a standalone feature length film. Instead, we get a streaming series on Disney+ called Hawkeye with Jeremy Renner returning as Hawkeye/Clint Barton. The time period appears to be just after Endgame left off and all of the Avengers have gone their separate ways. Clint is trying to spend quality time on a dad and kids holiday in New York City and the first thing they appear to be doing is seeing a Broadway show about the Avengers.
Despite the smaller screen, the quality of the production looks just like what it out to be on a big screen. Even the tribute to the Avengers Broadway show looks like a real Broadway musical production. What’s bizarre about this treatment is that we now as an audience understand how the Avengers are framed against the real world. Despite being superheroes that seemingly were in another world, they’re actually in our world. And they’re now seen as rock stars including little kids who want to grow up and be like them.
Although the show is called Hawkeye, the focal character appears to be Kate Bishop played by Hailee Steinfeld. There aren’t a lot of young actors today (late teens to early 20’s) who have that Hollywood superstar appeal. However, there are a handful of young actors of the Gen Z persuasion that I think will be the next big marquee name including Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, and Hailee Steinfeld. Steinfeld is going down the route of a Jennifer Lopez in that she’s a talented musician and actor. The first time I remember seeing her in a film is the highly under rated Begin Again with Adam Levine, Mark Ruffalo, and Keira Knightly. If you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out.
Episode 1 starts off with a little girl who has the same kind of eyes as Steinfeld, so you know this little girl is a young Kate Bishop. What’s a surprise is that the mom of Kate is Eleanor played by another great actress who’s like one role away from an Oscar, Vera Farmiga. Maybe it’s all the Conjuring movies, but my first reaction was is Kate Bishop’s mom a bad guy in this?
Again, I don’t follow the comic books and I don’t really know what’s happening in these movies beyond what is presented to me, so I don’t know what to expect. Kate, her mom and her dad live in a very swanky townhouse or penthouse in Manhattan which is suddenly destroyed by an attack outside. Now, it’s not clear who is doing the attack and why, but this is when a young Kate Bishop catches a glimpse of Hawkeye fighting to save them. As the year is 2012 during this flashback, it must be bringing us back to when the Avengers first appeared.
As we’re just in the first episode, a lot transpires after a few minutes. Kate Bishop grows up into a 22 year-old college senior who happened to have a had a lot of fight training including fencing and archery. Not much is explained about how she knows how to fight when the first fight scene occurs, but I guess it doesn’t matter since all of the marketing already shows Kate Bishop as a wannabe Avenger.
The first episode introduces us to who the main villain is and it just so happens to be Kate Bishop’s future stepdad, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton). He’s so far a bit of a stereotypical creepy bad guy thinly veiled as a good guy. It’s as if everyone can see that he’s hiding something except for his fiancée. Kate Bishop even at one points tries to force him to tell the truth about himself in at home fencing session. There’s not a lot of subtlety in unveiling the evil that’s obviously lurking behind the mask (literally and figuratively at least in this scene).
The so obviousness of the bad guy isn’t so much that bothers me. We’re dealing with a TV show and so the bad guys are often presented right away and you understand what the conflict is going to be about. But what does sort of bug me is the whole clueless mom brings home a boyfriend or new man who is dangerous to her and her children. Despite the child’s objections, the mom just brushes it all off. I know this is just a TV show, but there’s just something icky about how this man has invaded the safety of the young woman’s home and her own mom won’t listen to her concerns.
So what is up Jack’s sleeve? The first two episodes so far don’t reveal much, but there’s a lot going on. First, we find out Kate somehow knows how to fight like an Avenger and for some reason felt compelled to put on the Ronin suit that Hawkeye wore when he went on a random killing spree at the start of Avengers Endgame. She happened across it as she was at a black tie party with her mom and future stepdad and there’s a pricey basement auction happening in which Avengers artifacts are being sold off.
The auction is interrupted by some bad guys who turn out to be the Tracksuit Mafia and that is when Kate springs into action. Her antics are caught on film and on the news and that’s how Clint, who is trying so hard to just be a normal dad, sees what is happening. Kate of course gets into a jam and just before she’s about to get into real trouble, Clint of course shows up to rescue her.
It turns out that the Ronin suit is something these bad guys want really badly. Why? We don’t know. Both Kate and Clint eventually end up kidnapped and tied up by the Tracksuit Mafia and some unknown characters who are shown briefly, but don’t say a word. One is Kazi (Fra Fee), who sits on a chair on the balcony of the warehouse or place which Kate and Clint have been brought to. He’s noticeable by his camel colored winter jacket. All he does is get up and walk out of view from the scene. We then see a woman named Maya (Alaqua Cox) who doesn’t say a word when she is told both Kate and Clint are in their custody. She seems more sinister than what future stepdad has in store.
I can’t say the first two episodes are groundbreaking or exciting and full of action sequences like what we’re used to in the Marvel movies. But, having cinematic quality production and an A-list cast, there’s just something about intriguing about Hawkeye that makes you want to tune in the next time.
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