Hawkeye finally has his own story, and I’m glad it isn’t merely a 2 hours film that would leave us wanting more. The first two episodes premiered together and truly brought out a great deal of Clint’s personality as himself and the superhero Hawkeye.
While it’s pretty refreshing to see Hawkeye and Clint Barton’s personalities come to the forefront, I feel it’s late. Just to give you perspective on how late his first significant appearance was in The Avengers, released in 2012.
So after 9 years and a string of movies, we still hardly know who Hawkeye is as a person. This is seen even in Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. But in her case, we saw a little more personality than Clint.
Thus, addressing the elephant in the room, did the MCU not depict Clint Barton and Hawkeye to their maximum potential? Did they underplay the character and give it much lesser significance?
The MCU did not portray Hawkeye and Clint Barton’s personalities properly. In the comics, he was much more charismatic and charming like Tony Stark himself. We barely see any persona coming out of Hawkeye because the creators haven’t given him that space until now in the Hawkeye series.
I know it is obvious that any fan will compare the cinematic characters with the OG comic ones. So if I was to go down that path, it is a no-brainer that MCU didn’t utilize Hawkeye at all. Every superhero in the Avengers has their own thing and is known for something. I don’t mean just the gimmicks, but their personality traits. However, with Hawkeye, we didn’t see that.
Hawkeye operates on a relatively smaller scale in the comics by fighting Tracksuit Mafia, The Clown, and other mobs/gangs. In a way, he could be a sassier and much more easy-going version of Daredevil and The Punisher. Now, we know how those two characters have been portrayed on screen, and it couldn’t have gotten any better.
So, clearly, scale is not something getting in the creators’ way. However, the MCU is always known to take comic storylines and modify them to their own creative visions, which has turned out great so far.
Hence, there’s a chance they did not want to make another sassy, always playing it cool, kind of superhero when there’s Iron Man. Now as much sense as that makes, it still doesn’t mean that there aren’t other personality traits that Clint Barton couldn’t have possessed.
For instance, in the current show, we see him be vulnerable, practical, and in general, a guy who gets things done, no matter what. We’re also seeing him emulate Natasha by trying rope in the Tracksuit Mafia to capture him just so that he can escape.
Of course, that plan got messed by Kate Bishop. But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that he is incredibly good at being a spy and might even do some excellent detective work in the upcoming episodes. All this, while just wanting to go back to his family dressed in tacky Christmas sweaters as they round-up around the tree.
All of this was missing in so many other films he was in, and personally, I just want to give a shoutout to Jeremy Renner. Simply because I’ve seen him in movies like Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol and Wind River, his characters in them are pretty different from each other, and the way he plays them is impeccable.
I’m pretty sure if the creators had given him a little more meat, he could have made this role his own.
Now that all complaints are out of the way, I’m saving a little silver lining for the end.
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop is brilliant. The writers have clearly compensated for what they did with Clint Barton by giving Kate an abundance of qualities as a human. The role is quite meaty, and Hailee hits the bullseye with this one.
So, now I only hope that Kate Bishop as Hawkeye (if she will be one) is going to have much more significance in the MCU, and that would reach the audience.
I’d just like to end this article with a quote from Kate Bishop. “You know what your problem is – branding.” It’s ironic because the MCU creators could use that advice for some of their characters like Hawkeye and Black Widow.
About Hawkeye
Hawkeye is an upcoming television miniseries for the Disney+ streaming service. Created by Jonathan Igla, it is based on the Marvel comic character of the same name. The show will feature Clint Barton aka. Hawkeye and newcomer Kate Bishop who will eventually become the next Hawkeye.
Cast members include Jeremy Renner who will be reprising his role as Barton, and Hailee Steinfeld will be playing Kate Bishop. Additional cast includes Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, and Florence Pugh, who too will reprise her role from the unreleased “Black Widow”. Hawkeye is scheduled to be released in November 2021.
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