Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 30, 2024

Note: Disney / Buena Vista is releasing a slate of Disney+ offerings all in SteelBook packaging and all available beginning on December 3. For the first time in my personal experience of reviewing Disney product, they are only releasing these series on 4K disc, with no 1080 disc releases available as of the writing of this review.

There are a surprisingly large number of characters sporting the name or nickname of Hawkeye throughout various media stretching back for a perhaps surprising amount of time (e.g., The Last of the Mohicans), and for those more attuned to, say, legendary films made into long running television series and who see the title of this television series and can't help but think of M*A*S*H, Marvel's character actually predates both the film and television versions of Richard Hooker's source novel, and in fact even that novel itself. So with claims of character name theft perhaps shunted aside for at least a little while, this Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is simply this latest on screen incarnation of a character Marvel first introduced way back in the veritable Dark Ages of 1964, and who, once again pre-dating M*A*S*H, first showed up on television in animated form in a frankly probably little remembered effort called Marvel Super Heroes, which was evidently the first maybe little bang of an incipient Marvel Cinematic Universe, broadcast for a few months in 1966 and historically the premiere appearance of Marvel characters on the small screen, just a bit before the probably better remembered Spider-Man (initially animated by the same company that did Marvel Super Heroes.

Though it may not be the same celebration exactly, there's almost a kind of Planes, Trains & Automobiles aspect to Hawkeye, as Clint Barton attempts to get his family together for Christmas, encountering any number of obstacles along the journey. One of those obstacles might in fact be the other focal character of this miniseries, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), a character whose story is actually presented in more detail earlier in the show than Clint himself. In 2012, a young Kate (Clara Stack) witnesses the so-called Battle of New York, and, while traumatized by the damage to her parents' luxe domicile and apparent death of her father, still has time to check out a Hawkeye backflip off of a skyscraper, something that encourages Kate to want a bow and arrow. Segue forward a decade or so, and the now more or less grown up Kate is a bow and arrow sharpshooter, though her decision to aim for a college bell tower ends up having disastrous results, which then reunites her with her mother, Eleanor (Vera Farmiga). If this "actual" family of Kate ends up providing some (maybe just slightly silly) drama later in the series, it's Kate's "found family" of Hawkeye / Clint Barton that provides the bulk of this narrative.

In what might be thought of as a kind of recurring motif in some of the now multitudinous Disney+ offerings of Marvel stories, there's the familiar mentor - acolyte relationship at the center of this story, with Kate seemingly uncovering a "vast right wing conspiracy" that of course gets her into trouble, which is when Clint conveniently gets involved. Playing out simultaneously with this kind of "forced" partnership is a whole almost Douglas Sirk-ian melodramatic subplot of Kate's mother and an apparently nefarious new man in her life, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), though those acquainted with the actual comic book version of the character may end up being at least a bit surprised with how he's treated in this property. Things with Eleanor may devolve even further as things progress, which leads to the perhaps slightly comical appearance of Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, with Vincent D'Onofrio perhaps unwittingly looking like a bus and truck version of Daddy Warbucks in Annie.

If the action side of Hawkeye is fundamentally secure, it may actually be the cheeky comedy element more than any perceived dramatic side of things that actually ends up propelling this miniseries forward. A perfect example is the repeated use of a supposed musical called Rogers (hey, where's the exclamation point?), which shows up early in the tale as Clint attends a Broadway performance, but which recurs at least tangentially throughout the story, leading to a bit post-credits coda featuring a kind of hilarious song by Marc Shaiman. The comedy also shows up at various points throughout, including frequently with the gonzo so-called Tracksuit Mafia.

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate. Because there are no 1080 discs in this package, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Arri Alexa cameras and finished at 4K (both data points courtesy of the IMDb), this is another great looking presentation of a Marvel property from Disney, though the "everyday" aspect of the setting, including the fact that Clint and Kate have no exceptional superpowers, may keep some of that traditional "whiz bang" special effects wonderment so prevalent in other Disney+ offerings at least a bit more sporadic here. And in fact I'd probably argue that the CGI in this series can be less consistently convincing than in some other Disney+ productions, though that said, it can still be quite impressive at times, as in the opening salvo documenting the Battle of New York. The emphasis on practical sets and costumes in this production offers some nice renderings of fine detail. While the absence of a 1080 presentation makes any comparisons with regard to HDR / Dolby Vision challenging, the palette here, while again kind of arguably bland when compared to showier Marvel properties, can still pop quite appealingly, as in the bright red costumes the Tracksuit Mafia wears. There are a number of rather dimly lit or outright nighttime scenes where shadow detail can be slightly murky looking.

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season featueres a nicely immersive Dolby Atmos track. There is regular, consistent engagement of all of the surround channels, something that is probably understandably most noticeable in some of the big action set pieces, as in the opening Battle of New York, but which is discernable throughout the six episodes in any number of the crowded urban environments, where ambient environmental sounds can envelop the listener. There are any number of really fun panning effects when arrows are show, and there are also some kind of fun (and funny) sound effects accompanying such moments as when Kate unwisely chooses to target a college bell tower. LFE is also rather boisterous in a number of literally explosive moments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye (HD; 58:27) is a good overview of both the two main characters as well as the narrative of this miniseries and how it plays into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's some especially good material surrounding Alaqua Cox's involvement.

Disc Two

• A Tale of Two Hawkeyes (HD; 8:28) focuses on Clint and Kate.


• Gag Reel (HD; 2:02)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 29:58)

Disney is providing fans another very nicely designed SteelBook which features photorealistic depictions of Clint and Kate and a certain pup on the front panel, with a "reverse angle" perspective of the trio on the back panel. Coloring emphasizes golds and purples, quite effectively. The interior panels are another joking homage to Rogers. Collector cards are also enclosed.

Hawkeye: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

That "The Complete First Season" included in this release's branding may be a bit of misdirection, since this show originally aired way back in 2021, and in the meantime Jeremy Renner has had his well publicized and horrifying accident. The mantle had probably already been taken up by the characters of Kate Bishop and Echo, in any case. This is an enjoyable if probably fairly slight entry in the MCU / Disney+ cohort, though it's received the same general care in terms of excellent technical merits and enjoyable supplements other Disney+ MCU releases have had. Recommended.