Warning: This list contains spoilers for the season finale of Hawkeye
The season finale of Hawkeye has aired and it's safe to say that most fans feel that it's in the conversation for the best MCU television series to this point. In some ways, it could be one of the best MCU properties, period. While the street-level action and the bits of drama were good, the characters were the highlight.
Clint Barton is given more of a prominent spotlight than ever before, the debuting Kate Bishop has quickly become a fan favorite and the show featured the return of several high-profile characters to the franchise, all ranging in varying levels of being likable.
Eleanor Bishop
Although Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga) is Kate's mother who seems to mean well for most of the show, there was always some underlying worry about her. It's as if fans could tell, just from her everyday conversations, that there was more to her than meets the eye.
When she requested that Clint leave Kate out of his business, she framed it as being concerned but viewers knew she was covering herself. The final two episodes revealed that she was indeed doing criminal activity and while it had something to do with what her husband owed, she went far enough to frame Jack and kill Armand, which is unforgivable.
Wilson Fisk
Obviously, when you consider that Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) is the big bad of the series, you'd think he'd rank at the bottom in terms of likability. Technically, he doesn't really do anything to make the audience root for him.
That being said, it's hard to not smile at the idea of Kingpin being back on TV. He was a remarkably gripping and dangerous villain in Daredevil, which was technically in the MCU but didn't really connect to it at all. As vicious and violent as he is, he's captivating to see do just about anything.
Kazi Kazimierczak
While the majority of the Tracksuit Mafia members are just random goons, one guy does stand out as being notable. That's Kazi Kazimierczak (Fra Fee), who acts as a right-hand man of sorts for Maya and ultimately is shown to work closely with Wilson Fisk.
For a lot of the series, Kazi shows that he genuinely cares for Maya and is her main source of communication through sign language. Alas, it's revealed that he seems to have known about the death of Maya's dad and chooses to fight her in the finale rather than leave with her, hurting his likability.
Jack Duquesne
Most fans correctly predicted from the start that Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) was mostly just a red herring. As Eleanor's new love interest, he came in with question marks, especially since he stole Ronin's sword and was better at using them than he led on.
It turned out that he was just a weird dude who liked swords and nothing more. Jack proved to be a good guy and he had some of the funnier lines like when he messed up famous English phrases in front of Kate and Eleanor. He even got a crowd-pleasing scene in the finale fighting alongside the heroes with his swords.
Maya Lopez
Like Eleanor and Jack, the original outlook on Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) changed as the series progressed. She started off as the person seemingly leading the Tracksuit Mafia, with vengeance on her mind as she hunted down Ronin for killing her father.
Her backstory of losing her dad made her sympathetic, while her pride in being deaf and making it into one of her strengths is an admirable quality. The reveal of who was actually behind her father's death turned her to the side of good, evidenced by her fight with Kazi in the finale. She's someone who fans like just in time for her own eventual series, Echo.
Laura Barton
Since first appearing in a surprising scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) has been Clint's rock. The matriarch of the family, Laura mostly spends the show away from Clint until the closing moments of the finale.
Despite her lack of appearances, Laura was always there for him. She showed incredible support and a warm level of understanding no matter what his circumstances were. The show even confirmed that she had a past working for S.H.I.E.L.D., possibly as Mockingbird. Everything about Larua is likable and fans want more of her.
Lucky The Pizza Dog
It's almost impossible not to fall in love with Lucky the Pizza Dog. Played by a golden retriever named Jolt, Lucky joins a growing list of lovable animal characters in the MCU alongside Goose from Captain Marvel and Alligator Loki from Loki.
Obviously, Lucky doesn't get character development, major storylines, or anything along those lines. What he does get are scenes where he gets to showcase that he's simply a good boy. Maybe in Kate's future, Lucky will get to actually get in on the action.
Clint Barton
In most cases, the protagonist is the most likable character around. In Hawkeye, that's not quite the case but it's more because of scene-stealing supporting characters than being a slight against Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). This is a Clint who is dealing with some major grief, giving the story more depth than some of Hawkeye's famous comic books.
He misses Natasha, feels guilty about her death, and has to pay for what he did as Ronin. It's appreciated that he doesn't view himself as a hero or as someone who is good because he knows he has done bad things. However, his devotion to his family and the way he takes Kate under his wing are things that make him immensely likable.
Yelena Belova
Although she has only shown up in two MCU projects to date, it really seems like Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is going to be a highlight of everything she does. As soon as she arrived at the end of episode 4, the quality of the show ticked upwards and kept going. Yelena being likable in Hawkeye is a testament to her personality because her mission is brutal.
She's there to kill the hero of the story but despite that, she engages the audience. Her scenes with Kate showcase that a bond is forging and even after beating Kate up, the young archer expresses how much she likes her. Yelena desperately misses her sister and it drives her to do some unjust things but she's an endless well of charisma.
Kate Bishop
A popular character from the comics, it's possible that the MCU's Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) has somehow already surpassed her counterpart from the pages. She's incredibly lovable in the way she can annoy Clint but also be relentlessly endearing in her desire to be his partner and be a hero.
Every single aspect of Kate's personality is something the crowd can root for, from her witty banter with fellow characters to the way she fights Kingpin head-on to the way she did the right thing even when it meant her mom would get arrested. Kate is someone who fans can't wait to see more of.