The 'Hawkeye' Finale Leaves Nearly Everyone's MCU Future in the Air
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This story contains spoilers for the Hawkeye finale and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Another day, another Marvel finale. You know, it felt like just yesterday when we watched Spider-Man soar over the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. And now—well, a week later, actually—we're seeing the same tree snap in half and slam into the skating rink, with Clint Barton somewhere between its branches. Marvel! Comes at you fast.
Hawkeye's season finale is now streaming on Disney+, bringing Barton and Kate Bishop's jolly adventure to a close. Fights were had. Future Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, teased. Cameos? We had some of them, too. Hell, even a post-credits scene that we can genuinely say we didn't expect. When you've watched the hour-long finale, come back here for our full breakdown of the action. Think of it as our gift to you. Happy holidays.
Thank You For Not Hurting Us, Florence
If Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova ended up killing Barton, we would've had to seriously reconsider our unabashed endorsement of the actress and any/all of her MCU antics. We just would've had to relegate ourselves to repeat watches of Little Women.
Thankfully, that's not necessary. In the skating rink showdown, Barton, at long last, finally meets Belova. After she tries (and fails) to kill him a few times, he's finally able to convince her that Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself during the events of Avengers: Endgame, in their quest to bring half the world's population back to life. Near the end of the episode, Barton and Belova grab hands, make peace with each other, and go on their merry ways. Now, since we know that Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was the one who originally convinced Belova that Barton killed her sister, it'll be interesting to see if the assassin confronts MCU JLD down the line. It originally seemed like Marvel was setting up a Dark Avengers-type situation with Belova as an evil(ish) Black Widow, but Belova may have just fully broken good—setting the character up to fight alongside the good guys in future adventures.
Somewhere, Netflix Winces in Pain
Those of y0u who were fans of Netflix's Marvel shows were having a pretty good week until now! Not only did Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirm that Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock will be the MCU's Daredevil, but Murdock himself showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home to stop a brick from flying at Peter Parker's face.
Then, things got even better—as we all expected, Daredevil's main adversary, Kingpin, turned out to be the big guy pulling the strings in Hawkeye. He even has a sizable role in the finale, squaring off against Kate Bishop and revealing himself as a mentor to Maya Lopez. Then... Lopez shoots him in the face. Seemingly, anyway. In Lopez's liberation from the crime world, she attempts to get revenge for her father's death by killing Kingpin. We hear the gunshot—but don't see the big man die. So, Netflix: Don't think that Disney immediately brought Kingpin aboard only to kill him off. He most likely swatted the gun away, somehow. After all, we're getting Lopez's solo series, Echo, within the next couple years, and the longtime Spider-Man villain would certainly be a formidable presence, trying to bring Lopez back into the crime world. As for Lopez? You can bet Echo will give her a Kate Bishop-esque Avenger-ing, so that she'll be ready to join the larger MCU action by Secret Wars or Avengers 5.
Barton and Bishop Made it Home For Christmas, and Probably an Eternity on Disney+
Thankfully, Disney+'s breeziest Marvel show by far gets its happy ending. Clint Barton makes it home for Christmas, bringing Bishop with him. There's only a couple bumps and bruises between them. In the final moments of the finale, they brainstorm a superhero name for Bishop, Barton thinks he has an idea, and... cut to black. In the comics, Bishop simply takes up Hawkeye's moniker, symbolizing a passing-of-the-bow between them. If we get a Season Two of Hawkeye, the series will likely depict just that—Bishop's full Avengers indoctrination under the Hawkeye name. Or, maybe we'll see her heading up a Young Avengers show or movie, alongside the Maximoff twins and Cassie Lang.
Steve Rogers: The Musical: The Movie, Now, Please
We've long thought that Hawkeye dreaming up Steve Rogers: The Musical meant that Feige is trying to prime us for the inevitable Marvel movie musical. So, imagine our delight when Hawkeye's post-credits scene ditched the Easter eggs in favor of the full rendition of "Save the City" from Steve Rogers: The Musical. Frankly, the production value, songwriting, and sheer fun of the entire number has us more convinced than ever that the future of the MCU will be decided via song and dance.
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