The line between super-heroism and super-villainy is in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone would agree with the moral imperatives of a masked billionaire tackling street crime (Batman), a Holocaust survivor fighting for equal rights (Magneto) or an alien committed to “truth, justice and the American way” (Superman). So, while Echo (Alaqua Cox) was a villain in 2021’s Hawkeye, her transition from antagonist to protagonist is wholly persuasive, particularly since dead family member(s) are the core motive in these hero/villain origin stories.
Hawkeye, based around Jeremy Renner’s bow-wielding vigilante, surpassed (admittedly rock bottom) expectations with a fun, self-contained story that saw everyone’s least favourite Avenger battle Kingpin and make it home in time for Christmas. It was the fifth of the 12 Disney+ Marvel series, but it seemed born of a golden age when WandaVision and Loki debuted with some genuine sparks of ingenuity, and before the talents of Oscar Isaac, Olivia Colman and Tatiana Maslany had been publicly squandered. While Echo doesn’t quite cure the pandemic of Marvel fatigue currently raging across the globe, it shows there may be some life in the old gal.
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