‘Hawkeye’ is the MCU holiday special we didn’t know we needed

Posted on December 31, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

Despite everything else going on in the world this year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) delivered a shocking amount of content for fans in 2021, including four feature films debuting in theaters and five television series available on the Disney+ streaming service.

Although the newest series, “Hawkeye,” debuted in late November, its final episode arrived last week, five days after the release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” So, I consider it the true capstone on this year’s MCU offerings.

Although I still think “Loki” was the best overall show of the five, I don’t think any of the series entertained me as much as “Hawkeye” did. Telling a small-stakes story with a mixture of fan-favorite characters and new additions to the MCU lineup, “Hawkeye” delivers a holiday-themed adventure featuring some extremely fun action sequences and truly heartfelt moments.

Like “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” — and to a lesser extent “Loki” — “Hawkeye” follows a pre-established character dealing with the emotional fallout of the cataclysmic events of both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

As its title suggests, “Hawkeye” follows Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), a founding member of the Avengers who really just wants to be home with his family on Christmas. But, when shadows from his past appear on the streets of New York City, he is forced to reluctantly partner with a wannabe hero in the form of young Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld, “Bumblebee”).

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