‘Hawkeye’: MCU Fans Are ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About the Show’s Ability to Redeem Its Hero
Hawkeye is one of the original Avengers, but unlike Iron Man, Captain America, or the Hulk, Hawkeye doesn’t have much to do in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
That’s to be expected, since he, like Black Widow, doesn’t have any superpowers, and instead, he’s just a regular guy with a bow and arrow who’s somehow fighting aliens and evil robots. However, Hawkeye, in the comics, has a rich history, and his upcoming Disney+ show, which is called Hawkeye, will likely feature a few of his comic book storylines.
While the show is currently filming, fans already know a few things about what to expect from it. That said, one thing that many fans are cautiously optimistic about is that the show might just be able to redeem Hawkeye as a hero.
Jeremy Renner in the MCU so far
While Hawkeye has been a pretty bland character so far in the MCU, one thing that’s defined him has been his love for his family. But, in Endgame, his entire family got dusted away by Thanos. In those five years between losing his family and finally saving them, he became a different person, and that person went by a new name, Ronin.
In the movies, Hawkeye has always been a serious person, but Ronin took that up to a new level. Not only that, but Ronin went around the world hunting down and killing criminals.
This isn’t seen as a good thing by most comic book fans, as the heroes aren’t supposed to kill the bad guys. In any case, Hawkeye eventually helps save his family as well as half of all life in the universe, and that’s where his story is at so far.
What fans know so far about ‘Hawkeye’
Like Marvel fans talked about on Reddit, fans are cautiously optimistic about how the show’s going to handle his characterization. Like one fan said, “Man, I love that they’re taking so many cues from Fraction’s run, but I just don’t know how they’re going to mesh his take on Hawkeye with the MCU’s. I’m being cautiously optimistic, but I like MCU!Hawkeye for being a family man and Fraction!Hawkeye for being a lovable f*** up.”
Marvel fans were referring to when Matt Fraction was writing Hawkeye comics a few years ago. Those comics also involved Kate Bishop, the woman who’d later take up the name of Hawkeye after Clint Barton, played by Jeremy Renner, passes it on to her.
In the show, Kate Bishop will be played by Hailee Steinfeld, and as Marvel fans talked about, Lucky, who’s a dog from the comics, also seems to be in the show. There also seems to be some action sequence happening in a subway station, and this would be something that’d happen during Fraction’s run of Hawkeye.
Will the show redeem him?
As a result of those pieces of info, many Marvel fans are cautiously optimistic that the show will be making an effort to portray Hawkeye in a more lovable light than he was in Endgame. Marvel fans think that Hawkeye will still be fighting criminals, but the show may provide more reason or context to his actions than Endgame did. Like one fan wrote, “This show is probably about rehabilitating him.”
On top of that, in the comics, since Kate Bishop eventually becomes the next Hawkeye, it would stand to reason that in the show, something similar happens. As such, it would make more sense if Clint Barton’s run as Hawkeye ended on a positive note rather than a negative one. That’s why most fans are pretty sure that the show will end up redeeming Hawkeye, one way or another.
