After getting the first two episodes last week, Marvel fans have been hanging on the edge of their seats waiting for the next installment of Hawkeye to drop on Disney+. Well, today’s the day as we get to jump right back into this wild holiday story featuring the longtime Avenger and a lovable new hero.
The episode opens with a young girl sitting in a classroom in 2007. From some context clues, we can surmise that the girl is deaf but also very gifted. Her teacher confirms her identity for us by calling her Maya. This is Maya Lopez, also known as Echo, and the woman we saw at the end of last week’s second episode.
We then see the young girl making shadow puppets and having a conversation with her father via sign regarding her new school. We then see her training in martial arts and watching some of the boys in her class to learn their moves. Her father, notably wearing a familiar red tracksuit, says goodbye to her and lets her know that “uncle” will be taking her home from her class. As he leaves, a large man in a suit steps partially into frame and pinches her cheek lovingly. We don’t get a good look at the man, but this is without a doubt the MCU’s version of the Kingpin. There was a lot of speculation suggesting that he might show up in this series but it is a big surprise to see even a glimpse of him so soon.
Maya then steps up for a match with one of the boys she was watching earlier. We see that not only is Maya deaf, but she is also an amputee, using a prosthetic for her right leg. This is a change from the comics but matches Alaqua Cox, the actress playing the adult version of the character. The boy tries to use the same move Maya watched earlier and she quickly counters and wins her match.
We then jump to a more recent time where we see adult Maya training with a man in a boxing ring. She easily defeats him before we jump to another scene where she sees Ronin killing several members of the Traskuit Mafia from outside their hideout. She rushes into the building to try and stop him but instead watches Ronin kill her father before he gets away. She shares an emotional goodbye with her father and he leaves a bloody handprint on her face in a moment taken directly from the comics. However, in the comics, it is actually the Kingpin that kills her father, which eventually leads to her turning on him, so this could change the character’s trajectory.
We then return to present day and the warehouse where the Tracksuit Mafia is keeping Clint and Kate. The two Hawkeyes argue a bit and trade some banter with the Tracksuits before being interrupted by Maya. She notices Clint’s hearing aid and begins signing with him before she quickly learns that he is not very well-versed in the language. Maya’s apparent right-hand man translates for them and Maya tells him his is too reliant on technology, referring to his hearing aid.
Maya questions Clint about Ronin, who lies and says Black Widow killed him. Maya gets frustrated and begins choking Kate, thinking she has always been Ronin. The translator pulls Maya away before she can do any damage. Clint then tries to calm Kate down and breaks free of his bounds and runs away, leaving Kate to struggle to break free of hers.
The Tracksuits chase Clint throughout the warehouse, comically getting their butts kicked. Eventually though, Clint find Maya, who proves to be more than a match for him. She knocks out his hearing aid and breaks it, leaving Clint essentially deaf. Clint finds his bow and arrows, pins Maya to a wall and makes a miraculous shot that frees Kate.
Kate takes out the translator and the two of them continue to beat up on the gane before escaping the warehouse, with Clint picking up his broken hearing aid on the way out. Clint passes up a Challenger, to Kate’s dismay, and begins hotwiring another car. The Challenger would have been very similar to (if not exactly the same as) a car the pair used for a chase sequence in the Matt Fraction comic run, by which this series is heavily influenced.
We then get a long, action-packed chase sequence that is also largely inspired by that comic run, especially all the various trick arrows employed to hold off the Tracksuits. We even get to see Clint use a Pym Tech arrow to grow a regular arrow and smash a truck. They then manage to escape on a train before Maya and the Tracksuits can catch them.
Kate and Clint return to their safehouse and it’s obvious Clint cannot hear at all without his hearing aid. Clint answers his phone for who he thinks is his wife Laura but Kate writes him a note to let him know its actually his youngest son. She continues to write notes for him so that he can have a conversation with his son. It’s an emotional scene that ends with his son telling him it’s ok if he doesn’t make it home in time for Christmas. This is one of those scene that is definitely furthering the bond between Clint and Kate as we can see the emotion on her face.
The Tracksuits pack up their warehouse as they search for a new base of operations. Maya and her translator have a conversation about not being careful in going after Clint and Kate. He again mentions “uncle,” saying he hopes he doesn’t find out. Maya snaps at him and reminds him that she is in charge before ordering him to look into Clint Barton.
Clint and Kate meet with a woman who repairs Clint’s hearing aid for him while they get some breakfast. It appears Clint doesn’t have his hearing aid yet while Kate is talking indistinctly but after a moment he puts it in and he can hear again, showing us that he was simply ignoring her.
Now that he can hear her again, Kate explains to Clint that she has always wanted to be able to help people and she has been dreaming of this her whole life. Clint tries to explain that this all comes with a price but she brushes him off and again acknowledges the cool parts of superheroing. She then draws up a design for a new costume for him, which mirrors Hawkeye’s classic comic costume.
After Clint shoots down her new design, Kate asks about a black costume, implying that he was close to Ronin, but never outright accusing him of wearing the costume. Clint explains that he is not a role model to anyone and that he never has been. Kate argues with him on that point, pointing out that he left his family on Christmas to help a stranger. They do agree that they need to work together to deal with the Tracksuits and the potential murderer her mother is marrying.
The two walk through a park as they share intel on the Tracksuits, and we learn that the translator’s name is Kazi. This is the name of a comic villain known as the Clown in the comics. Though, this appears to be a very different version of the character. Clint goes on to mention that “the guy at the top” will “do anything to grow the operation.” This is of course another reference to the Kingpin, who has likely already grown the operation to a point where he is running most organized crime in New York.
Clint asks Kate if the Tracksuits were after anything else in the auction, clearly not knowing about the watch. Kate doesn’t know however because she was focused on Jack and Armand. Clint laments the idea of there being items from the Avengers Compound in the hands of criminals before asking Kate about Jack. She jumps at the opportunity to accuse him and explains a plan to break into her mom’s penthouse to get information.
Once inside, Kate goes right to a laptop to begin searching for information. When she tries to look up information on Kazi, the first name that we see pop up is interestingly “Victoria Kafka,” who we see is a former employee of Bishop Security. The name is not a direct rip form the comics, but Ashley Kafka is the name of a psychologist who works at Ravencroft Institute, a facility that houses some of the most dangerous and psychotic supervillains. Another notable name on the list is “M. Kemp,” which could be a connection to the Netflix Daredevil series as Matt Murdock helped reduce the sentence of an incarcerated man named Michael Kemp.
The file on Kazi reveals that he is working for a company called Sloan Ltd., which sounds familiar to Clint. As Kate continues to dig, Clint wanders the penthouse a bit before a sword is drawn and held to his throat. We hear a voice telling him not to move before we see that it is Jack holding the sword as the episode comes to a close.
Marvel’s Hawkeye just keeps getting better and better. This new episode gave us all the action we could possibly want while still delivering a healthy dose of comedy as well. The dynamic between Clint and Kate continues to entertain and more and more variables keeps adding to this already fascinating story. Plus, we got the official unofficial reveal of the Kingpin in the MCU! Who knows what’s in store for us next week?
You can watch Marvel’s Hawkeye on Disney+ now.