Presenting Clint “Hawkeye” Barton from the Marvel Universe Infinite Series.
The Avengers debuted last week here in Manila, Philippines, and it was…. “Wow!” I lack the words to properly do it justice. Suffice to say, it left me wanting more, more, MORE! A lot of people will be complaining about the fact that Avengers: Age of Ultron seemed to deviate from the simple plot of the first Avengers and complicate things by seemingly introducing so many smaller plot lines. Personally I think that this is because of the fact that Josh Whedon has to marry the plot of several other movies – both past and upcoming – and several TV series as well.
One of the more significant plot lines that are explored in Avengers: Age of Ultron is about Hawkeye. The cry “Avengers Assemble!” is not heard in the movie, but the Avenging Archer manages to deliver a rousing speech that reminds watchers just why exactly he is an Avenger. He caps it with “If you step out that door, you are an Avenger!” I almost cried.
Even Hawkeye questions why he’s there: “We’re fighting an army of robots — and I have a bow and arrow, none of this makes sense.” Hawkeye is no super-soldier, wasn’t genetically selected or trained since birth, is not an “enhanced” nor a Thunder-God. He’s a normal human being. Hawkeye fights anyway - despite the fact that he has the most to lose, and the movie will let you know just why.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron Hawkeye’s kind of courage is a fine testament to the Hawkeye who in the comic books would grow to lead the Avengers, The Thunderbolts, and (he’d probably want to sweep this under the rug) The Great Lakes Avengers.
PROS
FIRST: The Marvel Universe Infinite series Hawkeye is a repackage of the Marvel Universe Dark Hawkeye (Bullseye) . This is both a pro and a con. On the pro side, it’s nice to have a Hawkeye figure who is not so grim faced. I enjoy his full toothy smile. Marvel’s Hawkeye is known for his unique dark sense of humor in the face of sure destruction. You’ll see this dark humor appear in the movie when Hawkeye gets fed up with the quips of a certain hero.
SECOND: The Marvel Universe Infinite Series Hawkeye comes with a quiver, a single loose arrow and a bow (With imaginary string), and he is a joy to pose: granted though that the arrow is too short to be used if you fully extend Hawkeye’s arm which you’ve probably noted by now. Still it looks good.
THIRD: The Marvel Universe Hawkeye comes with very decent articulation! Initially I was worried that the tabard would hamper his articulation, it doesn’t. Some of the harder poses can even be made by taking advantage of the lower portion of his tabard acting as a third leg.
ARTICULATION:
Head is mounted on a ball joint on a neck hinge
Upper torso is also on a ball joint allowing it to swivel and tilt.
Ball jointed shoulders with bicep swivel
Single direction elbows, no forearm swivel
360° wrists
Waist swivel
Ball jointed legs with upper leg swivel
Double jointed, single-direction knees
Boot/ankle tilt and swivel
CONS
FIRST: He’s a repackaged Dark Hawkeye. And as such, he’s inherited some of the quality control issues that plagued the Dark Hawkeye figure, particularly his being cross-eyed. It’s not that evident as long as you don’t look at him straight on.
SECOND: The Marvel Universe Infinite Series Hawkeye cannot hold the arrow that looks so good in his hand. It only stays in place – and if you look closely, you can see it – because of blue-tack that was used in this shoot.
BUYER/COLLECTORS RECOMMENDATION
In my opinion, the Marvel Universe Infinite Series Hawkeye is not the best one in the market, but neither is it the worst. It’s nice to have a smiling hero in your roster I’m pretty sure that if you look at your collection right now, a majority, if not all of your Marvel Universe characters are stone faced. So this Hawkeye is quite refreshing. The quality control issue with the eye can be easily addressed with a Gundam Pen and a steady hand.
So if you are looking for a Hawkeye for your roster following an Avengers: Age of Ultron high, this is not such a bad character to pick up. We got him at the retail price of $16.66 USD and currently sells for about $9.95 USD online - drat. You can also get the figure here or the Infinite Wave 5 here.
The 6" version isn't too bad either. Find him here.