Hawkeye Premiere Early Review

The following is a spoiler-free of the first 2 episodes of Hawkeye with the first 2 premiering this Wednesday on Disney Plus.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year indeed. Hawkeye serves as Marvel Studios’ next forray into television, obviously focusing on the titular OG avenger. Perhaps not the flashiest of the avengers, armed with a bow and an uncanny survival instinct, it is easy to wonder how a character can carry his own series. As far as that question is concerned, the jury is still out after the first 2 episodes but Jeremy Renner undoubtedly gives it his all though he is not alone with Hailee Steinfeld joining him as young avenger Kate Bishop. While the narrative thus far has yet to find its footing, that dynamic certainly carries the series so far. The material may not all be there, however, their chemistry is undeniable. These first two episodes help build that dynamic and to their credit, they click almost instantly with Steinfeld stealing scenes. In the end, the series will ultimately go as far as Renner and Steinfeld take it.

Hawkeye starts off with a quick origin story of Kate Bishop (Steinfeld) whose roots went back to the Battle of New York where she dawned a bow and assumed the role of protector of her family following the death of her father Derek (Brian d’Arcy James), leaving her and her mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga). Now a young adult, the affluent Bishop struggled to find her place in the world while screwing up plenty of times along the way. Meanwhile, Clint Barton (Renner) was making up for lost time with his children in New York City during Christmas time. Sufficiently beaten down over this time as Hawkeye and Ronin, viewers are treated to a more subdued Barton who was looking to move on from that past but that past was certainly not done with him.

Returning home Bishop still found herself getting in trouble much to the chagrin of her mother who was now engaged to a man named Jack (Tony Dalton) who just didn’t sit right with her. The consummate protector, Bishop unwittingly put a target on her back. That being said, she was more than capable of taking care of herself beyond her adept archery skills. However, those skills could only go so far as her exploits did not go unnoticed by Barton who had to set his family plans aside to help clean up Bishop’s mess. Little did she know, the extent of that mess which served as a humbling moment. However, enamored by her favorite avenger, her personality would not allow here to merely step aside unsurprisingly. As mentioned, that dynamic between Barton and Bishop was easily the best part of the first two episodes because of the chemistry of Renner and Steinfeld more so than the hit or miss material.

In order for Barton to clear up Bishop’s mess, he would need to address his past and past actions, making sure that nobody else gets hurt. These first two episodes only scratched the surface in that regard so it will be interesting to see how deep he and Bishop go as the latter looks to essentially learn on the job. While the charisma and character development was severely lacking on the part of Barton, the only interesting thing about him was his connection to his family. With the series taking place around Christmas time, Barton was seemingly on a deadline where he had to return home after dealing with whatever he had to deal with by Christmas. Whatever may or may not happen later on, one can’t help but want Barton to make it to his family by Christmas though whether or not that will actually happen remains to be seen.

However Barton was going to get through his latest ordeal, Bishop would surely be involved as the end of the second episode saw the two trapped in a precarious situation as they found themselves in the clutches of a mystery female character. Now how will they get out of this situation?

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.