Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye [2021]

Home Alone meets Die Hard. Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye is fun to watch but trying to do too much for a six episodes season.

At this point, we should get used to the Marvel Studios formula for its Disney Plus shows. Start with an existing character, fill in some backstory from the comics, give them a new often younger partner, face a very low threat, and come out with a new suit at the end.

What differentiates Hawkeye, for good and bad, is the heavy influence from two Christmas classics. Home Alone and Die Hard. From the Christmas theme, all the way to the action and music, the influences are cristal clear. Mix that with the theme of humanizing superheroes, and you should get an interesting premise.

However, some stuff went wrong during the creation of that melting pot. First, Jeremy Renner wins for showing us that Clint Barton is a human after all with all the wear-and-tear. However, he’s nowhere near the shining star he should have been. Second, Hailee Steinfeld is amazing at Kate Bishop, can’t wait to see more. Her chemistry and banter with Florence Pugh‘s Yelena save the show, even if it comes late in the story. Which takes us to Pugh. Thank you for gracing our screens again, you’re a star.

However, the main issue with Hawkeye is not its stars. The show is just trying to do too much. Fill in some gaps in Clint’s Ronin background, introduce a new young avenger, introduce Maya Lopez/Echo (Alaqua Cox) ahead of her spinoff show, tie into Endgame and Black Widow movies, and that’s not all. What I really didn’t get was the weird tie into Netflix shows. I loved the comics that inspired the main story of the show, but the execution felt forced just to train the viewers that the Netflix shows are MCU canon now.

You can’t tease a character like (#NoSpoilers) from the Netflix shows and make their appearance that underwhelming and irrelevant to the bigger scheme of things. As I said in Spider-Man: No Way Home review: Marvel should tone down the fan servicing. It’s starting to get annoying.

Should you watch it?

Five and a half hours of Die Hard meets Home Alone? Sign me up. But don’t expect anything original or mind-blowing like Loki or Wandavision.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye exclusively on Disney+ everywhere.