Hawkeye directors Bert and Bertie reveal creative Marvel project collaboration [Interview]

What are the deep references, even in the background?

Bert: You have to watch the show.

How does that play things closer to the vest with this show?

Bertie: Difficult. Yeah, so you’re trying to ask yourself, “Wait, where are we now? There are three of us. Okay. Let’s talk about everything until three.”

Bert: I posted something one day that I found so harmless. It was that little prop on set and Marvel just called and they said, “Don’t do that.” And that sorted out this online chain reaction of what it could be. This is what I learned from my meager Instagram followers, but it’s just that it’s all a talking point. So you just have to keep it really close to your chest.

Obviously, with TV, we stay very faithful to the page, but with Marvel, things can change. How has the writing of the series evolved over time?

Bertie: This is one of the most wonderful surprises, that is, Kevin is all about plus-ing, and Marvel is all about, how can we add that? This is what we have planned to do. And so everyone was constantly open to new ideas and new ways to improve things, so this was one of those things you think, “Are we going to shoot for one of the more studios. the biggest and most successful in the world? And they are probably successful because they don’t set things rigidly in stone, which can always be better. And Hailee and Jeremy were a big part of that. Sometimes we would get to settle in and be like, “Oh, but is that really what Clint means at this point?” Or why would Kate react like that? And then we would find something new there. And as long as we had a version of what the script was, we found ourselves finding new things. It is a wonderfully constant process of evolution. That means you end up with better material in the end.

Bert: But that’s about it all there with little tweaks that make it even better. It was great to see him come together with all the music and the final effects and everything. It was a real treat, but everything that needs to be there is there. The whole opening sequence of the car chase, Kevin was just like, “Oh, there are a few trap arrows in the script. If you find any new ones, let’s just put them in the car chase.” And then we came up with all these new ones, like the one that crosses the Christmas tree, the octapully arrow, we called it. And there was a point where we were like, something’s got to give way.

Bertie: And we just pushed to shoot all those rigged arrows and they all stuck, that’s why this chase is so long. I think this is one of those situations where we thought these things were going to stay on the editing room floor, but it all actually served the story up and made it a better action streak to the end.

How did you choose the cars for this car chase?

Bertie: So the Dodge was always on the cards, obviously from the comics. But when we decided to put this camera spinning in the car, there was no way that was going to happen in the Dodge Challenger, which is why we asked Clint to say, “No we’re not destroying. a Dodge Challenger. ” And it goes for the seedy old New Yorker grandma, because it’s like a boat. And so we made this choice based on this plan that we wanted to get in the car and have enough room and the benches and that allowed, and those big windows so that meant Kate could get out. And because of that, and then we had the Dodge Challenger, that there was that vintage feel of a car chase, of “Bullet” or like “French Connection” or something where you really felt .. I think that’s the whole show. The whole show seems pretty timeless. It’s quite contemporary, retro, it’s happening in the near future. It seems pretty timeless. And what we achieved while we were … It wouldn’t necessarily be speed in the streets of New York, but fairing around the bends and those rigged arrows. We had three of these New Yorkers and we had one at the end that was still working and working, because it was spinning like it was a big boat and you would see the suspension drop right away. We lost hubcaps, we lost wheels, but it was the right choice because it looked so good on screen.

Bert: I was so surprised when we lost a hub cup, because you always see it in the movies and you’re like, “Ah, they lost a hub cup.” It’s like, “No, no, no, these cars lost their hubcaps because they go around the corners.” It was awesome.

“Hawkeye†is now airing on Disney +.