‘Hawkeye’ hasn’t hit the bull’s-eye yet
It may begin with mass destruction and star one of Marvel’s most traumatized heroes, but “Hawkeye” feels like a lighthearted Christmas action romp. Call it “Die Hard With Exploding Arrows.”
That’s the tone, anyway, in the first two episodes Disney+ provided for reviewers of Marvel’s latest limited series, which will both hit the streaming service on Wednesday, Nov. 24, with another chapter dropping each week through Dec. 22. So far, it’s sometimes charming but also the least compelling of the five Marvel shows released this year.
To recap, Modesto native Jeremy Renner’s archery whiz, Clint Barton, suffered terrible losses in the last two “Avengers” movies: His wife and three children vanished in the Thanos Blip for five years, and he watched his closest comrade, Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), sacrifice herself on a faraway planet never to be resurrected. While half the universe’s population was missing, Clint acted out his sorrow by trading his bow-and-arrow persona Hawkeye for
that of a bloodthirsty vigilante, Ninja.
As the series gets under way, though, the family’s back, and New York City is open for business. Clint and the kids are in Manhattan six days before Christmas as honored guests at the premiere of “Rogers: The Musical.” The cheesy Broadway production about the Battle of
New York (the climax of 2012’s first “Avengers” movie) is the series’ most successful comic bit among numerous attempts to be funny.
Clint’s hearing is failing, and he feels uneasy at the show. He’s also uncomfortable when random citizens express their
appreciation for his help in saving their town from Loki’s space aliens. Whenever there’s a subtle dig that the other Avengers are more powerful, he just seems used to it. Clint only wants to bond with his children and follow them home to wife Laura (Linda Cardellini) for a country Christmas.
But back to the Battle of New York: In an opening flashback, little rich girl Kate Bishop (Clara Stack) survives when her penthouse roof is blown off and she sees Hawkeye protecting her from certain death outside. She vows to be like him, and by age 22 (now played by Hailee Steinfeld, fresh off “Dickinson” with all of that role’s impudent energy and half its erudition) she is arguably the best archer in the world.
Kate also loves trouble, whether it involves property damage at her elite college or disapproving of her widowed mom Eleanor’s (Vera Farmiga of “The Conjuring” ) new boyfriend, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton of “Better Call Saul”). Home for the holidays, curious Kate discovers a secret auction of super objects behind doors at a society ball. When the criminal Tracksuit Mafia interrupts the bidding, Kate dons one of the items — Clint’s old Ninja suit — and calls ass-kicking media attention to herself.
She gets Clint’s attention, too. She’s all fangirl OMG at the prospect of fighting alongside her hero. He’s just annoyed that he’ll probably miss Christmas protecting her.
One supposes a torch will be passed. Identities, secret and otherwise, will surely turn all fluid as they have in every Disney+ Marvel show. And here’s hoping “Hawkeye” does something as interesting as the others have with the concept soon.
Comic book devotees know by now that such characters as the Swordsman and Echo are making their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe via “Hawkeye.” We can also confirm that a favorite from Matt Fraction’s source comic book run, Lucky the Pizza Dog, also appears (the writer was a consultant for the show).
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova better show up after this week’s episodes, bearing the gift of vengeance for her “sister” Natasha’s death to perceived perpetrator Clint, as teased at the end of the “Black Widow” movie. That, or something, needs to be done if “Hawkeye” hopes to grab viewers’ attention as “WandaVision,” “Loki,” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” did.
Acknowledging that the character is the leastexciting Avenger can be fun in small doses, but it’s not a thing to base an entire series on.