[Review] Marvel’s ‘Hawkeye’ shines a spotlight on an underrated character
January 9, 2022
Just in time for the holiday season, Marvel’s latest show “Hawkeye” began streaming on Disney+, featuring returning Clint Barton as well as a variety of newly introduced characters. The first two episodes premiered on Wednesday, Nov. 24, with new episodes streaming every week.
In this series, Jeremy Renner makes a return for his iconic character, Clint Barton. Through each episode, we dive deeper into Barton’s life as Hawkeye, presenting both his family life and his prior acts that have resurfaced.
Through episode one, we are introduced to brand new character Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld. From a young age, Bishop was inspired by Hawkeye to do archery. She is also highly trained in competitive combat sports and has won a variety of awards throughout her childhood.
After being introduced to Bishop in the first episode, we are taken through a black market auction in which Bishop finds herself investigating until a surprise attack by the Tracksuit Mafia. The mafia becomes a lasting side-problem that we learn more about in each episode.
The main conflict within the series is created shortly after the attack at the auction, where Bishop unintentionally hid her identity behind the mantle of Ronin to escape unidentified. Ronin is the title Clint Barton took up after the events in “Avengers: Infinity War,” which led him toexpress his anger through murderous acts. Through these hostile acts, Ronin picks up lots of enemies who resurface after the sighting.
Despite all of the conflicts revolving around Ronin, Bishop found herself with problems rooted within her own family. After a cruel murder, she’s left questioning her mother Eleanor Bishop, played by Vera Farmiga, as well as her fiancée. With emerging suspicions, Bishop has to find a way to handle all these problems throughout each episode.
After being left with multiple conflicts and a little amount of time, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop begin fixing the messes they have made. The true question surfaces around whether Clint Barton will be able to make it home on time in order to spend the holidays with his family.
The entirety of the show is full of twists and there is certainly no lack of action. I believe Marvel did a great job building Barton and Bishop’s relationship into an iconic father-daughter duo. I also enjoyed seeing Barton get his own show, as I feel he is often one of the most overlooked characters in the Avengers.
I look forward to seeing what Marvel has in store for both Bishop and Barton in the near future. Marvel certainly impressed me with this series and I recommend this show to anyone who is looking for an adventurous action-packed series.