Hawkeye Directors on Breaking the Marvel Mold With Barton and Bishop’s Buddy-Cop Comedy

Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) just wants to be home for the holidays when he unwraps an Avengers-level threat in Hawkeye, the Marvel Studios original series that’s more buddy-cop comedy and less Avengers: Endgame. Taking place over a week in New York at Christmas time, months after half the population of the planet blipped back to life in Endgame, Hawkeye aims at telling a new Christmas story when the retired Avenger teams with future Avenger Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). Her powers: none, except expert archery and her ability to bring out a different side of frazzled family man Clint Barton. 

“[Endgame and Hawkeye executive producer Trinh Tran’s] got her own strong opinions on things, but instinctively, she knows what feels right for the Marvel universe as well,” Bertie, part of directing duo Bert and Bertie, told GamesRadar+. “As we’ve all been seeing with TV, it’s a bit about breaking the mold at this point, so Trinh was never about sticking to the old plan or sticking religiously to a character’s backstory.”

She added: “Hawkeye, for instance, is a little bit unlike we’ve seen him. But Jeremy was fully invested in this tone, so she’s always been about the freshness of it.” 

Ten years after his first appearance in Thor — and after Marvel Studios expanded the MCU onto the small screen with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki — new series Hawkeye is a little more absurd and maybe not what audiences are expecting. 

Renner wanted his first starring series as the character to feel “real and authentic,” said Bertie. “I think that Jeremy was on board from the get-go with the tone of the show being not super serious the whole time; the slight absurdity of it and that buddy-cop dynamic.” 

After Clint’s time as Ronin in Endgame, revealing his violent past as a one-man criminal killing machine over the grief of his family being snapped out of existence by Thanos (Josh Brolin), Renner “wanted the darkness,” said Bert. “He wanted to go there. And there are moments that the Ronin Clint resurfaces. It’s very important to have those depths that you can explore, so that he can come out of it.”

But Hawkeye is more often a story with a lighter touch, thanks to the dynamic between a reluctant Clint and his more-than-willing protege. 

“You want her to have her own individual energy that works with Clint, so how do we create a dynamic that’s really exciting to watch?” said director Rhys Thomas. “She is a younger character with that younger energy, which is a nice counterpoint to Clint who is so battle-worn and been through it. But it’s also showing that she has what it takes. Clint has chosen to do this. Kate is someone who is feeling herself called to it.”

He added: “It’s finding that line of youth and energy but seeing that deep down that her and Clint are one and the same. For her to earn his trust and to find that growth, that’s what was really fun to carve out that journey for her.”

Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” stars Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, who teams up with another well-known archer from the Marvel comics, Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld. The cast also includes Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James and newcomer Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez. “Hawkeye” is helmed by Rhys Thomas and directing duo Bert and Bertie.  

Marvel Studios: LEGENDS: Hawkeye is streaming on Disney+ Day on November 12. The first two episodes of Marvel’s Hawkeye premiere November 24 on Disney+.

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