Hawkeye

Our Review

The Christmas one: Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner, dry as ever) just wants to get home to his kids, but his Ronin past resurfaces via Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), the overly eager prodigy who inherits the mantle accidentally, and the pair navigate a New York holiday season of Tracksuit Mafia, crime lord reveals (D’Onofrio’s Kingpin crossing over from the Netflix canon), and LARPers (the genuinely sweet subplot).

Steinfeld is the show’s engine. Kate Bishop is the instant crowd pleaser heir, and the Renner-Steinfeld double act (grumpy veteran, overly eager protégé) has real warmth. Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez (setting up Echo) gives it stakes, the Rogers: The Musical opening number is the MCU’s best self parody, and the finale lands the tone. It’s the smallest scope MCU show, street level, one city, one holiday, and that modesty is why it works.

Verdict: Watch it at Christmas. The best MCU comfort watch, comfy sweaters, trick arrows, found family.