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Sarah here, teaching English around the world. Living life and seeing things.
A brilliant debut from Alaqua Cox as an enemy of Hawkeye!
The new instalment of Hawkeye shows us more action, and we finally get to see what our characters can do. This week’s episode stars Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Alaqua Cox, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, and Zahn McClarnon.
World’s Mightiest Archer(s)
One of my favourite things about Marvel standalone movies and shows is that they are able to fully explore the skills and abilities of the characters. They give us a better insight into just how good they are at their jobs.
In past films, Hawkeye is shown to be the world’s greatest archer and a skilled fighter, but we never really get to see the full extent of how skilled he is. Hawkeye feels like it’s changing this, and we get a taste of just how good Clint Barton (Renner) is, as well as what he’s able to do. Throw in Kate Bishop (Steinfeld) and a few trick arrows, and it feels like they could be almost unstoppable.
Not only are they great individually, but they seem to flawlessly come together to work as a team. They are already balancing each other out; as fighters, as archers, and as people. There is a perfect blend of humour and action with them that is a trademark of the Hawkeyes, and Renner and Steinfeld do a great job of making this friendship effortless and believable. The car chase is an iconic scene and there are parts that I feel have been pulled directly from the comics.
Jump Between Worlds
Maya Lopez is fully introduced in this episode and Cox nails it completely. After seeing her backstory and understanding her hatred for Ronin (and a possible tease of ‘uncle’ Kingpin), we get to see how much of a threat she will be in the story. Another skilled martial artist and the leader of the Tracksuit Bros, Maya Lopez is already one of my favourite characters from the show. Alaqua Cox is able to show all of the depth and power of this character, and for a complete newcomer, I am more than impressed. I hope we see so much more of her, not only in the MCU, but in other media as well.
I also enjoy how heavily American Sign Language is used in this episode. The Matt Fraction comics used ASL often (including for one full issue after Clint Barton goes completely deaf) and to see this being brought into the show is both refreshing and fitting. At first, I was a little let down by how little Clint Barton knew, but I feel that having a Deaf actress be the main person using ASL in the show is a great way to include this. I’m still hopeful that we’ll get a full episode that’s completely Signed, but I’m not holding my breath at this time.
Character Building
After our Hawkeyes escape the Rent a Bros and Echo, we have a lot more character development. A sweet encounter with a funny little callback to a Hawkeye costume of old further deepens the friendship that is building with Barton and Bishop, as well as a touching reminder of how anyone can be a role model, regardless of their flaws. As the episode ends, Clint Barton comes face to face with someone he has a very long history with in the comics, so I’m excited to see how the show handles this encounter.
Another great episode from Marvel, but hopefully we start getting more answers next week. With only 3 episodes left, it’s starting to feel like we might have too many questions to answer. But the most important question will always be this: when will Pizza Dog get his own TV show?
Hawkeye episodes 1-3 are now available to watch on Disney+.
Sarah here, teaching English around the world. Living life and seeing things.
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