Ok, so Hawkeye Episode 3 is now out on Disney Plus and in this video we’re gonna be breaking down all the easter eggs, hidden details, callbacks to the comics and of course giving our review on the show.
We’re gonna be spoiling it all so if you haven’t had a chance to check it out then I highly recommend that you check out now.
If you enjoy the video then please hit that thumbs up button and don’t forget to subscribe for puns that have all the Hawkeye fans quivering.
With that out the way, I’ll stop that already, now let’s get into our breakdown of Hawkeye.
Ok, so last weeks episode ended with Clint taken captive by the tracksuit mafia in a scene that pulled directly from the Matt Fraction run. However, where things changed up is that Kate Bishop dropped in in the worst rescue attempt ever and she too got captured.
It was at this point that we were introduced to Echo who we’ll be giving a full comic book breakdown on in just a bit.
(slots light)
Who the, who the hell was that?
I hope you’re not watching this breakdown illegally.
Echoes from the Past
Now the episode is called Echoes which is of course named after the villain that we get properly introduced to in this entry. However going beyond that the description talks about how the pair are facing off against an expanding criminal conspiracy and I do like how the show is teasing there’s a big bad in the background as it allows me to do 400 theory videos a week, milking it for all it’s worth.
The show has changed things up quite from the way things are in the comics so I thought I’d go over her back story in that and then we can talk about how things were changed up.
Now as for Echo in case you missed our last breakdown where we kinda touched on her skill set, she’s basically a mimic similar to Taskmaster. However, Echo is actually deaf and she can completely copy someone’s abilities just by watching them. In the comics, Maya Lopez was the daughter of a Hitman nicknamed Crazy Horse who was murdered by Wilson Fisk.
As he was dying he put his bloody hand across Maya’s face and she later adopted this as one of her symbols.
In his dying breath, Crazy Horse asked Kingpin to raise his daughter which he agreed to. He sent her to the best schools and its during this time that she watched someone playing the piano and managed to replicate it completely.
Maya was trained by the best of the best of the best sir and in the comics, she’s gone toe to toe with characters like Daredevil at several points. She was actually introduced as a love interest for Matt and become one of the toughest people he’s ever faced off against. Eventually, she discovered that the Kingpin killed her father and she ended up going against him which could end up being the plot of her solo show that we know is coming down the line. She’s very much a stepping stone to the Kingpin in this series which is a character we’ll talk about in the more spoiler-heavy section of the video.
Echo is very much the perfect villain for this series I think as her father was killed much like Kate’s and this led her into a life of training. She’s also deaf and Clint, of course, has a hearing aide so she’s a really good mirror of both of them. In the comic book run Clint went completely deaf by the end and I kinda have a feeling that the series might do the same thing.
I do think that Echo will end up becoming somewhat of a good guy at some point and in the comics, she did end up becoming the Ronin at one point. The suit is of course a big focus in the series and I think it would be awesome if they set up that story for the future.
Now Where we start in the show though is with a flashback to 2007 which is where we’re introduced to Echo as a child. Due to her deafness, she has to lip read but she’s able to mimic the teacher’s spellings incredibly well even without an interpreter. At home we watch as she and her father play shadow puppets on the wall, subtly foreshadowing how she can shadow people’s abilities and copy them completely. This scene of her and her father playing out before his death is of course a mirror of Kate’s father dying in the first episode and we see as both characters had a massive impact on their children’s lives.
Maya’s father is played by Zahn Mclarnon who you might recognise from things like Doctor Sleep and Westworld. He’s a great actor and he brings a lot of heart to this role. Maya not only shadow puppets a dragon, I think but she also brings them up too and asks if they’re real. Dragons of course exist in the MCU with them appearing in films like Shang-Chi however this could also be a nod to the Netflix universe. In Defenders, we learned as the Hand organisation discovered the bones of a dragon beneath new york city and as Maya wears a hand symbol on her face in the comics it could be all connected.
They talk about how dragons could come into our world which would make them stronger and this is somewhat mirrored in Maya. She has to go to a regular school even though she’s deaf but having to survive in these surroundings has made her stronger. We also learn that she has a prosthetic leg meaning that she’s had to adapt to things in more ways than one.
Much like Kate she’s trained in martial arts but being someone who studies people’s body language because she can’t rely on sound and therefore has to read the way they move. It’s here that we learn her father is part of the tracksuit mafia and if you slow down the footage you can actually see some of them leaving as her father talks to her. This explains why she partners up with them and this is probably the longest one of their members have ever gone without saying, bro.
Uncle Wilson?
Ok, so spoilers for episode 3 of Hawkeye but there’s potential that we could be seeing a major character entering the MCU. Throughout the entry, we learn echoes backstory and see her learning martial arts as a kid.
Now it’s at this point that we see a man come in that touches her face and though we don’t know who this is, his clothing looks very similar to Wilson Fisks and his laugh sounds a lot like Vincent D’onofrios.
It’s clear he’s in charge and he’s referred to throughout the episode as being her uncle. This could be a nod to the comic books as in those he was a father figure so this is a change up on that as Echo was much older when her dad died.
I’m really hoping he doesn’t become another Mephisto but there’s a lot of hints towards him being in the show including Fat-Man Auto repair. Fat man is something that Fisk was referred to as by The Grim Reaper so the location we join Maya as an adult at could be teasing towards it.
Here we watch as she comes face to face with The Ronin who wipes out the mafia including her father. He puts his bloody hand across her face and this of course calls back to the moment we mentioned earlier.
We can also see why Echo was desperate to have Clint and Kate left alive and we cut to them being tormented by the Mafia. I loved it when the ride stopped and then they said they’d get more quarters and clint just goes ‘yes.’
We also hear that one of the mafia members has bought imagine dragon tickets which Kate implies are a crap band but I kinda like em. As you know we here at the channel love a good reach and Kate disliking dragons could…and its a could…be hinting towards how Echo loves them.
Its here she comes down and I loved how intimidating having her just walk in silence is. She’s basically the strong silent type and you can really feel the power coming through the screen. It’s a great introduction and she realises that Clint is deaf. He tries to get the Mafia off the back of Kate by saying that she simply put on the suit. I love this obsession over it and I think it would be great if like in the comics she ended up becoming the character. The Ronin of course killed her father so she would very much be embracing the darkest moment in her life. It would be interesting if it turned out that it was the Kingpin who tipped Clint off to their whereabouts and that would line up with the source material. I do think Clint was the one behind it and not a stand-in though as he was aware of the mafia and had clearly had run-ins with them before.
Clint says Black Widow killed The Ronin and this could end up tying into the post-credits scene of Black Widow in which Val said that Hawkeye killed her. I do wonder if this line will come back around should Yelena show up in the series at some point and it’ll show that they very much covered for one another.
Black Widow in some ways did kill the Ronin if we’re talking things from a Star Wars point of view as she showed up and got him to stop using the persona.
Kaze starts to interrogate Kate and Maya loses it and grabs her which causes a distraction that allows clint to escape.
I absolutely love this scene in the toy store and the only real toys that we see lying around are dog ones, including Golden Retrievers, which could be reflecting how Pizza dog is abandoned as well.
Again, we do a bit of reaching here.
Though I was disappointed in the first two episodes this entry really stepped things up a gear and watching Echo fight shows just how much of a threat she’s gonna be in the series. She knows Clint’s weakness is that he’s deaf but he’s not adjusted like she is. Thus she kicks the hearing aid out of his head and grabs a bow and arrow to take him on at his own game. Not to keep ragging on Taskmaster but I felt like this is the way the character should’ve been handled in Black Widow.
The fight scene here is great and watching Kate and Clint work together is what I really wanted to see from the first two episodes as it’s flawless in this moment.
Trick Arrows Galore
Now after escaping the warehouse we get a scene that was pretty much shown in full during Disney Plus day. This moment pulls a lot of iconography and imagery from the Matt Fraction Run, namely the episode that focuses on Clint’s girlfriend Cherry. In the books, after he took over the apartment block he ended up starting a rivalry with the Mafia and one of the girlfriends of the group became his.
This led to a car chase between the group, Clint and Kate that featured the car we see in the episode as well as the trick arrows.
As they leave the warehouse we not only see the car from the comics but we can also see the van behind it which belongs to the Tracksuit Mafia.
The company name is trust a bro which is of course a nod to how they always say, Bro…Bro.
There’s some irony with it being a moving van as well as in the comics they owned the apartment that Clint took over and made them move out of.
Clint doesn’t want to take the 72 challenger which is the opposite of the comics in which he and Kate were the ones driving it. In that the Mafia rode around in Mini coopers chasing after them but here they make off in a car…dunno what make it is mate, more of a comics guy than a car guy but moving on. In the comics, the group also wore racing helmets and though they aren’t carried across I think that the scene manages to capture the feel of the original comic run really well.
Clint ends up asking Kate to drive but he has to do it in the end even though his deafness stops him from hearing any replies from her.
As they pull out the parking lot we can see the building has the sign KB Toys above it which in case you don’t know was an American toy store chain similar to Toys R Us. Bit of trivia there for my britheads.
They also pass a U-Haul centre which I kinda feel like might be some product placement especially as U-Haul also advertised during Man Of Steel. Now, this one-shot chase scene is absolutely incredible and it’s one of my favourite action scenes in a Disney plus show so far. I absolutely love when they do one takes and having it as part of car chase too just really ticks all the boxes for me.
The music in the background we can also hear is called A Mad Russian’s Christmas by the Trans Siberian Orchestra and this not only ties in with the theme of Christmas but also the Mad Russians that are now chasing Kate and Clint.
Now it’s at this point that Kate realises she’s gonna have to shoot but as Clint doesn’t have any regular arrows left they have to break out the trick ones. If you cast your mind back to episode 2 then you might remember that Clint denied having any of these so it’s quite funny that he’s backtracked on that and yeah, guys got trick arrows.
Throughout the MCU movies, we’ve seen as Clint has used a number of these and he even had one that could hack computers in The Avengers and a USB one in What If which also pops up here.
In the comics, there were numerous trick arrows including Putty ones that held people in place, sonic arrows that emitted sound, explosive tip arrows similar to what we see in the show, cable arrows, smoke bomb arrows, rocket arrows, suction tip arrows and boomerang ones.
Now the show also brings across some of these including the suction arrow which is called the plunger one by Kate. I’m guessing that this is the clear out the toilet after Nats had a big dump or it might also be used to stick to surfaces like glass so that he can attach ropes to buildings a climb up them.
We do see a moment in the trailers where Clint goes jumping out the side of a Skyscraper so potentially that arrow could come back then.
There’s also the ropes ones, acid ones, Agatha Harkness ones I’m guessing and it just adds so much to this scene. My favourite is the Pym tech one though and watching this make a giant arrow is hilarious.
Now the chase ends at a bridge and in the comics, this fight was ended by Kate unwittingly bringing out a boomerang arrow. One of the Mafia took Clint hostage and he told Kate to let it go and she released it. Being a boomerang one it then came back around and took the Mafia member out, but here the escape is slightly more daring.
Kate and Clint jump over the side of the bridge and we see the pair turn around and fire a grappling arrow that they use to swing in on top of a train. Now, this idea of Clint jumping over an edge and then swinging around and shooting his bow and arrow grappling hook has been shown in several things involving the character. It’s actually the first panel in the graphic novel run and going beyond that the character of course did it in The Avengers. That moment was also the first time that Kate saw him and him saving her life was very inspirational to her as it’s pretty much what made her become an expert in archery. So her doing this with him is great and it’s probably my favourite shot in the show so far.
It’s a Family Affair
Now on the train, the pair get a moment to rest and behind them, we can see that there is a poster that talks about family therapy. The show itself is very much centred around the idea of families as we have Kate and her mothers strained relationship, Clint and his kids and also Echoes father and her uncle. There was also Jack and Armand I thought this poster might not be intentional I like how it ties into the overarching themes.
I think the dialogue here with the deafness works really well and they’ve managed to use the humour of the situation to really lighten the mood. However, they also use it to bring the pair together and use it in really heartfelt moments such as Kate having to relay a message from Clint’s son Nathanial because he can’t hear it. You can see Clint wants to be with his kids but it’s super difficult for him because he’s having to support Kate.
As we get establishing shots of New York we can also see Rogers the musical which so far has appeared in all of the episodes thus far. It was of course where clint visited in the first one and it appeared as an advert in episode 2. I would love it if the final fight in the season actually took place at this broadway show and I think that would be a great location to end it all at.
Back at Moira Brandon’s apartment the two recuperate and in case you missed our last video Moira was a character from the comics that helped to found the Westcoast avengers estate. We have a much more in-depth breakdown on her over at that one so definitely go check it out right after this.
On the other side of this, we see as Kazi and Echo worry about their uncle finding out and Kazi too worked for Kingpin in the comics potentially tying into our big theory.
Hawkear and Kate have a great back and forth in a diner after his hearing aid is fixed and they talk about what the cost of being a hero is. This is something Clint has experienced first hand and I love watching the young up and comer talking to the veteran.
Kate talks to Clint about his branding issue and she draws a costume for him that’s based on the one from the comics.
Now an easter egg that was actually cut last week came during the larping scene. Due to a special featurette that was released showing behind the scenes stuff we know now that there was someone who was in Hawkeyes classic costume from the comics. This was cut and though people at the time were kinda scratching their heads as to why, after seeing this scene it makes a lot of sense.
Clint says he’s very much not a role model which is why he’s not embracing the branding and though he has a dark past, he dropped everything in order to save Kate.
The pair walk the dog and Kate calls Kazi the hot guy which could be a nod to the comics in which the pair dated. They also talk about the Mafia and how there’s someone overseeing the entire operation.
Now one of the big mysteries surrounding the show at the moment is ‘who bought Avengers Tower?’ I really hope that it doesn’t turn out to be another Aerospace Engineer situation like Wandavision but as this has been teased at in movies like Homecoming and at the start of shows like Loki, we could be getting someone important.
Now the opening of Loki teased that at least in one timeline a Kang Variant had bought it as it had the name Qeng on it.
However last week I was on the Fandomwire Podcast Agents Of Fandom and the host TJ said that he thinks Wilson Fisk might have bought it. I absolutely love this theory and I think it would be such a great twist to have him being behind it as it would not only be a big reveal but it’d be a huge gut punch to know that a villain was now in charge of it. Though I’ve seen mention of Norman Osborn being the person who’s bought it I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing with the character in the MCU as NWH will probably be his first appearance in this universe.
Fisk is laced throughout the episode if you look closely enough and after deducing that Jack is involved in it somehow they head to Eleanor’s penthouse.
After hacking Jacks computer, several ties to the Mafia come up including Kazi’s name but I think at this point he’s pretty much a red herring and it’s Eleanor who’s behind it. Like I’m no sherlock holmes but my spoiler sense is tingling on this one. They also learn that Kazi is working for Sloan LTD which could be a nod to Willie Sloan an assassin that worked for Kingpin in the comics. There are lots of characters called Sloan though in marvel so meh, might not be him.
I’m sure someone much smarter in the comments has already figured this all out so let me know below.
Kate is quickly locked out of the system and in the apartment, Jack holds the Ronin sword to Clint’s neck which ends the episode. In the comics, he was a character known as the Swordsman and both he and Hawkeye were friends and foes at several points. I actually think that he might end up joining them in the next entry after Clint explains where the sword comes from. Jack clearly idolises the Ronin so it would make sense to me that he would actually be an ally to them and he’s of course trying to impress Kate so that’s where I can see it going.
Kate and Clint a Killer Combo
Now as for my thoughts on the episode I kinda wanna address some comments that I got on the last two videos I did for the show and then we’ll jump into the leaks. I said I was a bit disappointed with it and because of that, a number of people kicked off calling me a hater, saying I’ve changed and stuff but yeah that was just how I felt about it. There’s this weird thing when you talk about Marvel stuff where if you enjoyed it you get called a shill and if you say you didn’t like something you’re a hater. I’ve talked about it a lot in the last week and I said I thought there were too many filler elements like the sword fighting, the parties and the LARPING. However, there’s been people who’ve said they like those elements which is absolutely fine and just in the same way I like the Eternals because of certain things in it I know there’s people out there that dislike that movie for the same reasons I enjoy it.
A weird criticism I got was that people said I didn’t like this show because it wasn’t the typical marvel humour stuff full of jokes but yeah I dunno what show you were watching because this definitely has jokes in it.
Anyway, what I’m saying is just let people enjoy what they enjoy and dislike what they dislike. There’s not really an agenda here and not everyone is a shill or a hater because they liked one thing and didn’t like another.
Now as for this episode I thought it was really good and I much prefer seeing Kate and Clint together working alongside each other as opposed to how it was where they went off and kinda did their own things. They’ve got a really dynamic relationship and having Echo in this episode really added to it quite a lot.
It’s weird thinking we’re now at the midpoint of the show and though I’ve had criticisms of it I am still enjoying it even though I probably sound like I’m moaning a lot.
So yeah, roll on episode 4 and if you don’t want any spoilers then this is the part where we say goodbye.
Now as for the leaks on the show I know I’ve probably sprung these on you a bit fast so if you don’t wanna know anything about the upcoming episodes then I recommend that you turn off now.
Also if you’ve enjoyed it so far then please like the video and subscribe otherwise you’re a sucker who probably likes other, better breakdowns from other better channels. You bloody idiot.
Anyway, you may have seen recently that there was a leaked image of Kingpin floating around online. I don’t wanna show it in this video in case it’s real and I get a copyright claim for it but it had Vincent D’onofrio back as New York’s biggest crime boss. However, they’d either put him in a fat suit or made him look bigger with CGI as the guy was way bigger than we’d ever seen him before and recent photos of Vincent don’t look that Rotund.
There was then a further image released that looked like the initial ones but it had been photoshopped and though I’m not showing it here Vincent did debunk it pretty quickly
(https://twitter.com/vincentdonofrio/status/1464458106855960579)
Now I’m still unsure of the initial ones but you can go check out his Twitter and you’ll see the one he responded to which does look very fake.
Leaks are still saying that he will be in the show and Vincent himself has been teasing things like responding to the trailer video for the show saying this is going to be fun.
(https://twitter.com/vincentdonofrio/status/1461044979954978816)
Personally, I do think that he will be in the series but If I was guessing I think it’ll be more of a tease towards the end of the series with the focus being squarely on characters like Echo, Elanor and Jack for the moment.
Anyway, that’s the video and I hope you enjoy the breakdown.
There’s a tonne of things to talk about so make sure you comment below and let me know your thoughts on the episode.
We’re running a competition right now and giving away 3 copies of the Spider-man 4k trilogies on the 30th of December. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you subscribe with notifications on and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode. We pick the comments at random at the end of the month and the winners of the last one are on screen right now so message me @heavySpoilers if that’s you.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of all the Spider-Man news we got over the weekend. We break down the teasers, tv spots and ticket news so it’s definitely worth checking out after this.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.