Marvel Confirms The Hawkeye Series Wants To Emulate The Acclaimed Fraction/Aja Run
For many fans, Marvel's upcoming "Hawkeye" series is a dream finally realized. As played by actor Jeremy Renner, it's fair to say that the MCU's portrayal of Clint Barton/Hawkeye has been somewhat hit-or-miss to this point. Things started off on somewhat shaky ground with his clunky cameo in the first "Thor" film, the novelty of which quickly wore off once it became clear that he wouldn't be appearing in the movie again and was treated mostly as an afterthought. From there, the expert archer didn't have much luck with his next appearance in 2012's "The Avengers," relegated to a personality-less victim of Loki's mind control for the majority of the film. A few relatively controversial creative choices followed after that, notably the interlude at Hawkeye's farm in "Age of Ultron" that finally gave us a look at the family life of one of these superheroes (which I really liked!) and his vengeance-driven killing spree in "Avengers: Endgame" (which I found to be a ... questionable choice!) that more or less turned him into the Punisher.
But the past is the past, as Marvel is finally giving Clint Barton much more of a spotlight with the upcoming "Hawkeye" series. The presence of Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop was an early indication that it would be taking inspiration from the seminal and acclaimed Matt Fraction/David Aja comic storyline, to the delight of many fans — those involved with the Disney+ series have gone ahead and confirmed that connection.
"This Is Kate Bishop"
The exceedingly well-received Matt Fraction and David Aja "Hawkeye" series first ran in 2012 for a total of 22 issues, completely redefining the comic character and bringing a modern edge to a hero that many have disregarded in the past. In that light, any news of Hawkeye's live action counterpart taking a page (or several) out of that source material is nothing but good news.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, star Hailee Steinfeld and "Hawkeye" executive producer Trinh Tran both gave their thoughts on making the show line up with the comic series and doing justice by Kate Bishop. According to Steinfeld, "Diving into all the information out there on Kate Bishop felt like a dream." She made sure to put in the work for her archery training and never lost sight of the thrill of working in the MCU, either. "It's very, very exciting to be in the MCU at all. I still haven't been able to get over that."
Tran expands on that and on Steinfeld's casting in the first place as well, saying:
"The Fraction/Aja style and tone is what we were really gravitating towards. Once they encounter each other and go off on this journey together, there's so much they can bounce off each other.
I remember the very first day when [executive producer Kevin Feige] and I sat with Hailee to talk about it. We were just like, 'This is Kate Bishop.' When you read the comics, you get that energy from Kate — that wit and those smarts. And meeting Hailee, you see she's so incredibly talented. Just look at the body of work she's accomplished at such a young age. We knew having her be a part of the MCU one way or another would be very exciting, but when we started talking about this particular project and this character, she just became our go-to girl."
Steinfeld, of course, previously starred in a Marvel superhero movie as Gwen Stacy in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" while Tran has served in various assistant and producing roles in the MCU going back to the first "Iron Man." Together with the rest of the "Hawkeye" creative team, they're certainly trying to live up to lofty expectations with the upcoming holiday-themed series.
"Hawkeye" premieres on Disney+ on November 24, 2021.