Hawkeye and his new sidekick Kate Bishop have arrived on Disney+ just in time to save Christmas.
The first two episodes of the latest Marvel TV series are available to watch now, and Episode 1, "Never Meet Your Heroes" reveals Kate Bishop's (Hailee Steinfeld) origin story, and how it relates to the first Avengers movie in 2012.
The first installment of Hawkeye the MCU series introduced us to several new, potentially menacing characters, some returning favorites, and the instantly meme-able Rodgers the Musical on Broadway. To jog your memory, here's everything that happened in Episode 1 of Hawkeye on Disney+.
Kate Bishop's origin story
Hawkeye opens in 2012 where we meet a young Kate Bishop. She's a wealthy girl living in a classy penthouse suite in New York City not far from the Avengers Tower but her parents are experiencing money problems and are contemplating selling their home.
One day, their quiet life is interrupted when the Chitauri (a race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters) attack New York, and we see the events of The Avengers (2012) from Kate's perspective. A wall is blown out from her house and a Chitauri group look set to attack her until suddenly, she's saved by Hawkeye who she sees across the city on another rooftop.
During the attack, her father dies, leaving Kate alone with her mother Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga). At the funeral, Kate tells her mother she needs a bow and arrow.
From there we get an animated explanation of Kate's upbringing in the stylish and Christmas-themed opening credits. We see how Kate's upbringing led her to become an expert archer, martial artist, fencer and gymnast.
After the credits we meet modern day Kate who apparently has a propensity for trouble-making at her school. On a dare, she rings a bell using her archery talents, which inadvertently collapses the bell and clock tower. When Kate arrives home to face the music with her mother, she gets a telling off but Kate is more offended by the presence of Eleanor's new partner Jack.
Speaking of music, we catch up with Clint Barton who is attending a Broadway show with his three children. He sees himself depicted on the stage as Rodgers the Musical shows an all singing, all dancing version of the attack on New York. Clint doesn't seem to be having the best time and tears up at seeing Natasha Romanov on stage, and decides to switch his hearing aid off — yes, Hawkeye now has a hearing aid. The family leave the show early to enjoy Christmas in New York City together.
Most of the episode's intrigue, and potentially the arc for the rest of the season, is set up with Kate's activities. She attends an affluent gala with her mom where she meets a forthright rich man named Armand Duquesne who drops the bomb that Kate's mother is engaged to Jack.
After confronting her mother, she takes a beat outside and encounters an adorable one-eyed dog. She returns to the party and overhears Eleanor and Armand arguing until Armand threatens her. This makes Kate invested enough to follow him down to a dark wine cellar where it appears an illegal auction is taking place.
Both Armand and Jack, who appear to be father and son, are there to bid on an item first featured prominently in Avengers: Endgame — Ronin's retractable sword. Ronin was Clint Barton's vigilante alter ego as he hunted down criminals after the snap. The suit is also up for auction.
Before the auction can continue, unknown assailants break through the wall of the wine cellar, looking to steal a watch recovered from the Avengers compound. In the madness, Jack, who lost out on the Ronin sword to his father, pockets it for himself.
Rather than running from the battle, Kate stays to fight, but does so by putting on the Ronin suit. She displays her fighting expertise by taking on multiple bad guys, avoiding gun shots, and knocking many of them out with wine bottles and her fighting moves.
After escaping the battle, Kate heads out onto the streets where people see her as Ronin. She saves the one-eyed dog and takes him home with her, treating him to a slice of pizza. This canine is likely to be Lucky the Pizza Dog who, in the comics, is a companion to Clint and Kate.
Meanwhile, after a day of Christmas fun the Barton family reconvene back home and switch on the news. They see reports of the fracas at the auction and see footage of "Ronin" running through the streets. Clint has flashbacks to his time as the deadly vigilante.
Kate tracks down Armand, only to find he has been murdered in his home. She escapes unseen after the body is discovered but she is cornered by multiple bad guys who look like they want to attack Ronin for revenge. She fights off several but is then cornered in a car as they look set to get the better of her.
Just in time, Clint shows up to save Kate by taking out all the men around her. He drags her into an alley way to unmask her, and is shocked to see it's a young girl masquerading as Ronin. Kate is thrilled to see Hawkeye up close but he asks "Who the hell are you?"
Episodes 1 and 2 of Hawkeye are available to watch on Disney+ now.
CORRECTION 11/24/21 12:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Clint Barton's alter ego from Ronan to Ronin.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
