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  • How ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 Sets the Stage for ‘Echo’

    How ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 Sets the Stage for ‘Echo’

    Long before fans were introduced to her in Hawkeye, plans were already in place for Maya Lopez to have her own series. That series, Echo, was officially announced on 2021’s Disney Plus Day, but had been revealed by the trades months earlier. Hollywood newcomer Alaqua Cox impressed the Marvel Studios brass early on and will star in the series, tentatively set to go into production next April ahead of a likely 2023 release. While Echo still has a role to play in the conclusion of the events of Hawkeye, Episode 5, “Ronin”, seemed to put some things in place that should dovetail nicely into Echo.

    Thought it’s been obvious since he was first teased in Episode 3, Episode 5 finally put a name and a face to Maya’s “Uncle”: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio. Kingpin in the biggest and most important piece on the board. In Episode 5, Clint reveals to Maya that her father’s death at his hands was the result of a setup by Kingpin, who used an informant to tip off Clint to the location of the Tracksuits. While it takes a little more convincing to make Maya believe that Kingpin could have set up her father to be murdered, it’s clear by the end of the episode that Maya’s life is about to head in a totally different direction.

    That extra convincing she needs comes, unfortunately, from an unwitting acknowledgement of the set up by the person closest to her: Kazi. It’s not explicitly stated in the episode, but it’s heavily implied that Kazi may have in fact been the informant that Fisk used to tip off Clint. When pressed by Maya about why someone is his position within the Tracksuits wasn’t at the meeting where her father and others were killed, Kazi gives a half-baked excuse that Maya clearly doesn’t buy. In a short span of time, Maya is faced with the realization that she’s been betrayed by the two people closest to her.

    As the conversation between Clint and Maya points out, the two characters are similar: deadly weapons pointed at other people. Throughout the series, Maya has been pointed at Clint and Kate; the revelations of Episode 5 will clearly give her new targets, but it seems unlikely given everything a show about Hawkeye(s) has left to accomplish, that fans will have a satisfying conclusion to Maya’s new arc. Rather it seems that Episode 5 serves to set the table for Maya’s continued story in Echo.

    The most pressing unresolved issues for the Hawkeyes all now revolve around Kate’s mom, Eleanor Bishop, who was (in the least surprising twist in modern history) revealed to be the series’ “big bad.” Episode 5 revealed who was on the other end of that phone call Eleanor made last week (Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val) and that she is in business with Kingpin. If that’s not bad enough, she was willing to throw her fiance, loveable doofus Jacques Duquesne, under the bus to save herself! Eleanor is no small fish and while the end of her story in Hawkeye will involve Kingpin and the Tracksuits, it’s her story and the impact it’ll have on Kate that should be the focus of Episode 6. Maya’s new path will certain and obviously intersect with Kate’s (a since-deleted set pic of Maya with Clint proves this), but it now seems much more likely that her involvement in the big “end battle” will more than likely set up her spinoff series and the villains in it.

    When Maya and Kazi part ways in Episode 5, it’s not on good terms. Maya knows he betrayed her and Kazi, who’s much more perspicacious than the rest of the Tracksuits, knows that she knows. With the final battle set to involve Kate, Clint, Maya and the Tracksuits, Maya and Kazi seem destined to face off and Maya is going to have a whole lot of anger to take out on Kazi. This could well become the origin story for Kazi as the Clown. As for Fisk, it’s entirely unlikely that his hands get dirty here. Yes, we’ll see more of him in Episode 6, but it would be very unlike him to get tangled up in a very public fight that ties him to a criminal organization: he wouldn’t be much of a Kingpin if he was involved every time his goons get beat up. That points to him getting to walk away from this and, along with Kazi, being on Maya’s shit list heading into Echo. Unfortunately for Maya, that means she’ll be on his shit list, too, and that’s pretty exciting because Fisk has all sorts of criminals on his payroll that he could send after Maya. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t, but at one point in time, Echo was casting for two white, female roles, one of whom was described as a criminal and one of whom who sure sounded like another criminal. Leaving Fisk to be developed further in Echo is a good, albeit frustrating choice for the studio, that allows for him to continue to be a looming menace until he’s ready for a big-time showdown, perhaps in a future Spider-Man film.

    Ultimately, Hawkeye will do exactly what is was intended to do for Maya Lopez. The character will have a redemption arc and get set on her new path ahead of her own series. While fans might feel slighted at her story not being resolved within the confines of Hawkeye’s 6 episodes, they also have to remember that Marvel Studios is in the business of pumping out content and resolving every story, every time doesn’t lend itself well to that.

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  • ‘Hawkeye’s Latest Episode Confirms [SPOILER] as Maya’s Uncle

    ‘Hawkeye’s Latest Episode Confirms [SPOILER] as Maya’s Uncle

    The fifth episode of Hawkeye has finally arrived and includes quite a few great moments. Florence Pugh‘s return as Yelena Belova is quite the highlight as we get to spend some time with her, but she isn’t the only major return of the episode. While a bit underwhelming, as it was through a surprisingly bad quality video – Val should get Yelena a better burner phone – we finally got the confirmation that all the teases so far were indeed for the reveal of Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk. He even seems to be wearing an outfit similar to the one he had in Daredevil‘s third season. He also seems to be holding a cane in his hand, which he frequently had in the comics.

    When we first heard his chuckle in the third episode, it seemed that his return was a definite at some point in Hawkeye. The actor sharing the series and his excitement for it also helped add more to his potential return. While we still have to wait a week until he has a speaking role (hopefully), it’s great to finally get a confirmation and it’s quite the tease. Interestingly enough, Hawkeye doesn’t mention Fisk by his name but by the name many comic fans know, the Kingpin. While it was strange we didn’t get a post-credit sequence, I did quite enjoy the visual of him hanging over our two heroes to highlight the danger he represents.

    It’s going to be a lot in the finale and here’s hoping the series can tie it all together, especially with D’Onofrio getting quite a bit more attention after all that build-up. As what Kate got from Yelena was a video, it seems very likely that we’ll start off the next episode watching the video alongside them. We did get quite a few flashbacks in this series. So, perhaps we’ll also get one teasing Fisk’s involvement in the past and it’ll be interesting to see how the watch storyline might connect to the bigger picture.

  • REVIEW: ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 – Ronin

    REVIEW: ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 – Ronin

    Hawkeye Episode 5 expanded upon the last episode’s theme of rich character development and in-series world-building, but it fell short of providing a strong platform into the finale. While the penultimate episode certainly took its time to gather a lot of pieces of the big-picture puzzle, the final episode of the short series is left to try and resolve virtually every plotline already in existence as well as provide all of the Kingpin content it has teased. 

    What Ronin set out to achieve it did beautifully. There were several standout conversations and one-on-one moments that invoked emotion arguably better than the series has done previously. Florence Pugh’s witty Yelena was easily one of the biggest highlights and received much of the episode’s focus. While her “girl’s night” with Kate highlighted the chemistry between the two characters, the look at Yelena’s own blip was an intense opening to Ronin that set the tone for a grief-filled episode. Eleanor and Kate had a moving moment where Vera Farmiga puts in quite a compelling performance as a concerned mother which is impeccably timed with the late but unsurprising reveal that she likely is on the wrong side of the criminal line.

    Clint also has moments dripping with desperation and loss. Learning that the Black Widow was Natasha’s sister Yelena sent him into another spiral of guilt over Natasha’s sacrifice. There’s a simple but moving moment where he talks to an Avengers commemoration plaque as if it were her in silence. But mourning quickly turns to action as Clint wastes little time in going on the offensive to defend his family. Through another Linda Cardellini phone call, Clint explains that he has to end it or else the “big guy” might get involved. Laura Barton is again strangely supportive, lending a lot of credit to the theory that she is an ex-agent of some kind herself. This episode marks Clint moving away from much of his self-deprecating attitude and into a much more confidently self-aware place.

    The result is Clint revealing to Maya that not only is he Ronin, but that Maya’s “Uncle” is who wanted her father dead. This weaves itself into strong moments between Kazi and Maya, where his comforting protective instinct towards her starts to look twisted after it’s implied that he had a part in Maya’s father’s death. Still, the two have strong chemistry, and it’s a bit of a shame the series didn’t show more of it. The Clint-Maya confrontation represented the only action of the episode, leaving Episode 3 as the leader of the series in that respect, by far. 

    While Hawkeye can pull off quieter, investigative storylines, it has been teasing more over the course of its run. Episode 5 was in a prime position to kick off an intense action-packed ending to the series, but it curiously kept the slower pace of the last episode throughout. The much-awaited “reveal” was a bit of a letdown. While the name “Kingpin” has finally been dropped, it came via a less-than-dramatic line from Clint that the man in a very low-quality cellphone photo with Kate’s mom was “the guy [he’s] been worried about: Kingpin.”  Yes, it was Vincent D’Onofrio, but it may have well been Bradley Cooper’s Rocket or Alec Mapa’s Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man—the photo would’ve looked about the same. While there’s every reason to believe D’Onofrio will be a star in the finale, his reveal was not particularly exhilarating. 

    Ronin set up virtually all of the series’ plotlines on a silver platter to be resolved or concluded. The tracksuit mafia’s vendetta against Clint/Ronin, Yelena’s quest to kill Clint, Jack’s criminal ties, Eleanor’s criminal ties, Kingpin’s overarching role in all of it, Clint and Kate’s relationship, Grills’ safety, and Clint getting home for Christmas. The problem is that the finale is forced to take on all of it in, presumably, the same general run time that the rest of the episodes have been allotted. While Hawkeye has been very successful in developing strong, compelling characters, delivering interesting and emotional arcs for them, it has yet to truly prove its ability to handle its own overarching storyline. Hopefully, the finale manages to streamline its moving pieces while capitalizing on the character work the series has worked hard to execute.

  • Amazon Studios Adapting Olivie Blake’s ‘The Atlas Six’

    Amazon Studios Adapting Olivie Blake’s ‘The Atlas Six’

    It looks like TikTok has become quite the jumping-off point for some new talent, as there were quite a few bidders for the rights to adapt TikTok sensation The Atlas Six. The book by author Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known as Olivie Blake, alongside the production company that brought The Crown to life, Brightstar. Amazon won the bidding war for the rights and will release it on its streaming platform as a series.

    It’ll adapt the story of six young magicians who are selected to become part of The Alexandrian Society, a secret society of the world. Each decade, only six are chosen to join as trust and eventual betrayal develops between the participants to join the elusive ranks. It was self-published through Kindle Digital Publishing but became viral on the social media platform, which led to a publishing bidding war. Tor is currently working on a revised and edited version to release in March 2022.

    Follmuth will act as an executive producer alongside Brightstar founders Tanya Seghatchian and John Woodward. It’s quite interesting to see how Amazon Studios is trying to create a niche with fantasy productions to combat the likes of Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation. They just recently released The Wheel of Time to critical acclaim and are in no way slowing down.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 Primer

    ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 5 Primer

    As Episode 4 of Hawkeye, “Partners, Am I Right?” got started, the situation between Jacques and Clint was solved very quickly and they end up having a nice little tea party. During this episode, we learn that Jacques is basically a huge moron and that Kate’s mom might actually be the one pulling all of the strings behind the scenes, not him. Clint’s attempts to wrap up the Ronin business leads him to Kazi to try and make him convince Maya that she is chasing a ghost. Clint also goes in search of a mysterious watch that might hint at something about Laura being something, or someone, we never expected.

    Kate’s mom made a phone call almost directly after Clint left her house; after this phone call Yelena shows up and attacks Clint. We know that Yelena was sent after Clint by Val, but I’m thinking this might mean that the phone call Kate’s mom made may have been to Val. Kate’s mom doesn’t really seem to be who we thought she was. Kate and Clint also get a chance to do a lot more bonding when Kate saves Christmas. As they talked, Kate asked Clint what the best shot he ever took was and Clint replied “the one I didn’t take”, referring to when he saved Nat. Closer to the end of the episode, when Kate had the perfect shot to kill Yelena, she chose not to which was a pretty cool parallel. The question is will Kate’s decision turn out well, like Clint’s, or will Yelena go cuckoo and make Kate regret it? After bonding during the “Christmas party”, sadly Clint and Kate seem to be splitting up following the big rooftop battle. Clint wants Kate to stay out of this fight but we all know Kate WON’T allow that.

    Arlyn’s Assumptions

    Watch Hawkeye season 1, episode 4 promo trailer

    As we are coming close to the end of the season and something HUGE is about happen. We know from the trailers that the black-tie party is coming up (maybe the Bishop holiday party Kate’s mom was planning) and we also know that at some point Kingpin is going to pop in. I’m assuming that party is a great place for him to make his BIG entrance. We also know there is going to be a huge fight on an ice rink. Alaqua Cox shared a BTS picture from that scene that showed Maya wearing a purple costume and working with the Hawkeyes. What made her switch sides and turn on her “Uncle”? I’m guessing we’ll find out really soon.

    The Episode 5 of Hawkeye streams tomorrow!

  • Disney Adds Wilmer Valderrama as its New Zorro

    Disney Adds Wilmer Valderrama as its New Zorro

    Disney has been building its filmography on classic Intellectual Properties it had garnered over the last few years. Among them, they’ve been eyeing a revival of the iconic Zorro franchise. The original vigilante that inspired Bob Kane to create Batman is quite the icon since 1919. Disney has now set their eyes on reviving the character in a new series and they found the actor to play the character, Wilmer Valderrama.

    The series is in development by Disney TV, which will be a period piece during Pueblo de Los Angeles, which would eventually become the modern-day L.A. It’ll even adapt a contemporary telenovela style, which will certainly make the series stand out. Valderrama shared his excitement for the new project:

    Growing up, Zorro was the one character that made me, as a Latino, feel like I could be a hero. As an adult and a storyteller, I have a responsibility in the stories that I help bring to life. To partner with Gary [Marsh, executive producer] and Disney to bring Zorro back into the family after 60 years and be a part of the legacy for other children to know they too can be the heroes of their own stories is a dream come true

    Wilmer Valderrama

    There have been countless adaptations of the masked vigilante, and he’s no stranger to television adaptations. Disney had a series featuring Guy Williams in the titular role that ran for 78 episodes and for over two years. There were even some specials for The Magical World of Disney in the 1960s. It’ll be interesting to see if this new adaptation of Zorro will also include references to the past.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ Adds Amarah-Jae St. Aubyin and Grace Saif

    Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ Adds Amarah-Jae St. Aubyin and Grace Saif

    It looks like the upcoming adaptation of Anansi Boys is picking up the pace, as the six-part series has found its female leads. Amarah-Jae St. Aubyin, who some might know from Steve McQueen‘s Lovers Rock, and the Small Axe anthology will play the role of Rosie Noah. She’ll be joined by 13 Reasons Why‘s Grace Saif, who’ll play the character of Detective Constable Daisy Day. Neil Gaiman, the author of the original novels and producer of the series, shared his thoughts on the casting in The Hollywood Reporter piece on their casting:

    When you are casting something on the scale of Anansi Boys you need female leads who are as accomplished, charming, and brilliant as, well, Malachi Kirby in both his incarnations. Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn and Grace Saif are those women. [They’re] both funny, honest, brilliant actresses, and you will fall in love with both of them.

    Neil Gaiman

    The series is currently filming in Scotland, it’ll follow Malachi Kirby‘s Nancy, who discovers that his father was the trickster god of stories, the titular Anansi. He also uncovers that he has a brother named Spider (also played by Kirby), who is going to make his life quite a bit more troubling. Endor Productions and RED Production Company are involved in the project with Gaiman and Sir Lenny Henry co-writing the series. Douglas Mackinnon is acting as showrunner alongside the original author.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Wants Coral to Kill Everyone and Take Over in ‘Crossing Swords’

    EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Wants Coral to Kill Everyone and Take Over in ‘Crossing Swords’

    Voice actress Tara Strong has played plenty of powerful and dangerous characters in the past, but never one as violent and vulgar as Coral on Crossing Swords. As one of the protagonist siblings, Coral often takes the backseat but is always given some sort of plot-line throughout the seasons, being a pirate and all. Sadly, the character has never truly been given her time in the limelight, as it isn’t her story. Strong, however, has a few ideas on where she would love to see her character move on in the future.

    We recently had the chance to talk with the voice actress about her character and the upcoming second season of Crossing Swords. We were curious just where Strong would like to see her character go and how she would love to see her character progress, and didn’t hold back with her answer.

    I think she should just kill everyone and be queen. Hello! She should be running the show, she’s the smartest.

    Tara Strong

    Following up on this question, as we highlighted how incompetent the current royalty is in the fictional peg world of Crossing Swords, she gave the following response:

    Yeah, they’re ridiculous, Right! she needs to take over. She just needs some dragons and needs to go all Khaleesi on everyone, you know?

    Tara Strong

    Her direction for Coral is definitely a creative one, but wouldn’t seem too out of character for her. Of course, it seems unlikely that the creative team would kill off all their characters, but they might take a creative root with her character taking over in a future season. It would certainly add an interesting new dynamic to the show and mix things up for our colorful cast of characters.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Yvette Nichole Brown on Bringing Her Character to Life in ‘Crossing Swords’ Season 2

    EXCLUSIVE: Yvette Nichole Brown on Bringing Her Character to Life in ‘Crossing Swords’ Season 2

    Crossing Swords has a ton of characters, who are all so different and unique in their very own ways. As such, the kingdom is full of oddballs, and we’re not just talking about the Royal family. one of these citizens is played by Yvette-Nichole Brown, who many are familiar with for her work on series like Community, Drake & Josh, or even her cameo in Avengers: Endgame. She also isn’t a stranger to voice roles either, and Crossing Swords might have the actress in her most vulgar performance yet. We had a chance to talk with Yvette Nichole Brown on the upcoming second season and got to ask her in what kind of headspace she is to bring such an outlandish character to life.

    I mentally decided that she speaks like a Baptist preacher. So, she’s always, you know, just about to take you to the mountain top every time she speaks. The problem is: there’s no substance to what she’s saying. So, she’s giving it to ya, and she’s giving you the fire, but she’s talking about monkeys and craziness and pubic hairs, all kinds of stuff that you would never hear in a church or anywhere. So, I like the dichotomy of that, that she’s speaking with purpose about things that don’t matter. So, that’s how I found her.

    Yvette Nichole Brown

    As a follow-up, we asked how Brown would like to see her character progress in the series, and gave the perfect answer for someone like Sgt. Meghan.

    You know, I kinda love that she pops in when you least expect. […] I kinda feel like shes coming off of vacation. She just pops in, right? She’s always either about to go on vacation or coming back from vacation. So, she misses most of the shenanigans and she comes in right before crap is about to hit the fan and she tries “a little bit” to make it better. So, I think she’s in it about enough.

    Yvette Nichole Brown

    Brown‘s presence in the show, while it may not be a huge role, is definitely a memorable one. She does perfectly summarizes how her character plays into the story and she’s always a blast once she enters the screen. Here’s hoping that in a possible third season we’ll get a lot more from Sgt. Meghan.

  • ‘WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany Nabs Golden Globe Nominations

    ‘WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany Nabs Golden Globe Nominations

    It looks like the Golden Globe nominations are in. It’s been a busy year for Marvel Studios, which has been garnering more critical acclaim with the release of its Disney+ series, WandaVision. It started off with the series garnering quite a few nominations at the Emmys before winning the first for the production company. The song “Agatha All Along” even got a nomination at the Grammys and the series got nominations for the Critic Choice Awards shortly after. Well, it seems that the series can now add the Golden Globes to the list.

    The official nominations have dropped and Paul Bettany has been nominated for the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. He is joined by his co-star Elizabeth Olsen, who is nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress category. They are the only nominations for Marvel Studios at the upcoming event, but an additional nomination arrived for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for Best Visual Effects.

    Succession, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show garnered the most nominations for the TV category. Squid Game has also garnered quite a bit of acclaim at this year’s Golden Globes and it’s great to see such a diverse type of show getting some critical acclaim for their work. We’ll see if WandaVision manages to also bring a Golden Globe home.

    Source: CNN, Twitter