Credit – Marvel
I really don’t want the new Disney Plus series ‘Hawkeye’ to be a bore, because I like Jeremy Renner as an actor, but after watching the trailer, I just can’t help feel that I’m going to be watching a farewell to another Avenger. In other words, the trailer feels very formulaic and on point with Kevin Feige’s push for representation just like in ‘WandaVision’, ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’, and in ‘Loki’. True fans of these characters will know that the reason for this show, is a set up to get rid of another white male lead, that was an Avenger. Captain America is gone and replaced with Sam Wilson in an extremely odd looking combination of the Falcon and Captain America costumes. Thor is going to be replaced by Jane Foster, Iron Man is going to be replaced by Iron Heart, Ant-Man is second fiddle to the front and center Wasp, and now Hawkeye will be replaced by Kate Bishop. The MCU was great…but we are now looking in the rear view mirror at an MCU that had the right recipe and all the magic, but will never find its glory again.
Another Failed Character Brought to the Forefront
The new ‘Hawkeye’ series on Disney Plus will just be another addition to a line of forgetful shows that just disappointed us, lectured at us, and redefined characters that have been established for decades. Out of all the characters, I will admit, it does make the most sense for Hawkeye to be replaced. He’s already retired once, only to come out and help Captain America in Civil War and then the snap happened and he lost his entire family. So, it does make sense that he would want to be with his family and retire the mantle of Hawkeye. But Marvel is giving the mantle to a kid that looks like she’s not much older than Clint Barton’s daughter. Clint Barton’s daughter, who in my opinion, would make for a much better choice and character arc to replace Hawkeye. There’s already some character development there and a bond between father and daughter and would make for some very interesting conflicts for Clint Barton. But, instead, Kevin Feige and Marvel have decided to go with another failed comic book character that is the “besets ever!”. A character that starred alongside Clint Barton in a 2012 series and eventually led to her own comic book around the time of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ specifically meant to replace the original Hawkeye. The comic book failed after 16 issues and was never a popular character with the fans, but the mainstream media will never let you know that instead telling glowing tales of a “beloved” character. But, that’s the way of things now. Representation over story. Captain Marvel had her own comic book 8 or 9 times and they all failed miserably. But, hey, at least we have a character that everyone has forgotten about and has had her sequel changed to the team up movie ‘The Marvels’ instead of the solo adventure ‘Captain Marvel 2’…interesting. With Kevin Feige running the entirety of Marvel entertainment(including the comic division)Marvel comics and the MCU have made sure that Kevin Feige and others can use the comic books in defense of these changes in the MCU. They can say, “hey we relied on the material in the comic books, so back off”. It’s lame but it is true.
Hawkeye Could Have Been Great
The Hawkeye we’ve come to known throughout the last 10 years in the MCU was a character that had a lot of potential and could have been great. That’s not to say Hawkeye didn’t have some great moments throughout the MCU…he did. There were very memorable moments in ‘Captain America Civil War’, In ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and a really great arc involving Black Widow in the original Avengers movie. It’s just that they were moments and moments that should have been explored more fully. Marvel could have given us a great back story movie between him and Black Widow that really delved into the Budapest incident and their obvious close relationship. But, instead of Marvel and Kevin Feige really exploring this character and developing it(on purpose I think, because the fans were always asking for it), we got a Hawkeye that was relegated to the background and could have been confused with a 2000’s X-Men or a character from the G.I. Joe movies. Marvel missed a potential goldmine at the box office with that pass.
Why Replace the Original Hawkeye?
You’ll notice in the ‘Hawkeye’ Trailer that Kate Bishop ends up wearing some version of Hawkeye’s purple costume. Why did the MCU wait until this new series to show us some semblance of the purple costume? I mean, Captain America had his costume, Thor had his costume, and Iron Man had his costume. Why not Hawkeye and why wait until now? And why do we see the purple on Kate Bishop’s character? We all know why. Because Marvel and Kevin Feige really wanted to make sure the fans know who the real Hawkeye is going to be and that a male lead in that role need not apply. As long as there is a Normie appetite for this kind of bad storytelling then Marvel will keep making these shows and movies. But, just to be clear, Kevin Feige is not making these for the fans of the comic books…he’s making these woke representations of beloved characters to make himself look good in the eyes of the social justice elites and cry babies on Twitter. I will say, however, that I think of all the Disney Plus shows, ‘Hawkeye’ might be be the least offensive and the one that I might actually try and watch all the way through barring some overtly placed identity politics. But…we shall see.
