The fourth episode of Hawkeye brings back a character from the MCU, revisits the past of Clint Barton and a lot of easter eggs and references to Marvel movies and comics (Eye for spoilers)
Despite the Christmas theme of the series Disney +, Hawkeye takes Clint Barton and Kate Bishop into surprisingly un-festive territory. Either because of Clint’s pain for the memory of the loss of Natasha, or because of Bishop receiving the rejection of his idol of the Avengers precisely because of the fear of loss that his mentor feels. This chapter, in addition to making us live many emotions, has also given fans a lot of nods to Marvel movies and comics.
Escaping a friction with Kate Bishop’s mother and stepfather (and apparently confirming that Clint does not have a history with Jack Duquesne in the MCU), the new superhero team of Clint and Kate team up for a movie marathon, pizza. and a master class on how to kill someone with a coin in your pocket. The situation takes a turn when Hawkeye discovers the location of the clock Avengers Compound stolen from episode one and sets out to get it back with Kate as his buddy. The seemingly simple mission is complicated when Echo and Yelena Belova appear on the scene: the former hunting Ronin and the latter sent to kill Barton by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the post-credits sequence of Black widow. Hawkeye in the fight revives his memories of Vormir and tells his new partner to go home.
Fortunately, the emotional roller coaster of episode 4 makes the Easter eggs give us some breathing space. There are direct references to the Marvel comics, allusions to Clint’s unseen past in the MCU, and subtle clues pointing towards the ghost of Christmas twists yet to come.
The reference to the variants of Clint in the comics
Face to face with an Avenger in his apartment, Jack Duquesne struggles to remember Clint Barton’s superhero name, stuttering, «You are… you are Archer», before Barton corrects it. Referring to Hawkeye as “Archer”, in reference to the two alternate versions of the Marvel hero in the comics. Hawkeye’s real name in Judgment League of Earth-9602 (the world that merged Marvel and DC characters) was Clinton Archer, while on Earth-712 the version of Hawkeye was called Wyatt McDonald, and had the aliases of Golden Archer and Black Archer, in addition to using the nickname of Hawkeye.
Jack Duquesne’s mug references Tony Dalton’s character in Better Call Saul
At Eleanor’s house, everyone sits down to chat and have coffee, Jack, Clint, Eleanor and Kate drink from mugs decorated with green hexagons and bees. Both are visual hallmarks of the Breaking Bad franchise, which is probably not a coincidence, as actor Tony Dalton is famous for playing Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul.
Hawkeye hides his paternity from Eleanor
Begging Hawkeye not to endanger her daughter, Eleanor Bishop asks if the Avenger is a father, only to be met with a poker face. This little detail is drawn from Avengers: Age of Ultron, which revealed that the Barton family was in a super secret hideout, known only to a few within SHIELD. Obviously, Clint has relaxed a lot since then, appearing publicly with his children in “Rogers: The Musical” and in a restaurant in New York, but he is still secretive when asked by untrustworthy strangers.
The nod to Forrest Gump
Jack Duquesne has an endearing habit of killing idioms and misquotes Forrest Gump as saying: “Life is short … you never know what you are going to achieve”. Although it is not an obvious comparison, Jack and Forrest have something in common. They are both seemingly innocent, but are often found in the wrong (or right) place by coincidence, with Duquesne showing up at the black market auction, on Sloan Ltd records, and eating the candy from Armand’s apartment immediately after the death of this. Is this a sign that, like Forrest Gump, Jack is simply a victim of circumstance or will he eventually turn out to be just like his counterpart in the comics?
“The Big Guy” could be another reference to Kingpin
Episode 3 of Hawkeye set up Kingpin’s MCU debut with a number of references to Wilson Fisk, including the most suspicious suit sleeve in MCU history (and in Spain the voice of voice actor Vicent D’Onofrio in Daredevil). Episode 4 drops a reference when Clint Barton claims that Jack Duquesne is laundering money for “The big guy”. The nickname could be interpreted literally due to the Kingpin’s traditional appearance in the Marvel comics.
The coin trick
In the chapter Clint teaches Kate the dangerous trick of the coin, something that the avenger also teaches his pupil in the comics Matt Fraction and David Aja. Something that Clint has been practicing since he was a kid and something tells us this will come in handy before the end of this season.
Boomerang Arrows
The series draws heavily from the comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja, and as it does not continue to show multiple references to them. In the episode there is a moment when Clint Barton and Kate Bishop have improvised a Christmas movie marathon and Hawkeye’s pupil asks him why he does not use Boomerang arrows and thus recover them once he has launched them and thus avoid running out arrows, and although it seems to Clint an absurd idea in the comics the archer has arrows of this type.
Moira Brandon’s movie poster a tribute to Marvel comics
The early chapters of Hawkeye established Moira Brandon as Kate’s aunt Moira was a minor Marvel character who appeared in the West Coast Avengers comics related to Hawkeye in the 1980s. But the fact Clint and Kate spending more and more time in that East Village apartment is basically turning it into an unofficial Hawkeye HQ … just like Moira’s California mansion became the Avengers HQ from the West Coast. While one could try to draw conclusions about how her comic book counterpart was more successful, this Moira is out of town on vacation. Maybe he spends the cold months in his biggest house in California, and this New York apartment is just a place he stays when he’s playing roles on Broadway or something.
It seems that Moira’s career was quite varied. We have already seen the poster of his role in Creature of the Dark Galaxy, and this week we see the poster A Chance of Love. You can also see what looks like an official photo on the fridge.
Moira also owns a cup of Thanos was right The one Clint is drinking from.
Kate’s t-shirt another reference to the comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja
In Kate’s aunt’s apartment we can see Clint’s ward wearing a T-shirt with a dog logo and the legend “NANKA”, which in Japanese means “something”, a T-shirt taken directly from the Fraction and Aja comics .
Star wars
The plans to recover the Rolex stolen from the Avengers headquarters, goes through Clint recovering his arrows from the police evidence deposit for what they ask the LARPers, the live role-playing group for help. In one scene, some of its members are at Kate’s aunt’s apartment and a song is playing that will be familiar to fans of the Star Wars saga, as they will recognize the Christmas theme “Bells, Bells, Bells” that C-3PO sang. (Anthony Daniels) on the 1980 Christmas album Christmas in the stars.
Introducing a new villain?
Also in the apartment of Kate’s aunt, a member of the LARPers called Wendy Conrad appears, a police officer who is in charge of recovering Clint’s arrows from the evidence deposit, however this character in the comics has a greater background, they are It is about a well-known villain Bombshell, who appeared in the hawk-eye comics of the eighties as an assassin who was hired to take down Clint. Although in the series she seems more an ally than an enemy, the character gives Barton a sports bag with arrows inside that includes an embroidery with the name of Bombshell, a gift from his wife and with some sentimental value. Will a villain come back when I didn’t get her precious bag back?