Hawkeye
Starring: Jeremy Renner (6 episodes), Hailee Steinfeld (6 episodes), Vera Farmiga (6 episodes), Tony Dalton (6 episodes), Fra Fee (6 episodes), Aleks Paunovic (6 episodes), Piotr Adamczyk (6 episodes), Alaqua Cox (5 episodes), Linda Cardellini (5 episodes), Cade Woodward (5 episodes), Carlos Navarro (5 episodes), Clayton English (4 episodes), Florence Pugh (3 episodes), Ivan Mbakop (3 episodes), Vincent D'Onofrio (2 episodes), Brian d'Arcy James (1 episode)
Directed by: Bertie Ellwood (3 episodes), Amber Templemore (3 episodes), Rhys Thomas (3 episodes)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
2021
Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1
Summary: Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) reluctantly begins mentoring Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) while in New York City over the holidays.
Review:
Tim: I do think Marvel has once again messed things up with their incoherent and not well-planned television approach. However, Hawkeye is not one of the weaker points. This miniseries (apparently, no word on a second season?) does so much right, it shows the promise of leveraging Disney+ to round out the MCU. In all likelihood, we'd never get a Hawkeye movie. So, instead, we get to spend 6 episodes with this overlooked Avenger. This is what the MCU should be doing- the series gives us more time with an already-established character. It introduces his potential long-term replacement. It connects directly to the larger MCU and broadens the horizons of the megalithic entertainment series. It's entertaining and fun. In short, it's everything MCU's miniseries should be.
The series works because of the fun banter and relationship between Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. Jeremy Renner is always great when he's a bit curmudgeonly, and he gets to showcase that aspect of Clint here. We get to know his character better and it's genuinely fun seeing him thrust into the spotlight, when he was always such a supporting player in the Avengers movies. He gets a fantastic partner in Hailee Steinfeld, who brings newfound energy and light to the role of Kate Bishop. At times, some of her acting was forced, but as a whole, Steinfeld establishes this character and endears herself to the audience. We might feel uncomfortable about Hawkeye passing his bow to the next generation, but by the end of the miniseries, I felt like it was okay. Kate Bishop is an interesting character and we want to see more of her in the future. The heart of this series is really the growing friendship between these two characters, and Renner and Steinfeld make a tremendous pair.
The supporting cast is great, too. Vera Farmiga makes every episode better with her presence. Tony Dalton is wonderful as the Swordsman- I loved how the miniseries brought this clearly B (or C) level character to the MCU. Swordsman has an interesting comics history and I really enjoyed the interpretation of the character here. I didn't love Maya Lopez as a character. Alaqua Cox was solid in her performance, but Echo never felt like a great character to me. I was overjoyed, though, to see Vincent D'Onofrio reprise his role as Kingpin. Bringing him back for the MCU is one of the best decisions made in recent years. Likewise, I was so happy that Florence Pugh showed up here for 3 episodes- Yelena is an excellent character and I loved how they brought her in. Hawkeye works on many levels, but one of the chief ones is that it feels interconnected to the broader MCU. Marvel wouldn't learn the lesson here and a lot of future series were hurt by this idiotic approach to tell "stand alone" stories. I loved the connections between this series and the broader MCU.
The story itself here is solid- there's a lot of characters and the narrative at least gives them interesting things to do. It might not matter to the broader MCU much, but it matters to these characters. I had a lot of fun with each episode and I looked forward to the next one. MCU series don't have to be revolutionary, but they need to be entertaining. Thankfully, Hawkeye is.
There's absolutely a part of me that wishes this series would continue. And, who knows, perhaps it might. One of the most annoying things Marvel has done recently is leave so many of its series' fate uncertain. I suppose this is a miniseries, but that was never truly clear from the outset. I'm writing this three years later and it feels like we won't be getting more episodes. That's a shame, because this was definitely one of the stronger series to come out. I really did enjoy Hawkeye and appreciate all it accomplished in only 6 episodes.
Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A
If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Echo