Hawkeye

Read past this point at your own peril. There will be spoilers

When this show got announced, I was like, "Okay. Thanks Marvel. Give us a series that literally no one asked for." I like Hawkeye in the comics just fine. I hate him in the movies. He's just this bland ass, flat character and Jeremy Renner's performance hadn't changed my opinion. I also feel like Marvel has, to use wrestling terms, tried to get him over. "Look, he's got a FAMILY. He's a family man." "Look, he's lost his family and now he is RONIN". Side note, Ronin is a character only the most hardcore of fans would even know or care about. So using him seemed to be throwing a bone to fans or something. In Avengers: End Game, when it came down to him and Natasha, I was actively mad it wasn't HIM that died. So yeah, not a fan of this guy. I was not excited about this series, but I am resigned to my fate to watch every Marvel Cinematic Universe offering. I'm flawed in that way.

All that being said, I loved THIS show. If I'm being honest, it's because of all the characters around Hawkeye, not Clint Barton himself. Haliee Stenfield's Kate Bishop's enthusiasm for everything was infectious and was the engine that drove this show. This is more about her journey than Clint's, mercifully. I was completely invested in her journey to try and do right. Just like many other well-meaning young characters, she always thought she had the best idea and ability.

I think this show had the best title sequence I've ever seen. I say this because they blow through Kate's origin to prepare us for the rest of the show. We don't need to see training montages, flashbacks, etc.  Her hero worship of Hawkeye also makes sense and they lean into that throughout the show. 

Another thing I liked about this show, was the scale. It was over a few days period, centered around a couple of crimes in the city and lost items. No world ending threat. No plot to take over the city. Just a threat central to our characters. There was not an abundance of stuff blowing up all over the place. I said an abundance, I didn't say there wasn't stuff that doesn't get blown up.

This show also goes deep into Marvel's cast of characters to pull out Maya Lopez, aka Echo. She's become more prominent lately, so I won't act like this wasn't a strategic move. They even stayed true to most of her origin by even bring in a surprise character from another Marvel show. So those Netflix shows now matter! Woo hoo!

Anyway, Maya. I like that they have her communicate using sign language here and is mute. In the comics, she's also deaf, but can read people's lips and talk to them. It is a conceit that is completely stupid in the comic books. People don't write her like she can't read lips, so she is chatting up people like it is completely normal. Only when she says a line like, "I can't read your lips to know what you are saying, but...". It personally annoys me. Make the artist learn sign language and have her do it in the books. It is also a visual medium, you know.

I also loved that we get some payoff to what we saw in the Black Widow movie, with Florence Pugh's Helena. She was the best part of that movie and her appearance for a few episodes here also elevates the show. She is fantastic and I am happy to see her take on the Black Widow role going forward. Every scene she is in, you worry for the other character in what she is about to do. I can't wait to see more of her going forward.

Finally, we get the return of the Kingpin by Vincent D'Onofrio who showed up in the Daredevil Netflix series. I'm so glad that they are bringing back characters and actors from some of the shows. While I am glad, he felt like an odd fit here. He is clearly powered up here versus how he was in Daredevil. I read that he is now up to his levels in the comic book, so it was a deliberate choice. It does make him too overpowered for the heroes in this show. He'll be back, so I will hold my judgement.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The more grounded nature made me like it more and it is why I personally put it over WandaVision and Loki, if I am mapping out my ranking of the Marvel TV shows this year. It felt less like a set up for another movie and more like a setup for future seasons. This grounded sensibility is more of what I want from these shows.