When I discovered tears in my eyes 5 minutes into the primary episode of Hawkeye, I took that as a superb signal. Marvel Studios’ newest present is lastly on Disney+, with the primary two episodes now streaming. It explores how Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is processing life in a publish Avengers: Endgame world whereas additionally displaying how his heroism has impacted a younger, rich New York lady named Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).

The first two episodes gave us an straightforward, breezy, canvas for these two radically completely different personalities and viewpoints to evolve. And whereas the story, a minimum of at first, isn’t extremely compelling, the potential to see how these two characters are going to vary one another very a lot is. Those aforementioned, and barely embarrassing, tears got here within the present’s first scene. We shortly notice that Kate Bishop was in New York City when Loki and the Chitauri attacked in 2012, as seen within the unique Avengers movie, and that it shattered her life utterly. She misplaced her father (Brian d’Arcy James) and will have misplaced her personal life had it not been from a single arrow shot by an Avenger named Hawkeye. The means the episode used a really recognizable second from the finale of that movie, and gave it a complete new which means by placing Kate on the other finish of it, actually hit me within the coronary heart. You immediately perceive why she’s going to choose up a bow and arrow and have such adoration for Hawkeye. He actually saved her life. Plus, I discovered it transferring to see that the occasions of the MCU, even way back to Phase 1, are nonetheless having repercussions in new and sudden methods.

You additionally needed to recognize how the opening credit helped ahead the story by displaying Kate going via all types of coaching, like fencing, martial arts, and in fact archery. So after we meet her within the present-day, now performed by Steinfeld, we have already got an concept who she is: a lady who has aspired to be a superhero her entire life, even when she’s at the moment utilizing these abilities for college-age pranks which end result within the destruction of a priceless clock tower.

Thankfully for Kate, her mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) could be very wealthy. So when Kate goes residence for Christmas, Mom is mad, however can deal with it. She additionally explains that Kate’s wealth and youth give her a confidence that most likely isn’t a superb factor. Eleanor says that Kate would possibly assume she’s invincible, however she’s not. It’s a second that immediately alerts the viewers to Kate’s insane privilege, and actually differentiates her from a lot of the different heroes within the MCU. She is likely to be on the Hawkeye present, however she’s extra Tony Stark than Clint Barton.

Speaking of Clint, he’s additionally in New York for Christmas, taking in a Broadway present with this three, now a lot older it appears, children. They’re seeing Rogers the Musical, which is de facto humorous and hilarious to us, the viewers, however not a lot to Clint. The sight of Natasha Romanoff, even in musical theater type, nonetheless triggers trauma in him. Even within the lavatory on the present, Clint continues to take care of the load of his life. From a fan asking for a selfie on the urinal to graffiti saying “Thanos was right,” you possibly can inform that he’s not even near healed from all the pieces. Even the great issues, like a restaurant comping his dinner as a thanks, don’t sit proper with him. Moments like these early in Hawkeye work to indicate us Clint in a complete new weak, means.

Kate, however, has her personal issues. At an excellent swanky social gathering the place she’s dressed in a swimsuit as a substitute of the gown her mother requested her to put on, she finds out that her mother is engaged to a person named Jack Duquesne (Better Call Saul’s Tony Dalton) who has a proclivity for swords—a nod to his comedian e book character’s identification as Jacques Duquesne, the Swordsman, which we’ll get to later. He’s additionally obtained a contentious relationship together with his uncle Armond (Simon Callow), who himself has some odd, equally contentious emotions about Eleanor. All of it is vitally bizarre, so Kate decides to analyze and comes upon a black market public sale within the wine cellar the place you should purchase stuff like a Triceratops cranium… or the retractable sword of Ronin, aka Hawkeye’s vengeful persona throughout the Blip. Apparently Ronin/Hawkeye’s sword was recovered out of the rubble left through the Avengers’ last battle with Thanos, and now each Armond and Jack need it. Armond wins with a bid slightly below a half million {dollars} however earlier than he can acquire, a gang crashes the public sale searching for a watch. In the chaos, Jack steals the sword and slips away, whereas Kate finds Ronin’s outfit, places it on, and kicks a bunch of ass.

Unfortunately, Hawkeye’s Ronin persona has heaps and many enemies all internationally, particularly in New York. So as soon as Ronin is noticed by among the New York underworld, it’s open season. Kate, who’s contained in the swimsuit, doesn’t know this although. She simply thought it was a cool costume. She makes use of it to sneak into Armond’s place to hopefully discover out extra about his dealings with Jack and her mother. However, Kate finds extra than simply a few of Armond’s oddly monogrammed butterscotch. She finds Armond’s useless physique, stabbed by a sword. Very shortly Kate realizes being Ronin might be not a superb factor. Thankfully, as increasingly dangerous guys come out of the woodenwork to search out her, she’s saved by, you guessed it, Clint Barton. Her hero. And that cliffhanger of our two leads lastly assembly goes proper into the second episode.

Episode two picks up proper there, with Clint determined to get his Ronin outfit again and put that entire half of his life behind him. Before he can get it although, the Track Suit Mafia finds Kate, pondering she’s the Ronin of the previous, and makes an attempt to kill her. She and Clint escape however go away the swimsuit behind, which is the purpose the place Clint realizes that “a little girl in a ninja costume stole my Christmas.” He’s now going to need to get the swimsuit again, and ensure all of the criminals aren’t after this lady. He’s additionally going to need to get the sword too, however that hasn’t come up within the story but (however it has to, proper?).

One of the most important issues with Hawkeye is that the motivation for principally what’s going to be the drive of the entire present isn’t instantly apparent. It took me a couple of minutes to determine why Clint seems like he has to place his children on a aircraft and spend this time with Kate. Really, it’s not till the tip of episode two that you simply notice simply how huge a deal it’s for Clint’s Ronin stuff to be out on the earth once more and the way it’s going to drive him to take care of demons he has been avoiding. That there’s this younger lady in the midst of it solely complicates issues additional. That she idolizes him and needs to be taught provides one other layer—and that he has promised his household he’ll do all this in lower than per week to be residence for Christmas is simply the icing on the cake. It additionally doesn’t assist that, after going again to Kate’s now burned-down residence, the Ronin outfit is gone. Clint realizes it was taken by a primary responder who can be a reside motion position participant, which leads him to go to a LARPing occasion in Central Park. The scene was, frankly, slightly excessive and ridiculous, however seeing an Avenger strolling in gradual movement via all these knights and ninjas and witches was simply too humorous. He additionally wins a pal in Grills (Clayton English), who took the Ronin outfit and provides it again beneath the situation he be allowed to “kill” an Avenger.

There was additionally a extremely telling second within the episode when Clint and Kate (who for a big a part of this episode is dressed like David S. Pumpkins) are strolling via Times Square. A couple of folks dressed as Avengers are there, however there’s no Hawkeye, so Kate makes an attempt to elucidate to Clint why he’s not as common as a few of his fellow Avengers. She says the very fact he’s so mysterious can solely take him up to now, and the very fact he doesn’t show his feelings hurts his model. Clint says he doesn’t need to have a model however Kate explains that a part of the job of being an Avenger is to encourage, and Clint’s lack of overt sincerity is just not as inspirational because the others. It’ll be fascinating to see how this dialog about Hawkeye’s mystique suits into all the pieces that’ll occur within the subsequent few episodes. Our guess is, by the tip, Hawkeye is gonna be carrying that coronary heart on his sleeve like Kate suggests.

As Clint is LARPing, Kate is attending to know her soon-to-be stepdad, Jack. She’s way back determined she doesn’t belief him and proves he’s hiding one thing when the 2 resolve to do some fencing, as you do in the midst of an opulent Manhattan penthouse. Kate is so good at fencing, although, that she is aware of Jack is letting her win and holding again. It’s a truth he lastly admits to, which is smart; as we talked about earlier, within the comics, Jack Duquesne is a performer-turned-criminal known as the Swordsman. Duquesne even educated a younger Clint Barton, although we don’t know if that’ll be a part of his background in Hawkeye, or whether or not the Swordsman might be a part of his future on the present, simply but. In truth, we don’t know a lot about his motivations in any respect, simply that he’s being shady about them.

We additionally discover out Jack has considered one of Armond’s butterscotch treats—and that, coupled together with his swordsmanship, leads Kate to imagine he had one thing to do with Armond’s homicide… a homicide, she learns, the authorities assume the Ronin was concerned with. Kate leaves and needs to inform Clint about her findings solely to find that he’s been captured. However, he’s really allowed himself to be captured by the Track Suit Mafia to hopefully easy issues out about Ronin. He’s making progress till wannabe Avenger Kate drops in on him to avoid wasting him. Now they’re each captured and the episode ends with the introduction of the chief of the Track Suit Mafia, Maya Lopez, performed by Alaqua Cox. In the comics, Maya Lopez is the character Echo, who has connections not simply to Ronin however Kingpin and others. She additionally has a brand new Marvel Disney+ present of her personal popping out. So that’s thrilling!

At finish of those first two episodes of Hawkeye, a number of issues stand out. It was nice to see how Kate and Clint current completely different viewpoints on tremendous heroism. Clint has gone via a variety of ache due to it and even the great rewards don’t appear value it to him. Kate conversely simply sees that glitz and glamor of it and needs a bit for herself, circumstances be dammed. It’s additionally fascinating and overdue, even only a film or two eliminated, that Clint is definitely struggling the implications for his time because the murderous Ronin. That entire chapter of his life is one thing Endgame barely touched upon ,and it’s very welcome to get some perception into his psychological trauma. Plus, the best way Clint’s spouse Laura (Linda Cardellini) is so comfy by this level together with his exploits, and even helps him out, is a pleasant juxtaposition with the zany stuff happening as nicely. As for the story about Jack and a few homicide and stuff? Eh. I may take it or go away it at this level. But if we get to see the extremes of Kate’s wide-eyed pleasure and Clint’s cynical professionalism start to return collectively in each characters? Well, that would make for some actually thrilling stuff.

New episodes of Hawkeye debut Wednesdays on Disney+.

Wondering the place our RSS feed went? You can decide the brand new up one right here.