Marvel's Hit-Monkey co-creator Josh Gordon exclusively opens up about why Lady Bullseye serves as a key villain in the animated series. The Hulu title marks the screen debut of Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić's character of the same name, as well as the female counterpart to one of Daredevil's more iconic archenemies from the Marvel comics. Hit-Monkey will serve as an origin story for the Japanese snow monkey, whose tribe welcomes an American assassin into their midst, only for those after him to kill both the assassin and the monkey's tribe, sending Hit-Monkey on a quest for vengeance with the mentorship of the assassin's ghost.
Development on Hit-Monkey was first announced in early 2019 when Hulu ordered the project to series with Will Speck and Josh Gordon set as showrunners alongside Patton Oswalt's M.O.D.O.K., Chelsea Handler's Tigra & Dazzler and Kevin Smith's Howard the Duck. Speck and Gordon would assemble an ensemble cast for the series with Fred Tatasciore set in the titular role and Jason Sudeikis as the American assassin Bryce alongside Olivia Munn, George Takei, Ally Maki and Nobi Nakanishi. Following a somewhat rocky production cycle amidst the global pandemic, Hit-Monkey is finally set to hit Hulu on November 17.
Screen Rant spoke exclusively with Hit-Monkey creators Will Speck and Josh Gordon abut the Hulu animated series. In exploring the show's roster of villains, Gordon opened up about the decision to set Lady Bullseye as a key villain in the show, revealing Marvel Studios to have suggested the assassin in lieu of her male counterpart. See what Gordon said below:
"Building out the villains was obviously going to be one of the centerpieces of the show. In the original comic, it was Bullseye was sort of the great foil of that and for various reasons, we didn’t have access to Bullseye. Suddenly, Marvel said, 'Well, what about Lady Bullseye,' and we thought, 'Yes, that’s so much more original in a way and that’s so much more interesting.' Once we started to dig into her backstory, and she has not been used enormously before, it immediately became clear, 'Oh, she’s so much more interesting to us and so much richer.'
Then we have this really big kind of reveal at the end of our season, which Marvel allowed us to do, which was just amazing. So Lady Bullseye became a huge, interesting villain in the story, but then there were also other characters, like Yuki and Fat Cobra and even Silver Samurai, that have been shown, Fat Cobra has been shown a lot, but not in this exact light and not necessarily comedically. So it was really fun to be able to kind of round out our world with those Marvel villains and then also be able to build out the world of Japanese Yakuza and all those characters, it just suddenly created a really rich and underutilized environment for Hit-Monkey to inhabit."
Bullseye is generally considered one of the greatest assassins in the Marvel comics, possessing no superpowers but the ability to use nearly any object as a lethal projectile with the utmost precision. While he's better known for facing off against Daredevil in the comics, he has crossed paths with Hit-Monkey before, which would have made his inclusion in the animated series an exciting element for fans. However, as Gordon indicates, the character's inclusion as the primary villain in Daredevil season 3 seems to have prevented him from serving as the primary antagonist for the show, especially as Marvel Studios continues to figure out how Charlie Cox's character may fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's future and Wilson Bethel's portrayal of Bullseye still being alive.
Though the male counterpart of the character may not be in the show, Gordon's discussion of exploring Lady Bullseye in Marvel's Hit-Monkey is sure to draw interest from comic book readers curious to finally see the character get her due on screen. The future of the show may be up in the air following Marvel Television folding into Marvel Studios, but Gordon and Speck have teased detailed plans for Hit-Monkey seasons 2 and 3 and a larger picture for the character in subsequent seasons. Only time will tell if the two get to explore the character more after Hit-Monkey premieres on Hulu on November 17.