Marvel Studios | Disney+
The upcoming Hawkeye solo series has received a new trailer, and it looks fantastic. The series has echoes of Die Hard, with its grizzled protagonist taking on hordes of bad guys against a Christmas backdrop.
The biggest news to drop alongside the trailer is that the show’s premiere date, November 24, will see the first two episodes drop simultaneously.
The series centers on Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, the MCU’s resident archer extraordinaire. His protégé, Kate Bishop, will be making her MCU debut in Hawkeye, portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld. In the show, Kate is a Hawkeye mega-fan and aspires to be like her hero. Clint, meanwhile, is just trying to get back to his family in time for Christmas.
Hawkeye appears to be wearing a hearing aid in the trailers for the new series. In the comics, Clint has been portrayed as being either deaf or hard of hearing in the past. Clint’s hearing loss was a major story beat in the legendary Matt Fraction run on the character’s solo comic from 2015.
That comic run seems to be a source of inspiration for the upcoming TV series, with the show even using Fraction’s comic-style logo and target-like ripple effects.
In previous MCU appearances, Clint doesn’t seem to be portrayed as hard of hearing or deaf. However, some fans speculate that the events of Avengers: Endgame could have led to his hearing loss. The comics version of the character has been considered an iconic figure of representation by the deaf community. Seeing this story extend to the extremely popular live-action MCU is huge for that community’s visibility.
Fraction’s run also solidified Kate Bishop as more than just a sidekick. She’s a superhero in her own right, a worthy successor to the Hawkeye mantle. Fans of the MCU should expect to see Kate appearing alongside the Avengers going forward.
Many of the Disney+ MCU shows are setting up new characters to take over the role left behind by departing Avengers. In Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson’s journey to accepting his role as the new Captain America forms the heart of the story. The upcoming Armor Wars is expected to show the ascension of Riri Williams to the role of Ironheart, the armored hero who will take over in Tony Stark’s absence.
Even WandaVision, which existed in an eerie mystery in a sitcom-style reality, took time to introduce a few Young Avengers. The superpowered Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd, Wanda Maximoff’s children, will almost assuredly appear in future MCU titles.
The upcoming Hawkeye series is poised to finally give fans a story centered on the charismatic archer. Theories abound over whether the series will see Clint formally retire from his superhero life to spend time with his family, setting up Kate Bishop to take over the role for him.
In any case, audiences are in for a treat this holiday season when Hawkeye joins his young protégé to race home for Christmas. The six-part series will debut on November 24 with the first two episodes. Disney+ will air one episode per week on Wednesdays. The final episode will air on December 22, just ahead of Christmas.
