Earlier this year we got Black Widow, which if you ask me was too many years too late. Now we get the Hawkeye series. The most boring Avenger, in his own series. Is too late as well?.. Yes and no
I find it hard to review Hawkeye as some parts I liked, some I hated and others I have no opinion because it were just boring and slow. Yes Hawkeye is slow, its slow to get there, and when it does, its stays slow.
In Hawkeye we meet Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). A girl who lost her father in the Battle of New York, but was inspired by Hawkeye fighting during the invasion with nothing but a bow and arrow. She began to idolize Im so much she took up archery and became god in her own right. Fast forward..Kate is living her best life and wondering if her mom’s new fiance is all he appears to be. This leads to a black market auction where Ronin’s (Hawkeye during the events between Infinity War and Endgame) sword and gear are being sold. An attack by a group called the Tracksuit Mafia leads Kate to taking the Ronin outfit to protect herself from being seen, and unintentionally setting into motion the series of events in the series. But where is Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)? He’s in New York with his kids trying to be a dad, seeing as they missed 5 years in the blip. Hes put Ronin and the events of Engame behind him and settled into retirement.
And the dynamic between Renner and Steinfeld is honestly good. This part I like. Its similar to Tony Stark kand Peter Parker if Peter knew just how to push Starks buttons. But overall the show is slow and stumble through its episodes despite how amazing the trailer made it look. Its hard to mess up a series based in NYC during Christmas, but Hawkeye did just that at times. Most of the enemies in this series seem to simply been thrown in so as to use them again in other properties, or wee tossed in from other properties because Marvel didnt know what else to do with them.
From start to finish its ok for what it is, but it could have ben better. But I guess they really had their work cut out for them seeing as “how do make something great off the most boring Avenger?”
Here the our 4 headscratchers:
#4 Yelena Belova
Fresh off her introduction in Black Widow, Hawkeye gives us more Yelena Belova. Having been hired to track down Natasha’s killer. Thought to think the death of her sister was done at the hands of Barton as opposed to her sacrificing her own life, Yelena wants Barton dead. Her appearance makes sense and it doesnt. It feels like they needed content and they both share a relationship with Natasha so why not. In the end the entire purpose of her plot line is for nothing as she suddenly believes Barton out of the blue, so it left us asking why her addition was required
#3 Tracksuit Mafia
Yes, theyre from the comics, Yes, they are dumb and absurd in Hawkeye (yet somewhat fun to watch), Yes, theyre more slapstick than anything. No. theyre not interesting or memorable
#2 Kingpin
Kingping is another character that shows up out of the blue. If you watched the Daredevil series then you know Kingpng (Vincent D’onofrio) really doesnt belong here. As the MCU has stated.. the events in Daredevil are no longer canon, yet here he is, now he IS canon, so why say he wasnt canon. So he is and isnt canon?
I didnt know. Its recently confirmed though via SpiderMan No Way Home that Daredevil (Charlie Cox) is also returning. So we have Kingping who is not canon, now canon, and Daredevil who is not canon now canon. But theyre different? Was their Netflix outings in the multiverse? WHO THE HECK KNOWS. All I know is the adition of Kingping, while a pleasant surprise sums up Hawkeye… its confusing and messy.
#1 What?
So we learn early on…Barton is deaf. Yeah, like deaf deaf.. cant hear a thing. He states its from years of Avengers abuse to his body but hes suddenly deaf. It makes him look very vulnerable but also raises the question.. WHEN DID HE START GOING DEAF? His hearing aid plays a big part in the series and were just scratching our heads as to why this decision was made. It may signify his mortality and eventual push into full retirement, but you didnt need a hearing aid to do that. I guess its interesting but like eveything on this list were questioning “but, why?”