After the conclusion ofWhat If…?’s hypothetical adventures, Marvel’s ongoing barrage of Disney+ content will return to the mainline MCU for another passing-of-the-torch narrative. AfterBlack Widowsaw Yelena Belova take over Natasha Romanoff’s mantle andThe Falcon and the Winter Soldiersaw Sam Wilson take over Steve Rogers’ mantle,Hawkeyewill see Kate Bishop taking the titular moniker from Clint Barton.
Based on the recently released trailer, Marvel fans are in for another great buddy actioner. AfterThe Falcon and the Winter SoldierevokedMidnight Run, the yuletide setting ofHawkeyeevokes the classic buddy cop comedies ofIron Man 3director Shane Black. Following in the footsteps of Nat and Yelena, Sam and Bucky, and Loki and Mobius, jaded veteran vigilante Barton and budding young newcomer Bishop could make a mismatched pairing for the ages.
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The trailer forHawkeyefocuses heavily on Barton’s feelings of guilt over his harrowing actions inAvengers: Endgame. Afterthe Avengers failed to stop Thanosand Barton’s wife and kids were included in the “random” group he turned to dust, Barton responded by spending the entire five-year time jump slaughtering the amoral gangsters he believed should’ve been “snapped” instead of his family. When Nat tracks him down for the “Time Heist,” he’s just finished slicing and dicing his way through an entire yakuza organization under the guise of “Ronin.”
In the upcomingHawkeyeseries, it seems, Barton’s days as Ronin will finally catch up to him. But he won’t have to face the skeletons in his closet alone, as he’ll team up with Bishop along the way. This series will rely heavily on Jeremy Renner’s on-screen chemistry withHailee Steinfeld, who’s been cast to play Kate. Renner already proved inEndgamethat he can effectively play Clint as a disillusioned pessimist, and Steinfeld already proved her ability to play the young, enthusiastic apprentice of a grizzled antihero over a decade ago with her Oscar-nominated performance in the Coen brothers’True Grit.
The Coens’True Gritis a rare example of a remake that’s just as great as its predecessor. Henry Hathaway’s 1969 original is a classic anti-western, but it deviated from Charles Portis’ source novel to retool it as a starring vehicle for John Wayne.True Gritresulted in one of Wayne’s strongest performances, ashe challenged his meticulously cultivated on-screen imagewith the role of aging, hard-drinking U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, but Cogburn wasn’t the focus of Portis’ novel; it was Mattie Ross, his plucky 14-year-old traveling companion. Mattie instigates the plot when she hires Cogburn to help her track down her father’s killer.
When the Coens re-adapted Portis’ work, they crucially refocused the story on Mattie and pushed Cogburn into the background with a suitable air of mystique around him. Cogburn was played by a brilliantly understated Jeff Bridges – reuniting with the Coens for the first time sinceThe Big Lebowski– while Mattie was played by Hailee Steinfeld. At the age of 14, Steinfeld became one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Although it’ll have a markedly more fun, lighthearted tone,Hawkeyecould tell a similar story toTrue Grit. There are clear parallels between the Cogburn/Mattie dynamic and the Clint/Kate dynamic: one is a veteran crimefighter haunted by his past misdeeds and the other is a naive kid eager to follow in his footsteps.Hawkeyehas a unique opportunity to give one superhero an origin story and another superheroaLogan-style end-of-the-road finaleat the same time. If Clint is reluctant to take Kate under his wing like Cogburn was with Mattie, it could create an interesting conflict between the characters.
Steinfeld is billed seventh in the cast ofTrue Grit– probably thanks to the agents ofA-list supporting players like Josh Brolinand Matt Damon – but she’s undeniably the star of the film. She gives the story a beating heart with her unwavering determination to bring justice to the man who murdered her father. Long after Cogburn has given up on his own belief in the importance of justice, Mattie comes along to inspire him. As committed as Mattie is to catching her father’s murderer, Steinfeld doesn’t play her as a cold-hearted killer. She’s still a relatable kid. In the climax of the movie, when Mattie faces down the villain and prepares to duel, Steinfeld plays the scene with a genuine hint of fear. In her line deliveries, Steinfeld makes outdated vernacular sound natural. She also developed incredible on-screen chemistry with Bridges as a questionable replacement father figure. It’s a powerhouse performance thatdeservingly made Steinfeld a recognizable star.
Hawkeyewill likely set up Steinfeld’s Kateto lead the Young Avengersin the MCU’s future. Based on her work inTrue Grit– and other fantastic performances inDickinson,Bumblebee,The Edge of Seventeen, andSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse– it seems that the next generation of Earth’s mightiest heroes is in safe hands.
