Hawkeye spoilers follow.
Marvel sure does love trauma these days. From Bucky's guilt to Wanda's pain, that catch-all word best encapsulates pretty much everything that the MCU has done on Disney+ so far.
Of course, much of that is down to the extended runtime of these shows. Suddenly characters who only got a few lines in the big team-up films are suddenly given the spotlight in what would actually amount to three or four films of their own.
Hawkeye is no exception to this, but even so, we were surprised by how quickly the new show starts to tackle Clint's pain, particularly in regards to everything he endured in Avengers: Endgame. Actually, scratch that. What surprised us most was exactly how the new Hawkeye show went about this.
Following Kate's flashback origin, episode one opens with the Rogers musical that stole the spotlight in those early Hawkeye promos. Each of the original Avengers is represented on stage by various actors in the kind of shoddy outfits we haven't seen since Spidey tried to make a go of it solo.
Among all these loveable Avengers knockoffs is Black Widow, or at least, a cheap, all-singing imitation of her. Naturally, this vision of his dead ally sends Hawkeye spiralling a bit. "I know everyone misses her, but she was your best friend, says Clint's daughter, as she's the only one who's noticed him struggling.
For Black Widow fans in particular, this little nod to Clint and Natasha's relationship is long overdue. Back when Scarlett Johansson's character died in Avengers: Endgame, there was a vocal contingent who criticised the lack of attention her sacrifice was given in the grand scheme of things. After all, Iron Man wasn't the only one who died to save everyone, but at the end, he was the only one given an actual funeral of his own.
At the time, Endgame co-writer Christopher Markus justified this by arguing that anything else would have felt out of character:
"Tony gets a funeral. Natasha doesn't. That's partly because Tony's this massive public figure and she's been a cipher the whole time. It wasn't necessarily honest to the character to give her a funeral."
There was also an opportunity to bring Natasha that closure in another film, the already-announced Black Widow prequel, and that's something Iron Man would never get given that Robert Downey Jr seems to have left the franchise for good.
That closure comes for Natasha in Black Widow's mid-credits scene where Yelena, her sister, visits Black Widow's humble tombstone, which is marked "Daughter. Sister. Avenger." The grave might be hidden out in the middle of nowhere, but at least Natasha's sacrifice wasn't forgotten entirely.
What hasn't been addressed yet though, at least not until now, is how Clint feels about all this. Back in the MCU's early days, Hawkeye and Black Widow were near inseparable thanks to everything they'd gone through together in their shared, shady past. Because of this, fans were disappointed to see Endgame brush over Clint's reaction to Natasha's death, even if it was understandable given how much story that film stuffed into three hours.
Now that Hawkeye has more screen time than ever before, Marvel can finally tap into the ramifications of this trauma with some much-needed nuance. And in case you thought that this would end with just Black Widow's stage cameo in episode one, Jeremy Renner has reassured fans (via Decider) that Natasha's legacy will continue to impact the show moving forward:
"I think [his relationship with Black Widow] informs Clint and Kate’s bond... As Kate learns [about Clint’s bond with Natasha], the audience learns. I think it’s so beautiful. It’s just defining of how Clint sees what the job of being a superhero is. Yeah, [Black Widow is] sprinkled throughout [the show] and always a part of what Clint is, for sure."
And crucially, the first two episodes of Hawkeye are also intent on exploring the guilt that Clint carries from his time in Endgame as well. Because let's not forget, our founding Avenger did some pretty messed-up stuff during that time jump, none of which was really explored in that film either. So with the return of Ronin's costume in the new show comes even more trauma for Clint, on top of his grief for Natasha.
That's a lot for anyone to bear, let alone a grumpy old non-powered Avenger like Hawkeye. But that's definitely the right approach to take here because out of everyone who's starring now in their own Marvel TV show, it's Clint who remains the most relatable, and the same can also be said of his trauma.
Even if said trauma does involve some super alien fights to the death...
Hawkeye airs new episodes every Wednesday morning on Disney+.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
