While in New York City post-Blip, Clint Barton must work together with the young archer Kate Bishop to confront enemies from his past as Ronin in order to get back to his family in time for Christmas.
I’ve long been a fan of Jeremy Renner, ever since I saw his portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer in the biographical true crime horror film “Dahmer,” I was captivated. Even in the unexciting action flick “S.W.A.T.,” a starring vehicle for Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson, he still managed to steal their thunder and exude charisma and menace at the same time. However, it was his starring role in the 2008 Kathryn Bigelow-directed thriller, “The Hurt Locker,” where Hollywood took notice of him. After being cast as Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, in Kenneth Branagh’s 2011 “Thor,” as well as three Avengers movies, and “Captain America: Civil War,” he went on to star in “The Bourne Legacy,” “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” “American Hustle,” “Arrival,” and two “Mission: Impossible” films. He is now very much in demand but it is always great to see him returning to his MCU roots as Clint Barton and thankfully, Marvel decided to infuse “Hawkeye” with lots of action and humor.
While “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and “Loki” contained moments of humor, “Hawkeye” delivers it emphatically. “Hawkeye” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” share similarities, in as much as they are both action-oriented, but “Hawkeye” outdoes its predecessor in both the humor and action department. Renner and Hailee Steinfeld are perfect opposite each other and I cannot imagine any other actors in their respective roles. Steinfeld came to prominence in 2010’s “True Grit,” stealing the show from her co-stars Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon, and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. She would go on to star in “Ender’s Game,” “3 Days to Kill,” “Pitch Perfect 2,” and my personal favorite, “The Edge of Seventeen.”
“Hawkeye” takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” and finds Clint in New York City with his two children, Lila and Cooper (Ava Russo and Ben Sakamoto), several days before Christmas. Wanting to spend time with them in the city, Clint is looking forward to returning home to his wife Laura (Linda Cardellini) and youngest son Nathaniel (Cade Woodward). When someone dressed up as the vigilante Ronin, the alias Clint inhabited in “Avengers: Endgame” after his family was snapped away by Thanos, brings unwanted attention to themselves in New York City, Clint decides to send his two children home while he goes after the hooded figure. What he discovers shocks him; a 22-year-old girl named Kate Bishop who is as deadly with a bow and arrow as he is.
Kate comes from a rich family and fears that her mother, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga), who is engaged to the mysterious and enigmatic Jacques Duquesne (Tony Dalton), is up to no good, and while trying to prove this, she follows him to a clandestine black market auction, where the outfit that Ronin wore, has been recovered from the ruins of the Avengers compound which was destroyed in “Avengers: Endgame.” When masked men cause an explosion in the cellar where the auction is taking place, all hell breaks loose, and in the ensuing chaos, Kate grabs Ronin’s outfit and leaves. She wears it as she wants to take on Ronin’s identity so she can help those in need but instead, she ends up attracting the attention of the Tracksuit Mafia, a Russian crime syndicate who had dealings with Clint when he was Ronin and want to finish him off. Now Clint must take Kate under his wing to prevent an all-out war from flowing onto the streets of New York City, and get him home to his family in time for Christmas.
For the most part, “Hawkeye” is lighthearted and energetic, occasionally allowing moments of grief for Clint to mourn the loss of his best friend, Natasha (Scarlett Johansson), and never is this more evident than when he is at the theater watching a live production of “Rogers: The Musical,” a musical based on the life of Steve Rogers, the first Captain America. As Clint sits in the theater with his children, watching actors portray the Avengers during the attack on New York City in 2012, the production itself is lively and melodic but flashbacks to the actual event show the stark contrast between the two and we can feel his pain as three of the Avengers, once considered his friends, are now gone. Naturally, the show leads up to Kate acquiring the moniker of “Hawkeye” but here’s hoping that Clint Barton will return, one way or another.
Two-episode premiere on Wednesday, November 24th
