As the first two episodes of the newest marvel show Hawkeye dropped, we are introduced to a classic dynamic: grumpy middle-aged “hero” taking care of an overly excited youngling with an affinity for getting into trouble.
Spoiler-free
This introduction to Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop feels like a seamless passing of the torch of the Hawkeye mantel. Much like the other Disney+ productions, the show doesn’t have a world-ending level villain, which lends itself better for a character like Clint Barton.
Working as a countdown to Christmas, this is a story about the everyday conflicts of being a superhero and trying to maintain a healthy family life.
While Kate’s navigates the struggles of her new family dynamics and the messes, she keeps finding herself in, Clint’s past mistakes seem to be determined in keeping him away from spending Christmas with his family.
Spoilers
If you’re a fan of the comic book version of Hawkeye, this show is probably going to tickle you the right way. Kate Bishop is an extremely relatable and charming mess while Barton is finally able to showcase his classic sarcastic personality or any personality at all.
The story revolves around Bishop trying to uncover whatever her mother’s shady new boyfriend is hiding under his suave façade. In the process, she ends up being roped into Clint’s past as the Ronan, who unenthusiastically must try and help her clean up the mess she created.
In the span of the two episodes, we get the introduction of the iconic Pizza dog and, less importantly, of the main villain of the story: The Tracksuit Mafia. The name is, as Bishop mentions, a bit on the nose, however, they bring the classic ‘dumb goon’ trope to the screen in a surprisingly refreshing way.
The introduction of Clint’s deafness is done in a clever, yet sensitive way. Footage of him getting blown up throughout the MCU plays as he just says “too hard to tell” when asked about it.
The smaller scale villain allows the show to heighten the stakes by concentrating on family. Kate Bishop loses her father in the first 10 minutes of the first episode; however, it seems like she’s going to find a father figure in Clint and will be able to mend the relationship with her mother by the end of the show.
The dynamic between the two leads feels genuine, given Clint’s predisposition to adopting every troubled young person he finds (like he did with Wanda and Pietro in Age of Ultron), plus since her appearance has been confirmed, it will be interesting to see how Black Widow’s Yelena fits into the show.
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Words: Susanna Borio – Subediting: Martyna Rozenbajgier
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