Who is Pizza Dog in Hawkeye? Kate Bishop isn’t the only beloved character introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe through the Disney Plus TV series. No, we also have the best boy in the entire franchise, Lucky the Pizza Dog, a trusty canine companion to Kate and her idol, Clint Barton.
Marvel Studios, ever the savvy entertainment provider, makes sure we get plenty of good Lucky content throughout the sci-fi series. We get him smiling, wandering about the place, and our archer duo even take a break from their Marvel Phase 4 shenanigans to walk the Pup Supreme. Truly, a golden age for dog content.
You may be wondering if you can find more of Pizza Dog elsewhere – is he a fresh creation, or does he have some history within Marvel comics canon? The good news is there’s quite a bit of Lucky for you to get stuck into, and we here at The Digital Fix are more than happy to point you in the right direction. Here’s everything you should know about Lucky the Pizza Dog in Hawkeye.
Who is Pizza Dog?
Hawkeye’s good boy is part of the same Matt Fraction and David Aja’s 2012 run that serves as inspiration for much of the Disney Plus show. In the comics, Lucky the Pizza Dog is adopted by Clint after being abused and discarded by Ivan Banionis and the Tracksuit Mafia. Originally owned by Ivan, Pizza Dog – originally named Arrow – tries to assist Clint after he gets hurt.
The Tracksuit Mafia aren’t ones for being nice to, well, most people, and Arrow is thrown into oncoming traffic. Luckily, Clint would never watch anything get hurt like that, and saves the poor little pup from further injury. Unfortunately, Lucky’s left eye doesn’t survive, but the two form a strong bond while Clint engages in some street-level heroism.
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Pizza Dog becomes especially close to Kate Bishop, who becomes the second Hawkeye. He moves with her to Los Angeles for a spell, before coming to New York to help Clint, then back out to the west coast again. Kate and Lucky remain quite the dynamic duo, rarely separated from each other for too long.
Clint, Kate, and other characters call our favourite boy Lucky, but an issue from the dog’s perspective shows he prefers Pizza Dog. Why Pizza Dog? Simple: he loves pizza, and he loves it so much he’ll happily make it his whole personality. The biggest of big moods.
What are the differences between Pizza Dog in Hawkeye and in the comics?
Not a huge amount – Pizza Dog is broadly the same in Hawkeye on Disney Plus as he is in Marvel comics. Still a stray rescued by one of our heroes, still missing one eye, still loves pizza, still the best boy – though that last part is a given.
Some of the details are different. Kate saves him from being run over instead of Clint, and we haven’t yet learned how he came to be in danger in the first place. There’s no established connection to the Tracksuit Mafia, and Kate is more connected to the dog than Clint. But, it’s always possible Clint and Lucky’s bond is established another way, perhaps because they both have sensory disabilities, what with Clint’s hearing aids.
At the end of Hawkeye episode 3, ‘Echoes’, Kate names him Pizza Dog. So, Lucky hasn’t been enshrined as his name in the show just yet.
Will we get more of Pizza Dog?
In the comics, Kate and Pizza Dog become inseparable, and it looks like that’ll be the case here. We asked both producer Trinh Tran and director Rhys Thomas about seeing more of our new favourite superdog, and they were optimistic about another appearance.
Thomas told us he “sincerely hopes to do more with Lucky“, and believes he’ll get another chance. Tran says if we want more Pizza Dog, like, say, a Pizza Dog spin-off, we’ve got to let Marvel Studios know. “You guys have to tell me how much you guys want to see Lucky the Pizza Dog, I think,” Tran explains. “Let’s see how Pizza Dog does in this series.”
Ball’s in our court for more Lucky, then. That’s everything we know about Pizza Dog in Hawkeye. New episodes stream every Wednesday on Disney Plus.