The first trailer for the Hawkeye TV series has dropped and revealed what Clint Barton and his family have been getting up to since Avengers: Endgame. It seems that Hawkeye’s taken a well-earned break from saving the world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to spend time with the family he fought so hard to bring back.
When a Christmas trip to New York City leads to him meeting troubled teen and vigilante Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Clint’s forced to take up his bow once again and help the young girl defend herself from her enemies. Chaos, of course, ensues as Kate and Clint battle gangs, crash parties, and rescue dogs, all in the run-up to Christmas Day.
Drawing influence from Matt Fraction’s seminal run on the Hawkeye comic books, this show looks like a lot of fun, balancing some tremendous looking action with some quirky character work. Of course, in all the excitement of the new trailer, it’s possible you may have missed a detail or two, but don’t worry, we’ve been through the teaser with a hawk’s eye, picking out all the details, so you don’t have to.
Rogers: the Musical
Everyone loves a good musical and it seems the people of the MCU are no exception. Yes, while Steve Rogers’ days as Captain America may be over, it seems his days on Broadway have just begun. During the opening of the Hawkeye trailer we see a marquee for Rogers: The Musical which apparently “captures the heart of a hero”.
It doesn’t look like this is just a one-off gag or a bit of worldbuilding, we actually see a dance number from the production later in the trailer and it looks like it’s a musical retelling of the first Avengers movie. Maybe the Barton family came to New York to see their old friend’s musical debut?
Return of Ronin
One of the darkest aspects of Avengers: Endgame was definitely Hawkeye’s storyline. Hawkeye was the only member of his family who wasn’t erased when Thanos snapped his fingers and Clint took it pretty badly. Unlike the other members of Earth’s mightiest heroes who did what they could to help the world move on from The Blip, Clint decided to take bloody revenge on those who had the audacity to survive when his family didn’t.
So looks like Kate Bishop's gonna be a Ronin copycat in #Hawkeye pic.twitter.com/TiAUD7FFNs
— BSL (@bigscreenleaks) September 13, 2021
Taking on the identity of Ronin, Clint spent the five years after Thanos’s invasion hunting down and butchering criminals. When The Avengers figured out a way to bring everyone back, Clint abandoned this identity, once again becoming Hawkeye, but we saw on Vormir that he still felt guilty about his behaviour as the killer vigilante.
It looks like Hawkeye’s TV series will draw from this storyline with Clint chasing down the new Ronin, who turns out to be Kate Bishop. No doubt him taking her under his wing and hopefully showing her she can be ‘Hawkeye’ rather than ‘Ronin’ will let him atone for his own bloody past.
Kate Bishop
We’ve known for a while now that Kate Bishop was going to be in the Hawkeye series, but we didn’t know much about her beyond that. We now know that like her comic book counterpart, she’s going to be Clint’s protege but more than that she’s actually the catalyst for the events of the series.
Hawkeye teaser poster art @disneyplus @Marvel pic.twitter.com/iYySSHrjK9
— Jeremy Renner (@JeremyRenner) September 13, 2021
It seems that Kate has taken on Clint’s crusade against the underworld and got herself into a whole lot of trouble as a result. Feeling guilty that she’s taken on his old identity and enemies, Clint leaves his family just before Christmas to find Kate and put a stop to her vigilantism.
Unfortunately, things get “more complicated” and Clint’s forced to stay in New York a bit longer while he deals with his unwanted sidekick. It’s presumably Kate who earns the ire of the dreaded Tracksuit Mafia as well…
Tracksuit Mafia
An element taken from Matt Fraction’s run on Hawkeye, the Tracksuit Mafia or the Tracksuit Draculas, as Clint calls them, are a minor New York City gang. In the comics, at least, they were led by a man named Ivan Banionis who came into conflict with Clint over their plans to gentrify Clint’s neighbourhood.
The TRACKSUIT MAFIA !!!!! #Hawkeye 💜🏹 pic.twitter.com/PUghOaQhtm
— EMPEROR BOSS (@GodEmperorBoss) September 13, 2021
While they weren’t much of a threat to Clint physically, they did hire the assassin known as the Clown to try and deal with the archer. The Clown wasn’t successful in killing Clint, but he did manage to stab him in the ears with two arrows causing Hawkeye’s deafness.
We know the Clown’s going to be in the show, played by Fra Fee, so we’re guessing he’ll play a similar role to the one he played in the comics, with him essentially serving as the gang’s muscles once they realise they can’t take down an Avenger.
Hawkeye’s Hearing aid
While it’s difficult to say with 100% certainty (it could just be an earpiece for communicating with Kate), it looks like Clint is wearing a hearing aid in the trailer.
CLINT HAS A HEARING AID #hawkeye #Hawkeyetrailer pic.twitter.com/otMsFCarUr
— teddy 🌩️ broadway thor (@thorhimbo) September 13, 2021
As mentioned earlier, Clint was deafened when the Clown got the jump on him in an earlier issue, and we’re guessing things will play out similarly in the TV show.
Hawkeye and Pizza Dog
We’ve saved the best until last, though, because the trailer gave us our first official look at everyone’s favourite Hawkeye supporting character: Lucky the Pizza Dog.
Originally belonging to Ivan Lucky, who was known as Arrow and served as a guard dog for the Tracksuit Mafia. After Clint showed him some kindness (and gave him a slice of pizza), the dog turned on his masters leading to him being beaten and abandoned.
PROTECT LUCKY THE PIZZA DOG AT ALL COSTS #Hawkeye pic.twitter.com/SagPcTR6vb
— alias (@itsjustanotherx) September 13, 2021
Thankfully Hawkeye never forgets a friend, and the ace archer managed to get Lucky to a vet, where they saved the dog’s life. Renaming him Lucky Clint and Katy adopted the dog, giving him all the pizza he wanted.
Lucky went on to become a fan favourite, even getting his own solo issue. We don’t know how closely Marvel Studios will adapt his story – beating a dog may be too much for the streaming service Disney Plus – but we’re just happy to see him make his MCU debut.