Just like the song in the trailer says, it's the most wonderful time of the year. For Hawkeye's characters, that involves the Christmas holiday season, but for yours truly, it's all about Halloween and spooky fare. So how awesome is it that the latest Hawkeye trailer from Marvel and Disney+ (seen above) features a horror-esque visual that also serves as an extreme deep-cut reference to an Avengers comic from the '90s.
On the whole, this latest Hawkeye trailer features many of the same beats and action-packed moments that were peppered in previous promos, making this project look like the most snow-covered and holiday-tastic Marvel project yet. (At least until the Guardians of the Galaxy special arrives.) But the most interesting moment in this trailer to yours truly has zilch to do with yuletide cheer and much to do with a certain creature feature.
At the :50 mark in the video, Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop is talking presumably to Lucky, and she’s standing in front of a theatrical movie poster, though not one that would exist in our reality. It appears to be for a movie called Creature from the Black Galaxy, which would be a fun spoof of Universal Studios’ classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, which gave the world Gill-man.
The deep-cut reference here is the name Moira Brandon, who was an extremely short-lived character who was introduced in Avengers West Coast #100, which was first published in November 1993. Moira was indeed an actress who moved to Hollywood from Chicago, and the estate she called home was bought up by the West Coast Avengers and was transformed into the Avengers Compound. Interestingly enough, Moira was killed after saving Hawkeye and Mockingbird from Crossfire’s attack on the Compound, making the above reference quite an intriguing one within the MCU’s canon.
Could it be possible that Clint was actually saved at one point by the fictional entertainer Moira Brandon? Obviously the details would need to be changed, give the non-existence of a specified West Coast Avengers in the film and TV shows, but it’ll be cool if the writers find a way to tie all of that in together. I would love to see the MCU deliver its take on all of the classic Universal Studios monsters. You hear that, Blade?
Oh, and for what it’s worth, the “co-star” in the poster is Luke Ballard, who was (and possibly still is) a visual design artist for Marvel. Maybe he’s even the one who designed that poster (or this semi-controversial poster), though possibly not. If that's indeed a nod to the artist, I can think of few cooler ways to be honored in a show like this than as a part of an in-universe horror movie with a lesser-known comic character.
Hawkeye is set to debut on Disney+ on Wednesday, November 24, and there are still quite a few other big premieres heading to the 2021 Fall TV schedule!
