#hawkeye squared

So, my favorite thing was Kate Bishop’s inclusion. I’m a sucker for the duo and seeing them together fired up the neurons in my Hawkeye Squared-addled brain. Probably my favorite Marvel ship. It was nice to see Katie not only alive, but still helping people and sticking to a moral code. She only kills if she has too.

Another favorite part that I thought was funny is the Bucky vs. Bullseye fight. Poor Bucky has been turned back into a weapon and being wielded by Red Skull. After Bullseye disobeys orders for one final hunt, Red Skull sends a team with Bucky to take him out. Bullseye wins, with Bucky thanking him only for Bullseye to be like “Yeah, whatever. Not like I did it for you.”

Then the climactic finale. So good. A now fully blind Hawkeye takes aim (with the help of Kate) and nails an ecstatic Bullseye right in the head. The beacon arrows felt a bit convoluted and unnecessary since she could just have said to aim next to her voice.

Bittersweet ending since we know Hawkeye will die shortly thereafter. Kate does too since she sees that he’s not quitting after getting his vengeance. Overall, I liked it. I liked the theme of honor. Hawkeye doesn’t just kill the Thunderbolts in cold blood for their betrayal. He calls them out. He fights them and they fight honorably too… for the most part. Screw Moonstone, never liked her anyway. But the others regret their actions and know what’s coming. They welcome it. I especially liked Beetle showing up in his older, villain suit rather than his newer Mach-X suit because he didn’t feel he deserved it now. Hammer, even with his wife’s life on the line, gives up the Ronin name instead of Hawkeye as a final FU to Bullseye and a way of kind of protecting Clint.