Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show I'm your host Paul aka the guy who's been watching
the newest Marvel show like a Hawk and this video we're gonna be breaking down all the
easter eggs, hidden details, story and also discussing what we think is happening in the
show.
Heavily based on the Matt Fraction run of the same name it follows Kate Bishop played
by Hailee Steinfeld as she teams up with Clint Barton. When we last saw Clint he was talking
to Wanda at the end of Endgame and then an image of him in the Ronin costume was shown
to Yelena Belova in the post credits scene of Black Widow.
That costume becomes extremely important in these first two episodes but as always we
start with the Marvel studios logo. There have been some slightly updates to it including
Shang-Chi who now appears in the M right as the text comes into view.
As for the episodes we actually start all the way back in 2012, namely New York right
as the Chitari invasion begins.
The orangey yellow overlay of the year actually pulls directly from the colour scheme of the
comic cogers and we'll talk about how the title sequence leans into it too.
Here we're introduced to a young Kate Bishop and early on see not only her trophies for
Archery but also her one for fencing which appears in episode 2. Kate in the comics was
highly trained in Fencing and it's nice that it keep showing up.
We also see her rock climbing and doing a handstand which sort of foreshadows her climbing
up the bell tower later on.
Kate overhears her mother Elanor and father James who are arguing about how they have
to sell the penthouse due to their debts. James doesn't want to do this and Eleanor
says that a solution isn't going to just fall out of sky. This ends up being ironic as the
penthouse is attacked and later on we can see that they kept it so I'm guessing James
life insurance or something stopped them from having to move out.
The argument is interrupted when Kate's eavesdropping is picked up and her dad visits her in a scene
that's sort of reminiscent to the I love you 3000 one from Avengers Endgame. Similar to
Tony this is the last conversation that James has with his daughter and they once more bringing
up things not just magically falling from the sky which yeah....subtext for you there
guys.
He instills her with the idea that the only control we have in life is how we deal with
things that are thrown at us and the choices that we make. The death of her father very
much leaves an empty spot in her life and I think this is why she very much gravitates
towards Clint. There's also the idea she discovers she's getting a new step dad and the idea
of parental figures is clearly laced throughout the opening entry.
We also see a stuffed Dog toy potentially foreshadowing the dog later on and weirdly
though it's clearly there in Kate's room, when she returns to it it's gone. But no...no
it couldn't be him.
Eleanor shows that she's a crack shot too by catching some food in her mouth and it
is possible that down the line they might reveal she's the villain behind it all.
I know Marvel don't always lean into the comics as it would make it so easy to predict all
the secrets and reveals but there might be some clues we can take from the source material.
In the comics Eleanor was the one who apparently died and not Kate's father however she popped
up years later and it was revealed that she was actually behind the activities of Madam
Masque. Now potentially they've combined the characters and it is possible that Elanor
and masque are one in the same but we'll talk about that later on in the video.
Just in the same way that Wandavision showed us the chaos that would come from the blip,
Hawkeye gives us a view of what the Battle Of New York would be like for a citizen. They
do an incredible one shot take through the house in which Kate looks for her parents.
There's also a great use of purple in the surroundings which later becomes a signature
colour of Kate.
During this highly traumatic experience Kate is saved by Hawkeye and we see the moment
that he jumps off the side of a skyscraper from another point of view. Not only was this
a massive panel in the comics but it was also a big moment in the Avengers film and to add
to this we know from the trailers that it's going to be happening again but this time
with Clint and Kate.
The loss of her dad coupled with seeing a man save her life clearly has a big impact
on Kate and we then cut to Kate's father's funeral. Potentially they might reverse the
Eleanor situation and have James be the one who fakes his death but that's of course just
a fan theory and we know how they tend to turn out.
The funeral scene really brings Kate and her Mother together and the former vows to protect
them. Worried that something like the attack could happen again she dedicates her life
to training and we see as she progresses through the years as a skilled archer and swordsman.
We watch as she goes from 3rd place to first and also learns Karate. It's easily my favourite
title sequence from a Marvel series so far and it brilliantly uses similar iconography
to the Mat Fraction run with lots of purples, lilacs, violets, blues and blacks to orchestrate
this new hero.
We also catch Stane Tower in the intro before we cut to it in live action.
I'm not too up to speed on my New York Goegraphy but I couldn't find this place on Google so
potentially it's a nod to Obidiah Stane though he is disgraced in the Marvel Universe so
I dunno if they'd name a school after him.
Let me know in the comments below and also whilst you're down there can you please click
the thumbs up button and also subscribe as we're gonna be doing weekly breakdowns on
the show and we've got our episode 2 one dropping later on today.
Here we catch Kate climbing up a clocktower in order to ring a giant bell after losing
a dare.
After the first shot doesn't work she goes from a simple tennis ball to a clip on the
end for the rope and this is somewhat foreshadowing the trick arrows that we know she and Clint
will be using later on in the show.
This actually also pulls directly from the comics and in they ended up using several
trick arrows in order to fight against the tracksuit mafia who show up later on.
The bell swings loose and ends up destroying the tower and because of this Kate is expelled
from school.
On Manhattan island we cut to central station and this is actually where the famous Avengers
Assemble moment happened in the 2012 film.
At the top of the building we can also catch the first responders monument which was put
there after the battle of New York to commemorate all those that helped and gave their lives
during the attack.
Like the graphic novel the series is going to be set at Christmas and it's got a lot
of similar iconography to what was in the original run.
We join the Bartons who are seeing Rogers The Musical, a broadway show about Captain
America and the Battle Of New York showing how much it's legacy still hangs over the
city.
There's some great taglines for it such as an all America musical for an all American
hero and we can also see one that reads a timeless story of a timeless hero.
Steve Rogers is actually nicknamed the Man out of time and the poster for it looks somewhat
similar to the broadway show Hamilton.
Captain America of course performed the Star Spangled man with a plan throughout the country
during the second world war and this was very much a comment on how he was used in real
life to sell War Bonds.
Captain America has always been somewhat a tool of propaganda and the character has been
commercialised over and over to put certain images. Hell even Falcon and The Winter Soldier
was literally about Captain America meant and here we see how he's been twisted once
more.
The bridge just outside of Central Station is the backdrop and we can also catch a cardboard
cutout of loki flying through the air on a back of a Chitari drone ship which you might
remember from the Avengers. Clint pulls a bit of a face at that and in the film he fired
an arrow at Loki at that point and he caught it but it then exploded.
The mock up of the Avengers is hilarious and you have Hulk basically being just a guy in
a green hoody with face paint on. Think the Thor and Tony ones are the best though and
Cap hilariously sings about how he can do this all day. I love how Iron Man also takes
off and the character did this at several points in the film, inspiring this pose.
Make sure you Hulk smash that like button.
There's also potentially the waitress from the deleted scene from The Avengers who also
appeared at the end. They also have a guy with a Pym Tech logo on that I think might
be Ant-Man and as Hawkeye says he wasn't even there.
However it's Black Widow who brings back bad memories for Clint and both he and she were
of course trying to sacrifice themselves so that the other could live and take the soul
stone. Clint watched her die and it's clearly stuck with him. In many ways Kate represents
him righting the wrongs of him losing a female sidekick though he doesn't seem that pleased
about it from the trailers.
Now here we learn that Clint also has a hearing aid and this pulls directly from the comics
as in the Matt Fraction run he was starting to go deaf. Up until that point even though
Hawkeye was a normal guy he was still regarded as a superhero whereas that run completely
deconstructed him.
He was going through a divorce, losing his hearing and it massively grounded him and
made him a landlord that had to put up with a lot of crap. In episode 2 we learn that
he doesn't know exactly when this happened but lots of exposure to explosions has clearly
caught up to him.
Clint ends up leaving after a girl who has a Widow wig on in a ponytail waves at him
and this was similar to how she had her hair when she died.
In the bathroom we also see some graffiti left behind that says Thanos was right that
I swear I didn't put there even though I say it 8 times an hour. Clint seems to nod almost
like if he had a point and if you've seen Eternals then you'll know that the guy may
have actually been doing things in our best interests.
He's asked for a selfie by a fan and though it's clear he's been turned into a celebrity
he doesn't want to be one. This is a guy who was an assassin and marksman for many years
and he's just not ready for the commercialisation of his image.
He and the family decide to go to a Chinese restaurant for a succulent Chinese Meal and
bloody hell I thought that lad got snapped, guy showed up 30 years old, dear me.
At central station Kate arrives home and she returns home to find her mother in the penthouse
with her new fiance Jack. Jack not only is a similar name to James but he's also got
slicked back hair and a moustache whilst her dad had a goatee.
Clearly he's been chosen because of his similarities but it rubs Kate the wrong way and when they
hide the engagement it just gets her more annoyed than you are when I start pedalling
the same Mephisto joke that I've been running into a ground for over a year now.
Huh huh huuuuhh it's Mephisto.
Turns out Jack has moved in whilst Kate has been at School and there's swords now throughout
the house which he's obsessed with. This foreshadows him attempting to buy Clints sword later on
in the episode. In the second episode he also shows off some of his fencing skills and I
love how this theme is kept with him.
We later learn that his surname is Duquesne and if you're familiar with the comics then
you'll know Jaque Duquesne is a character known as the swordsman. In the source material
he actually met Clint as a child and he's the person that trained him to be an expert
in Melee weapons. It's gonna be interesting to see if this is brought over to the show
and I think this would be a really interesting reveal later down the line.
At the restaurant we get somewhat of an appearance by Laura aka Clint's wife played by Linda
Cartellini. Also I'm sure you already know but just incase you don't, Lila is played
by Ava Russo aka Anthony Russo's daughter.
So, all you need to do if you wanna be in a Marvel movie is have your dad direct some
of the biggest movies of all time.
Clint's normality is once more broken by a waiter who gives him some free food for saving
the city and we cut across town to see a party. Due to Kate's dress she's confused as a waiteress
and this allows her to sneak into the auction later on. This auction is somewhat based on
the Matt Fraction Run but instead of Clint's costume and sword it was a video tape.
In the comics Clint apparently assassinated a dictator and it was caught on camera and
then this VHS was auctioned on the black-market. There were several interested parties including
Kingpin and Kate actually disguised herself as Madame Masque in order to sneak in. If
Eleanor is Masque then she could've been holding the auction and it would explain why she's
not there as she wouldn't need to buy the things if she's selling them.
So lots of similarities, namely how Kate uses a costume to get into an auction and at it
are items which are linked towards Clint's darker side. However where the big change
is is that no one knows Clint was the Ronin whereas in the comics it was clearly him on
the tape. He also appeared in the Ronin costume at one point kinda tying in with this too
to bring everything across in a really cohesive way.
At the party we also meet Jack's Uncle Armand Ducaine who threatens Eleanor and he winds
up dead. Again she may be behind this though there are of course the theories that it's
Kingpin, Jack or potentially the little punk Armond. I know it was you kid...I know it
was you.
Now Armond actually pulls from the comics and in those he was Jacks father. On his 18th
birthday he gave Jacques a sword and told him the story of the Crimson Cavalier which
inspired him to go onto become the swordsman. Armond was killed at one point in order to
draw his son out which may or may not be similar to the plot line that we're getting here.
Kate ends up leaving the party and outside she comes across a one eyed Dog.
In the comics this Dog belonged to Ivan of the Tracksuit Mafia and it was hit by a car.
Ivan abandoned it and the first issue revolved around Clint saving it's life. He took it
to the vet and we learned that it was called Arrow but because it was too on the nose he
ended up calling it Lucky.
Lucky also lost it's eye like what we see and we actually got a full issue from his
perspective. He ate a pizza out the box much like this entry and judging by the posters
and cast list he's gonna be named Pizza dog which is something that Kate called him in
the original run.
It was a great little entry and I'd absolutely love it if they did something along those
lines later on in the series.
Back in the party, Kate catches Armond threatening her mother and Eleanor downplays even knowing
what it's about. I got a lot of Sharon Carter vibes from this and though it's possibly a
misdirect, it does give her motive to kill him.
Kate follows him to a secret black market auction like what we see in the comics and
the Ronin and Blade are put on sale.
That blade would never retract like that and fit in the handle but we did see something
similar with Razorfist who too had a retractable one in Shang-Chi.
Jack also gives Armond some cheek and they bid over the sword which we learn was recovered
from the Avengers Compound. This was of course destroyed in Endgame and Hawkeye carried it
with him through the final battle. Weird they didn't put two and two together with it being
from the Avengers HQ and we learn that Clint also fought several mob bosses in the city.
This could potentially introduce Kingpin if the rumors about him returning are true.
It also explains why Val wants him dead and clearly he got up to a lot of things during
those 5 years that we don't yet know about.
Armond ends up winning the sword and when the suit is brought out the auction is attacked
by the tracksuit mafia.
These are some of the main antagonist in the Matt Fraction run and they owned an apartment
block that extorted those that lived there. Led by Ivan they say bro all the time which
is also something that's carried over to the dialogue here bro.
The first episode of Loki also had a skrull in a tracksuit in the TVA waiting room so
who knows we might even get that touched upon in this series though I doubt it.
Whilst everything is going Kate ends up grabbing the suit and we learn that the Mafia are after
a watch from Avengers HQ. I'm not sure why exactly this is but potentially it might have
some Iron Man armour in it like what we saw in Civil War or it might just be a nice timepiece.
Kate puts on the costume and she kicks the crap out of the mafia before they chase her
through the wine cellar before she's able to make her escape. The mafia have clearly
had run ins with the Ronin before as they recognise the costume. Outside after they
discover the watch, Lucky who I'm just calling that because of the comics bites one of the
mafia and together they flee through the streets.
Lucky is almost hit by a car similar to the comics but Kate manages to save him and together
the pair run through the streets whilst the police arrive. It's also at this point that
I believe we see Kaze who is a pyschopath from the Matt Fraction run that even dated
Kate at some point. In the comics he also worked for Kingpin and was somewhat of a psychotic
clown. Might not be him but that's who I'm guessing he is off the rumours.
Back at his hotel room we watch the Bartons who have just returned from the Rockerfella
centre. On the news we see an anchor that you might recognise and he's appeared in a
number of MCU films including the end of Far From Home in which he introduced J Jonah Jameson.
During this report Clint realised that someone has taken up his mantle and we get flashes
of his scene from Avengers Endgame in which we saw him take down a mob single handedly.
Kate returns to her apartment and gives the dog some pizza before heading out and her
she discovers some butterscotch as well as Arnie's body.
He was stabbed in the back by the looks of it which is of course a sign of betrayal and
with the Ronin being at the scene the crime is probably gonna be pinned on Kate.
She heads out into the night and then the Mafia arrive once more potentially introducing
Ivan as the leader. Like the comics he's wearing a black tracksuit so I think this is probably
the leader even though he has hair.
They swarm Kate but Clint arrives donning somewhat of a homemade ninja costume and he
takes them out before they flee. We end the episode with Clint unmasking her and if you've
seen the second episode then you know the two are pairing up. I wanna talk about that
more in my breakdown for the second one instead of just jumping ahead though so make sure
you're subscribed for that.
Now as for my thoughts on the episode, honestly I was a bit disappointed in it and outside
of maybe the first episode of Wandavision, I think this is the weakest of the MCU shows
so far. It had a brilliant opening sequence and title scene and then unfortunately it
started to meander for a while and didn't really get going until the end. I don't wanna
give my full review of episode 2 just yet but I had a lot of the same issues with that
and I'm really hoping that the series picks up.
I was talking to Greg Alba over at Reel Rejects and he said that it just kinda feels like
a Netflix show instead of a Disney plus one which I definitely agree with.
Lots of unnecessary and lowkey plot points and though I think they did a great job of
introducing Kate, I think they didn't really give her all that much to do.
Now I dunno what the general feeling for the show will be as I'm recording this before
it's been released online but I think based off this and the second episode that this
may end up being the weakest MCU series thus far which sucks as the graphic novel is amazing.
Hailee Steinfield is really carrying the show and though Jeremy Renner is doing the best
with what he has I'm not sure if they're quite nailing what makes people like his character
in the comics and movies.
Either way let me know your thoughts below and what you think of the show and as I've
said 500 times I'll be back later with another breakdown for you.
We're running a competition right now and giving away 3 copies of the Zack Snyder's
DC Trilogy on the 30th Of November. 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
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that's you.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect
scene in Spider-Man Homecoming. We break down the entire thing so it's definitely worth
checking out if you wanna know more.
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