Disney+ is hoping to continue its strong streak of Marvel TV shows alive with Hawkeye and the first trailer is so much fun, it’s hard to believe they won’t pull it off. Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), on a neverending quest to retire from the Avengers life, gets pulled away from Christmas prep with his long-suffering family to help out the newest MCU recruit and aspiring archer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). What follows looks like a joyously bonkers yuletide romp that casts Barton as a grudging mentor to Steinfeld’s eager beaver protege.
The series is loosely based on a Marvel Comics classic run by Matt Fraction and David Aja that leans into the absurdity of Hawkeye’s whole concept, depicting a super loser whose gift with a bow and arrow isn’t a whole lot in the face of evil, but is nevertheless driven to do the right thing despite impossible odds. In the comics, the much younger Kate Bishop has a lot to learn from Barton about being an Avenger but has an emotional maturity he lacks, lending more relational equity to what would otherwise be a simple Batman and Robin superhero partnership.
So far, the Disney+ series have stayed truer to their comic book origins in spirit than actual plot points, so it’s anyone’s guess just how faithful this one will be. But Steinfeld is a welcome dash of brightness on Barton’s generally glum tone and the Christmas cheer of this trailer is a nice change of pace for this franchise. Can’t wait.
