The Marvel Cinematic Universe spans 20+ movies. For a while there also existed , separately from from those movies, various shows like Agents of SHIELD, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Punisher, Daredevil. The TV shows acknowledged the movies, while the movies ignored the shows. No sign of any of these heroes in the Endgame battle, no mention of Agent Coulson’s return from the dead in any of the Avenger movies. Once Disney absorbed Marvel, those TV shows fizzled. I’d watched most of them, though I gave up on the final seasons of Iron Fist and Jessica Jones once I heard these would be the last ones, and those characters and actors shunted off to the side. I didn’t read those as comics, unlike Daredevil; their story arcs meant little too me, though I wasn’t bothered like some others about the person who was Iron Fist.
With the massive success of most of the MCU movies, from individual episodes (with sequels), to the ensemble installments, I thought that Disney would pick up those shows. Instead, the launched limited series based on known characters: Loki, Wanda and Vision (the dead never stay dead in superhero life), the Falcon and Winter Soldier. I caught two episodes of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then stopped watching, and never saw a single episode of Loki or WandaVision. These shows all seemed irrelevant, made of characters that meant nothing to me, arcs that were meaningless. However, that changed with Hawkeye.
In the MCU movies, Hawkeye has no special powers. He’s not a god, not a genius, not a super soldier or gamma-augmented shapeshifter. He’s just phenomenal with a bow and arrow. His character arc in the movies went from minor to slightly more than minor, but to me he always seemed like the everyman, more so than the childish Ant-Man. Played by Jeremy Renner, Hawkeye seemed like a reluctant hero, yet one who went through major emotional turmoil. He lost his wife and kids in the Thanos snap. He lost his best friend in the effort to bring back his wife and kids. He lost himself twice, first when Loki took over his mind, and second when he became Ronin, and went on a rampage against organized crime. When Marvel/Disney announced a Hawkeye TV show (or rather, set of 6 episodes), I though nothing of it, as I figured it was a strange concept. Of the previous shows, I enjoyed Daredevil the most, as he came across as a tragic figure, yet still able to rise each time. How would the writers pull off a decent show about the least powerful Avenger?
They would do this by lining up Hawkeye’s next generation Avenger, someone who actually might figure in future Marvel movies. As far as the other newer TV shows go, the Falcon might be the new Captain America, the Loki show is simply the writers on some heavy drugs, and WandaVision sets up crazy multiverse and magic stuff that can always be undone. With Clint Barton likely aging out and moving on, there needs to be a new Hawkeye, and what better than to introduce a character in their early twenties who can play the role for a few movies? While Disney/Marvel can’t let go of certain characters, they can reimagine them. The Falcon taking over as Captain America? Weird but ok, I guess. No super soldier serum there, but maybe the mantle means more. Iron Man is dead, so who will take over his role? I’m sure they’ll find someone. As for Hawkeye, why not a young woman? This actually makes better sense than a junior Clint Barton.
I don’t know much about the actor playing the role of Kate Bishop. I haven’t read the comics upon which the show is based. I therefore don’t care how loyal the show is to the comics. What I care about is whether the show works, and two episodes into Hawkeye, I think it does. It’s tough to analyze a 6-show venture. The first two or three episodes will generally introduce characters, which leave two or three episodes to push along a good story and wrap up an arc. So far, that’s what’s happened. The first episode introduced Kate Bishop, the person who will likely take over as the new Hawkeye. The second showed more of Clint Barton. Since the next episodes will be released once a week, I expect these will now feature both characters as they learn to work with each other.
So far I’ve not seen anything in the first two episodes to make me not want to keep watching Hawkeye. Unlike Falcon and Winter Soldier, the social commentary is at a minimum. The actors in both series are great, but in Hawkeye it’s more about the story. And, so far at least, it’s fun. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier show came across as dreary. Why watch a show that just beats you over the head again and again with misery?
I know there’s an entire industry out there trying to predict Disney/Marvel ventures, spinning up YouTube entries on speculations and insider information in an effort to build up their own rep and cred. My few words here aren’t part of that, but rather a musing on why one show means more to me than others. I’d throw this in the pot about why I probably won’t watch the Boba Fett show, and would rather see the Cara Dune character in a series played by the original actor (even though I know little about actor herself, she played the character well). It’s all a matter of taste, and in some cases I think certain shows work, and others don’t, but I realize other people have other opinions. So be it. In the end, my simple musing mean little to the powers behind those shows. The fact that I’d like to see more Daredevil shows with Charlie Cox means nothing to the powers that be, nor to Mr. Cox.
Still, whatever happens in the Hawkeye show, and whether or not the actor playing Kate Bishop takes over the mantle of the famed archer in future movies, the two episodes so far have been a worthwhile way to spend a few minutes of my time. I hope it continues. I hope it bleeds over into the movies.
At some point in the future, the MCU will lose steam. It will come to an end. People may tire of superheroes. They for sure will tire of crap stories. As long as the stories are interesting, they will matter. For now, I think Hawkeye fills that need. It’s a heck of a lot more fun and meaningful than the other Disney/Marvel shows.
Addendum: I drafted this after only two episodes of Hawkeye, and before reports exploded on web sites that the Charlie Cox could (would/) replay Daredevil somewhere in the MCU. Since then I’ve watched two more episodes, and the show only gets better. Two episodes remain in the Hawkeye show, and I really wish there were more than just six. It seems we’re only introducing characters, and I just don’t want that show to end.
