Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye), Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop), Tony Dalton (Jack Duquesne), Vera Farmiga (Eleanor Bishop), Linda Cardellini (Laura Barton), Fra Free (Kazi), and Alaqua Cox (Maya Lopez), with Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova and Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin
HAWKEYE
Directed by Rhys Thomas plus Bert & Bertie
Produced by Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito, Trinh Tran, Brad Winderbaum, Rhys Thomas, and Jonathan Igla
Music by Christophe Beck and Michael Paraskevas
Distributed by Disney Platform Distribution
Number of Episodes: 6
Initial Streaming: November 24, 2021 – December 22, 2021
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Hawkeye Facts
In the Spring of 2019, rumors emerged suggesting that Marvel Studios was in the early stages of development on a Hawkeye Streaming Series that would star Jeremy Renner and introduce Marvel character Kate Bishop.
On July 20, 2019, at San Diego Comic Con, Jeremy Renner joined Kevin Feige on-stage to officially announce Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye series for Disney+.
On November 12, 2019, the Disney+ Streaming Service launched in the United States. Disney+ drew a reported 10-million customers on its first day.
On December 10, 2020, as part of Disney’s “Investor’s Day”, Kevin Feige confirmed that Hailee Steinfeld would be portraying Kate Bishop in Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye and that Alaqua Cox had been cast in the role of Maya Lopez. Hawkeye was furthermore confirmed for a late-2021 release.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Hawkeye commenced filming during the month of December-2020 and wrapped production on April 21, 2021.
During the Summer of 2021, rumors began to surface suggesting that the Marvel character Kingpin would appear in Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye series with Vincent D’Onofrio cast in the role. D’Onofrio had portrayed Wilson Fisk / Kingpin in three seasons of Marvel Television’s Daredevil on Netflix from 2015-2018, to critical acclaim. D’Onofrio did indeed appear as Kingpin in the Series Finale of Hawkeye. Debates within the fan community as to whether or not the Netflix streaming shows were canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or not began to rage upon the release of Hawkeye, with no one from the Marvel Studios team stepping up to settle the issue. On March 16, 2022, the entire Defenders Saga arrived on Disney+, further fueling the debate. Four months later on July 23, 2022, Marvel CCO Kevin Fegie announced that Vincent D’Onofrio would star in an upcoming Disney+ series produced by Marvel Studios titled Daredevil: Born Again. The canonicity of The Defenders Saga remained an open debate. The 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline seemed to confirm that The Defenders Saga was not canon, as there was no mention of Kingpin’s history as seen in the now former Netflix shows upon the Sacred Timeline. However, on January 3, 2023, Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation: Brad Winderbaum confirmed during an interview with Screen Rant that the Wilson Fisk that appeared for Marvel Television from 2015-2018 and the Kingpin currently appearing for Marvel Studios were in fact the same person and that the events that took place during his appearances for Marvel Television did in fact happen upon the Sacred Timeline. This was further confirmed some 24-hours later when the final trailer for Marvel Studios’ Echo series featuring D’Onofrio as Kingpin, prominently featured video and audio from The Defenders Saga.
The 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline confirmed that Hawkeye takes place in December 2024 on the MCU (Sacred) Timeline, after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and before the main story of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
On July 29, 2021, Marvel Studios announced a November 24, 2021, release date for Hawkeye on Disney+.
On September 13, 2024, the first trailer for Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye was released.
Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye series was largely inspired by the critically acclaimed Hawkeye comic book series that launched in 2012, written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by David Aja. I highly recommend this series!
Hawkeye introduces Kate Bishop into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a skilled archer and Hawkeye’s biggest fan. Kate first appeared in 2005’s Young Avengers # 1, created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. She has been a prominent member of The Young Avengers, was a featured part of Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye series, and even took on the mantle of Hawkeye from Clint Barton.
Hawkeye introduces Jack Duquesne as Kate Bishop’s stepfather to-be. In the Marvel comics, Duquesne is known as Swordsman; a character that trained Clint Barton to become Hawkeye and who had ambition to become an Avenger despite his rather checkered past. Swordsman did eventually join The Avengers and in fact died a hero, sacrificing his life to save Mantis during a showdown against Kang the Conqueror. Swordsman was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck in 1965.
Hawkeye introduces Maya Lopez into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maya debuted in 1999’s Daredevil # 9 and was created by David Mack and Joe Quesada. In the comics, Maya was raised by Wilson Fisk and is traditionally known as Echo, but she has also worn the Ronin costume that is most associated in the MCU with Clint Barton. Maya was a featured part of Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers story.
On January 1, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner was hospitalized after suffering blunt chest trauma and 30 broken bones when he was hit and ran over by a snowplow that weighed 14,000 pounds. Renner’s injuries were debilitating and life threatening, and he spent two-and-a-half weeks in the hospital before being released on January 17 and beginning what would be a long and strenuous recovery.
On June 30, 2023, Rogers: The Musical (seen in Hawkeye) became a featured attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My Hawkeye Review
Episode # 1: Never Meet Your Heroes – Directed by Rhys Thomas. Written by Jonathan Igla. Released November 24, 2021.
The first episode of Hawkeye took viewers back to the Battle of New York where we saw the incident through the eyes of a young Kate Bishop. The Chitauri invasion ended up costing Kate’s beloved father his life, which of course, left a huge mark on Kate moving forward, but the exploits of the Avenging Archer Hawkeye did as well, as she witnessed the heroic actions of Clint Barton, who not only unknowingly saved young Kate’s life, but did it with style! Kate was taken aback by the efforts of this ordinary man in this otherworldy battle, and Hawkeye emerged as Kate’s hero; someone that she wanted to be just like when she grew up. The loss of her father drove Kate to be all that she could be in the area of archery, and by the year 2024, at the age of 22, Kate had become one of the most capable archers on the planet, claiming numerous awards in the field.
Meanwhile, Clint Barton had experienced quite the journey since that inaugural assembling of The Avengers. Hawkeye had fought aliens, robots, and even his friends and teammates during the superhero Civil War, before losing the entirety of his family following Thanos’ Snap, after which he embarked upon a murderous killing spree that targeted the criminal underworld. Five-years after the Snap, Barton reunited with what was left of The Avengers, venturing back through time in search of the ancient relic known as the Soul Stone. There, upon the Planet Vormir, Hawkeye horrifically lost his best friend and fellow Avenger: Natasha Romanoff. Back in 2023 with the Soul Stone, a mourning Barton witnessed another Snap; this one performed by Smart Hulk, and one which returned those who had been Snapped-away, including his wife, their three children, and the family dog. Hawkeye catches up with Barton during the Holiday season of 2024, as he and his family prepare for Christmas.
Barton soon learned however that moving on from one’s past can be a quite complex affair. For one, Clint was now experiencing major hearing loss, as all of his explosive battles before and after being an Avenger were catching up to him. Clint now wore a hearing aid and had been working hard on learning sign language. Beyond that, Clint was still in deep mourning over the loss of Natasha. He felt guilt, remorse, and frustration over her loss, and everything seemed to remind him of her, which made his venture to New York to watch Rogers: The Musical with his children a not-so-wise move on his part. Beyond that, despite his true identity being largely unknown, Barton’s murderous days as the Ronin came back to haunt him in a major way after he witnessed the suit being worn by someone else, which was a huge deal, as whoever it was that was following in his footsteps, would surely be targeted for the things that he did while wearing that suit. Barton could not allow this, so he decided that getting to the bottom of this mystery was a primary objective. As it turned out, it was young Kate Bishop that had donned the Ronin outfit.
This was no tribute to her idol, as Kate had no idea that Hawkeye and Ronin were one in the same. Kate came to don the suit after attending a Charity Auction Gala where she learned that her mother had gotten engaged to a man named Jack Duquesne. This news was startling for Kate, who from there discovered a Black-Market auction that was taking place underneath the Gala where select items from The Avengers Compound were being sold to the highest bidder. Jack was taking part in this shady series of events alongside his Uncle Armand, but everything went south following an invasion from a local crime syndicate known as The Tracksuit Mafia. There were three items of note that were to be auctioned off: a sword that had been wielded by Ronin, the Ronin costume itself, and a mysterious watch. With chaos erupting around them, Jack stole the Ronin sword and fled, while Kate confiscated the Ronin costume and put it on and then took the fight to The Tracksuit Mafia. Kate did well for herself, and even saved a stray dog along the way, whom she bonded with over their shared love for pizza. Kate would ultimately name the dog Lucky.
Wanting to learn more about Jack and his uncle, Kate ventured to Armand’s home, where she discovered to her horror that Armand had been killed! There, Kate encountered members of The Tracksuit Mafia once more, and the group chased Kate through the streets of New York City, which is the point in time that Kate and Clint’s paths crossed as Hawkeye arrived to save Kate from what would have in all likelihood been a deadly confrontation. Clint was shocked to see that the Ronin costume was being worn by a “kid”, while Kate, despite the trauma of the evening was thrilled to meet her hero: Hawkeye!
The first episode of Hawkeye was one that I thoroughly enjoyed! The Christmas setting was wonderful, and I loved seeing where Clint Barton was at this stage of his life following the events of Avengers: Endgame. I really enjoyed Jeremy Renner’s attention to detail in his performance during this episode. The look on his face as he watches an actress portraying Natasha dancing around on-stage was touching, and the little winces and grimaces of pain and sadness on his face throughout the episode were windows into where Clint was at mentally and physically. Meanwhile, Hailee Steinfeld was perfect as Kate Bishop. Her story was told in both a visually and emotionally solid way, and she was easy for me to cheer for throughout this episode as she got-in quickly over her head in her efforts to be a hero.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Episode # 2: Hide and Seek – Directed by Rhys Thomas. Written by Elisa Climent. Released November 24, 2021.
The second episode of Hawkeye opened with Jeremy Renner venturing to Kate Bishop’s apartment amidst hopes of repossessing the Ronin suit. There, he quickly discovered that Kate had not done a good job at all in terms of keeping her identity secret as members of The Tracksuit Mafia soon arrived exclaiming her name and setting her apartment on fire. This showdown with the Tracksuit Mafia highlighted some of both Barton and Bishop’s skills and resulted in Kate and Clint having to flee the burning building, leaving the Ronin suit behind. With things quickly escalating, Barton decided against returning home with his children, but promised to be home for Christmas. Barton then tracked down the Ronin suit at a LARP (live-action role playing) event in the custody of a local firefighter known as Grills. Clint was coerced by Grills to take part in the LARP festivities and to make Grills look good in the process. Despite being resistant to the idea, Hawkeye ended up having some much-needed fun, while in the process repossessing the Ronin suit.
In the meantime, Kate confronted her mother with news of Armand’s death and her suspicions of Jack. Eleanor would hear none of it, while Jack tried to psychologically analyze Kate. This led to Kate challenging Jack to a fencing duel, as she believed there was much more to the man than what he was letting on. This was a really fun scene as Kate tried to expose Jack’s talents while accusing him of holding back all the while. She eventually accomplished her mission before angrily leaving and reaching out to Hawkeye, unaware that he had allowed himself to be captured by The Tracksuit Mafia in an effort to interrogate them. Kate tracked Barton’s location however, and interrupted Hawkeye’s interrogation, crashing through the roof and getting herself captured as well. With both of the archers in Tracksuit custody, the gang contacted their boss: Maya Lopez.
The second episode of Hawkeye was another solid effort by all involved. The fencing scene between Kate and Jack was wonderful and Jack in fact stole the episode for me as Tony Dalton was amazing in the role. He was somehow both shady and likable, and that allowed a lot of mystery to surround the character in terms of his true intentions and whether or not he was a hero or a villain. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld throughout the episode, and both the action and the laughs were great here from start to finish!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Episode # 3: Echoes – Directed by Bert & Bertie. Written by Katie Mathewson and Tanner Bean. Released December 1, 2021.
The third episode of Hawkeye started strong with Maya Lopez interrogating the captured Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. Lopez had been on a relentless campaign to discover who the person was behind the Ronin mask due to the murder of her father and Ronin’s part in it. Barton used his skills to break free from his bondage and take the fight to The Tracksuit Mafia, but his hearing aid was damaged during the brawl. After freeing Kate, Barton and Bishop rushed outside and stole a getaway car which led to an exciting action sequence as The Tracksuit Mafia gave chase. While Clint drove, Kate fired a series of trick arrows at their pursuers and seeing how these various arrows worked was really awesome, not only for the visuals but for how exciting it was for Kate as a character to be wielding these weapons! Barton and Bishop went on to make a thrilling escape, after which the villainous Kazi of The Tracksuit Mafia warned Maya of the consequences of disappointing her uncle, whom he did not name.
After repairing Clint’s hearing aid, Kate convinced Hawkeye to break into her mother’s penthouse and use her company account to access Bishop Security’s criminal database in an effort to learn more about Jack Duquesne as well as The Tracksuit Mafia. There, Barton was confronted by none other than Jack, armed with a sword, bringing the episode to a close.
The third episode of Hawkeye featured what was probably the show’s best overall action sequence. That car chase was just bonkers, and everyone involved brought their A-game to it! I also thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Episode # 4: Partners, Am I Right? – Directed by Bert & Bertie. Written by Erin Cancino and Heather Quinn. Released December 8, 2021.
Picking up right where the previous episode left off, Clint Barton was spared the wrath of Jack Duquesne and Eleanor Bishop after they recognized him as an Avenger and realized that he is working in cahoots with Kate. Eleanor pleaded for Hawkeye to keep Kate out of his ongoing investigation in fear for her safety, and Clint related to her concern. From there, Barton reached out to his wife Laura for assistance, and she helped him deduce that Jack Duquesne was the CEO of Sloan Limited; a company that laundered money for The Tracksuit Mafia, confirming at least some of Kate’s suspicions that Jack was in some way involved with the situation she’d gotten herself into. From there, Barton confronted Kazi and ordered Kazi to talk Maya down from her vendetta against him.
In the meantime, Kate devised a proper Christmastime celebration for her hero, complete with pizza and a variety of Christmas movies. Appreciating the effort, this ended up being a major bonding evening for Clint and Kate where Barton came clean with Kate and admitted to being Ronin. Not only was this a therapeutic conversation, but it led to Clint sharing some of the tricks of his trade with Kate, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
After Kate enlisted the services of some of the LARPers that Clint had met previously, Laura informed Clint that the mysterious watch that was stolen by The Tracksuit Mafia was emitting a tracking signal. Barton and Bishop set out to retrieve the watch together, which turned out to be at Maya Lopez’s apartment. Kate entered the premises where she found not only the watch, but a notepad with the names of Barton, his wife, and his children written on it. A panicked Barton, realizing that Kate was in imminent danger, ordered her to flee and rushed to her aid. Inside, Kate encountered Maya and a fight between the two ensued. As Clint rushed to her, he encountered a masked assailant that he presumed was Lopez, only to discover that Kate was fighting Lopez. The fight between Kate and Maya spilled outside where Kate found herself stranded on a getaway zip-line provided by Barton. Clint assisted her in a very emotional save after which Maya was injured and the masked assailant was unmasked, revealing the assailant to be … Yelena Belova, on a mission to kill the man Yelena believed to be her sister’s murderer.
The mere sight of Yelena and Clint’s realization that she was a Black Widow raised the stakes of the situation to a level where Clint was no longer willing to include Kate in the mission, calling off their partnership.
The fourth episode of Hawkeye was the most emotional, and the most satisfying yet! Kate and Clint’s Christmas celebration was so beautiful and really moving, and the outstanding chemistry between Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld continued to define this show as its greatest strength! I also loved the callback to Endgame with Kate hanging in midair and Clint’s haunting memories of Natasha in a similar situation, but the greatest callback was Clint’s answer to Kate’s question of what his best shot was, to which he replied, “The one I didn’t take”, alluding to Natasha. This was a really beautiful exchange. Though this show ended with Clint calling-off his partnership with Kate, that declaration was reflective of how so very much he’d grown to care for Kate. He didn’t order the end of their partnership for Eleanor or anyone else. He did it for her, for he didn’t want to see her get hurt any further. On top of all of that, Yelena Belova was back, and with her being the highlight of Marvel Studios’ Black Widow for me, I was thrilled to be getting more of her here!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Episode # 5: Ronin – Directed by Bert & Bertie. Written by Jenna Noel Frazier. Released December 15, 2021.
The fifth episode of Hawkeye began with a flashback to the year 2018 which revealed that after two years of working to deprogram other Black Widow’s, Yelena Belova was a victim of Thanos’ Snap and was erased from existence for 5-years.
In the present, Kate Bishop went to her mother Eleanor with the information she’d obtained on Jack Duquesne and Eleanor vowed to have Jack arrested for his apparent involvement with The Tracksuit Mafia. From there, Kate returned to her aunt’s apartment where she encountered an unmasked Yelena, who revealed her past as well as her mission to Kate, warning Bishop to stay out of her way.
In the meantime, Clint once again donned the Ronin suit and set out to confront Maya Lopez. Their ensuing altercation was fierce until Barton unmasked and revealed his identity to Maya. Hawkeye then pleaded with Maya to leave him and his family alone and to drop her vendetta against him, reasoning that it was an informant who worked for her boss that ordered the hit on her father’s life, hoping that this info would redirect Maya’s anger. That didn’t happen however, and as Maya went for a killing blow, Clint’s life was saved by an arrow shot by Kate. Bishop went on to reveal that the Black Widow targeting Barton was Natasha’s sister and Clint welcomed Kate back with open arms, realizing that perhaps they both needed one another, regardless of the consequences.
Meanwhile, Clint’s words to Maya began to sink-in, leading her to grow suspicious of Kazi, who was uncharacteristically absent the night that her father died.
The following day, Yelena reached out to Kate, revealing that she was hired to kill Barton by Eleanor and furthermore revealed that Eleanor was working for Maya’s uncle, who Barton identified as the Kingpin of Crime.
Coming out of episode five, the big thing on my mind was of course, the Kingpin reveal. Rumors had teased this development for months, and I was one of countless fans who hoped Marvel Studios would bring back Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, and I was thrilled to see that they had, as I was a huge fan of his performance throughout Marvel Television’s Daredevil on Netflix. Everything with Yelena and Maya was also great, as this show was loaded with compelling characters and exceptional performances by its cast!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Episode # 6: So, This is Christmas? – Directed by Rhys Thomas. Written by Jonathan Igla and Elisa Climent. Released December 22, 2021.
The sixth and final episode of Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye was a thrilling end to a very, very good Disney+ series as everything came to a head between all of the characters that were prominently featured. Clint and Kate learned that Kate’s mother Eleanor had murdered Armand and framed Jack Duquesne, which came as a shocking revelation to Kate. On top of that, Kingpin had targeted Eleanor for termination. Bishop rushed out to her mother’s Christmas party to confront her over the reveals, learning that her father owed Kingpin money at the time of his death which opened a door through which Eleanor walked to begin working with Fisk. Fisk had ordered Kazi to take out Eleanor, but Kazi instead targeted Barton. This led to all sorts of chaos, beginning with Barton and Bishop receiving help from the LARPers to evacuate the party and to Clint once again being confronted by Yelena. Just as he had during his solo clash with Maya, Barton decided to fight the battle with honesty, revealing to Yelena the truth about Natasha’s heroic death and the fact that he knew all about her due to stories that his late best friend had shared with him. Yelena eventually pulled back from her attack and even helped Barton to his feet before fleeing the premises.
Meanwhile, Kingpin caught up with Eleanor and prepared to take matters into his own hands, but he was confronted by Kate. Bishop’s arrow shots had no effect on the Kingpin of Crime however, and as he advanced upon Kate, Eleanor crashed her car into the mammoth man. Eleanor had saved her daughter’s life, but Kate nonetheless had her arrested for the murder of Armand. No one was happier about this than poor Jack Duquesne who aligned with Kate and Clint in their final showdown with The Tracksuit Mafia.
Coinciding with all of this was Maya’s realization that Kingpin and Kazi both had played a part in the death of her father. This provoked Maya to meet with Fisk and apologize for allowing her quest for vengeance to consume her and then asking for some time off, which Fisk granted. As soon as she left however, Fisk ordered Kazi to take Maya out. From there, Maya confronted Kazi in private, beckoning him to leave behind the life they had lived in servitude to Kingpin, but Kazi assured Maya that Fisk would never let that be and persisted to provoke her into an altercation. Their fight ended with Maya killing Kazi, which she never wanted to do, leaving just one person left on her new list: Wilson Fisk.
Maya tracked Kingpin down after he’d been ran over by Eleanor Bishop. Maya pulled a gun on Fisk, who tried to reason with her to no avail, as Maya presumably pulled the trigger.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
With everything resolved, Barton returned home for Christmas, anxious to reunite with his wife and children and he took Kate and Lucky with him. Clint also burned the Ronin suit, finally putting that part of his past behind him, and also gave the confiscated mysterious watch to Laura, to whom it belonged as it turned out; a link to Laura’s own mysterious past when she worked as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. code-named Agent 19 (aka Mockingbird)!
The Mockingbird reveal was just one of my favorite moments from the Hawkeye finale. Most of the others pertained to Wilson Fisk and the solid, familiar performance of Vincent D’Onofrio. It was really cool to see Kingpin get a featured role in a Marvel Studios production and though Maya’s actions near the end of the episode suggested that this appearance by D’Onofrio was a one-off, I did expect to see him return to the MCU at some point, as the character has survived similar things throughout his history in the Marvel comics.
Other than my lack of affection for The Tracksuit Mafia (whose members came off as goofy and bumbling, and were used primarily for comedic relief), and an underwhelming credits scene, I have nothing negative to say about Hawkeye. I figure watching this series will become a Christmastime tradition for me and mine, and this was a solid effort from Marvel Studios, and all involved.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Hawkeye
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Ronin / Hawkeye
Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin
Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne
Trick Arrows!
Lucky the Pizza Dog
Christmas Setting
Emotional Callbacks to Natasha Romanoff
Chemistry between Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld
Battle of New York Flashback
Yelena’s Blip
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Kate Bishop. Eleanor Bishop. Jack Duquesne. The Tracksuit Mafia. Kazi. Maya Lopez. Lucky the Pizza Dog. Bishop Security. Sloan Limited. The Kingpin of Crime.
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