The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to take it one step forward with every new release. Take the new Hawkeye series for example. The fans always wondered how the lone Avenger would carry the series on his shoulders. He had always been an uninteresting weapon. But Marvel Studios took that boring premise and turned it on its head by giving Hawkeye a lot of interesting characters to bounce off of. They even sent a Black Widow assassin to kill him. But then something magical happened in the finale. Here is how Hawkeye improved on the Martha moment from BvS.
Batman V Superman is considered to be a great film by the fandom, that much is clear from its Box office performance. But it still remains one of the most contentious movies in DCEU’s arsenal. It is a critical failure and the fans also have some complaints about it. Primary of which is the Martha moment in the final moments of the fight between Batman and Superman. Basically, a lot of people claim that Batman goes from being angry and full of bloodlust to Superman’s best friend in the blink of an eye.
The people who claim this, fail to see that the scene signifies how blind Batman really was. Batman perceived Superman as some otherworldly threat who could never understand humans. But when he hears the name Martha it reminds him of his own mother and then when Lois tells him that it is the name of Clark’s mother too, he realizes that Clark is just another Kansas boy. He sees the wrong in his actions and immediately moves to correct his mistakes. This is signified by him throwing away the Kryptonite spear and aiding Superman in the final battle against Doomsday.
Martha Moment From BvS Done Better
However, the problem with that scene is not the lack of emotion. It is the portrayal and the staging of that emotional conflict. The story merely uses common grounds to resolve conflict. That is a powerful message but it is delivered incorrectly. More specifically, it is used by someone who is claimed to be irrational at this point. How a single name gets through Bruce’s anger is unclear, it is ineffective and hence unbelievable for the audiences. But Hawkeye does something that BvS could not.
This show executes its perfect Martha moment when Yelena comes to kill Hawkeye for killing/ not saving her sister. She is told by Val that Hawkeye was the one responsible for her death. But she wants to hear it from the man herself. So he beats him down, again and again, and keeps on questioning him. At last, Clint tells her that Natasha sacrificed herself, that he could not stop her, that it was the truth. But his pleadings land on deaf ears. Yelena is all but prepared to end his life until he decides to use common ground to mitigate the conflict.
Clint whistles a tone for Yelena, one that was supposed to be the secret tone by which Yelena and Natasha communicated with each other. This makes Yelena take pause, then Clint keeps on talking about what Natasha had told him about Yelena and ends up convincing the widow of his innocence. Well, innocence is the wrong word. Hawkeye still blames himself for Natasha’s death but he joins Yelena in mourning and remembering her. This is how the Martha moment is improved upon.
The Consequences
Hawkeye not only uses the moment correctly but also improves upon it. The whistle and the conversation after, in the Hawkeye finale, make sure that the emotional weight lingers on instead of dissipating. It is imperative that we give proper consideration to the fact that the common ground did not fall flat. In fact, Natasha’s remembrance acted as something over which Clint and Yelena bonded with each other. We hope to see these two fight alongside each other in future movies.
Do you agree with our analysis? Or do you disagree and think that BvS did it better? Maybe you know of another movie that did the same thing but even better than these two. If that is the case then let us know your opinion in the comments down below and keep watching this space for everything Marvel, DC, and Hollywood. Excelsior!!!
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