So this is Christmas

Admittedly I had low expectations for Hawkeye, I may have even referred to him as the “boring Avenger”. I’m sorry, I was wrong, Hawkeye was fantastic.

We’re finally getting the Netflix Marvel characters in the MCU, and even with the tiny sample size, they fit so well and I want more. However bits of the internet I read last night seemed to explode with the suspicion that they’d killed Kingpin off as quickly as they had reintroduced him, but I seriously doubt it.

For starters, the gunshot happened offscreen. Also it’s hard to believe that they would really kill off such a big character in such a way. But the biggest reason is that there is an Echo series coming at some point, and Kingpin seems like the best option for villain … oh, yeah, and, almost that exact scene played out in the comics, and surprise, he survived.

So, don’t worry, he’ll be back.

I think I worked out why Ant-Man is in “Rogers: The Musical” despite him not actually being in the Avengers at the time of the ‘battle of New York’. It’s a result of the quantum time travelling in Endgame, where Ant-Man went back to 2012 New York with the others somehow altering the timeline. Right? Really doesn’t matter, but I needed an explanation.

The mysterious watch was finally recovered, and it’s owner revealed to be Laura Barton, who promptly flipped it over to the reveal the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, and an engraved “19” seemingly confirming one of the fan theories that popped up near the start of the series that “Laura” is actually former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Bobbi Morse, aka Agent 19, aka Mockingbird.

Now, whether she is actually Bobbi/Mockingbird is debatable. Yes, Bobbi and Clint were married in the comics, but we’ve also already had a Bobbi/Mockingbird in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. show – although it really seems that AOS is no longer ‘canon’ within the MCU. Of course they could also just be repurposing the “Agent 19” character within the MCU, no real need for them to follow comic history to the letter.

Either way, it’s still cool that the hints of Laura being more involved that we’d previously thought actually got a little pay off. Kind of hope we get to see her come “out of retirement” at some point … maybe we’ll get a “West Coast Avengers” series at some point?

Ok, what else.

Maya/Echo getting to continue her story – and yes, battle with Kingpin – in her own series should be fun. It also be a good spot for Daredevil to pop up. Only downside is that there is a ton of stuff in the Marvel pipeline, so we probably aren’t getting that until at least 2023.

Kate Bishop was great. I’m actually pretty excited for the new batch of “Young Avengers” that they’re going to start introducing, and Kate is a great start. The Clint/Kate dynamic was really really fun, and I think made Clint more likeable/interesting as well.

So, yeah, Hawkeye was great – as if it was ever going to be anything else.