Season Review: Marvel’s Hit-Monkey Season One

Marvel has been churning out some interesting content for both television and film recently. On the Marvel Cinematic Universe side, we were treated with Marvel’s What If, an animated series on Disney+ that showcases the multiverse, and some lesser-known characters like Shang-Chi and the Eternals on the big screen. For streaming, the brand delivered an adult animated comedy centering on M.O.D.O.K. for Hulu. Now, Marvel is continuing that trend with Hulu by introducing us to one of its more obscure characters in its history: a Japanese snow monkey.

No, this is not one of Deadpool’s pranks. The Marvel team seriously made a monkey into a gun-toting assassin who’s far from family-friendly. If you need another reason why monkeys can be dangerous, here you go. Despite how ridiculous it seemed, the character, created by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić, has proven to be a modest success in the comics, mainly where he teams up with Deadpool. Now it’s time to see if he do the same in his streaming television debut.

Marvel’s Hit-Monkey was created by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, the same people behind Blades of GloryThe Switch, and Office Christmas Party. The first season centers on the titular character (Fred Tatasciore), an unjust Japanese snow monkey trained by his mentor Bryce (Jason Sudeikis) to become a dangerous assassin. When Bryce got injured by a double-cross during his mission, he was nurtured by a group of snow monkeys. Bryce was later killed but came back as a ghost to help Hit-Monkey avenge him and Hit-Monkey’s clan. The 10-episode season follows Hit-Monkey’s quest to damage Tokyo’s crime underworld and find the culprit responsible for committing this violent crime.

Amid the monkey’s killing spree, the series also focused on two subplots involving different characters. One of them centers on Akiko (Olivia Munn), an ambitious young woman attempting to help her uncle Shinji Yokohama (George Takei) compete in an election. The other has Haruka (Ally Maki) investigating the murderous trail left behind by Hit-Monkey with her partner Ito (Nobi Nakanishi).

Like M.O.D.O.K.Hit-Monkey features plenty of elements that are intended for an older audience. It’s got violence, adult language, and some gory images. So yeah, this isn’t like any of the kid-friendly Marvel cartoons you would see on Disney XD.  

So far, Marvel has been making some solid progress when it comes to its adult content. The brand has made some great Netflix shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, except for Iron Fist. In addition, Hulu’s M.O.D.O.K. showcased a fresh and comedic spin on the superhero genre. So where does this one land in this list of mature superhero shows? Well, it’s right below Daredevil and M.O.D.O.K. regarding its plot and uniqueness. However, it also isn’t without a few enjoyable moments.

Think of it as a mixture of Kill Bill, a buddy comedy, and every Japanese film in existence, with a dash of Planet of the Apes. Why Planet of the Apes? Because a monkey can use guns to kill humans. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ties into Fox’s franchise. Unfortunately, when it comes to the season’s storyline, Hit-Monkey appeared to have taken every element from the action films that inspired it. Take episode five, “Run Monkey Run”, for example, where its plot involving a bounty on Hit-Monkey’s head felt somehow similar to the third John Wick film. Thankfully, it had enough ambition in its themes, style, and characterization to make this another enjoyable series from Hulu and Marvel.

One of the things that worked in the show was its representation of violence. Of course, we’ve seen plenty of violence in action movies and shows that were only displayed as entertainment value, especially the ones that involve a superhero. But Hit-Monkey happened to be one of the shows that portray its brutality in a thought-provoking manner, not just for the sake of pleasing its viewers. It shows how violent acts can affect a person physically and mentally and the consequences of committing them, especially when it involves their loved ones. It also represented a balance between justice and vigilantism regarding being judge, jury, and executioner. The show did a decent job exploring these themes amid its superhero antics and stylistic bloodshed, especially during its eighth episode and the season finale. It may not have a solid emotional core inside its fur, but it worked well enough to deliver well-developed characters.

The voice cast was suitably satisfying regarding their performances and charisma, especially Fred Tatasciore as Hit-Monkey. For the most part, Jason Sudeikis was entertaining in his role as Bryce, the titular character’s ghostly mentor. At first, in some scenes, Bryce can be a bit too irritating for me, notably when he’s talking way too much or delivering some “color commentary” while Hit-Monkey’s fighting for his life. However, in the sequences outside of his annoying traits, Bryce is a solid character that carries a fine line between nuisance and thoughtful, even though his humor lacks some strong laughs. The rest of the actors were also good in their roles, including Olivia Munn and Ally Maki as Akiko and Haruka, respectively. These characters managed to serve their purpose in the story without feeling out of place.

The animation in Hit-Monkey featured a stylized 2D graphic novel style rather than the stop-motion approach in M.O.D.O.K. At first glance, the frame rate did look a bit choppy in specific scenes. However, it did get better as the season went on. The animation delivered a rewarding style that paid homage to the Japanese action films that came before it, mainly Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, in terms of its action and presentation. Can we expect a Kill Bill/Hit-Monkey crossover in the future?

As for the episodes of season one, I would have to choose episodes seven and eight as my top two favorites. Episode seven, “Sayonara Monkey”, featured a splendid introduction of Hit-Monkey’s formidable foe, Lady Bullseye, a female counterpart of Bullseye who plays a role in the remaining episodes. It also had an entertaining chase sequence between Hit-Monkey and Lady Bullseye. However, it was its eighth episode, “Home Sweet Home”, that won me over. That episode removed the bloody formula that could’ve run itself dry in favor of a character-driven story. As a result, it is a vital chapter that provided engaging character depth for both Hit-Monkey and Bryce and a compelling narrative that explores the complexity of its themes and Hit-Monkey himself.

Overall, Marvel’s Hit-Monkey hits the correct ambitious targets regarding its themes and characters, even though some missed their marks by an inch. The storyline did follow some familiar formula beats from time to time, and the comedic moments from Sudeikis were far from hysterical. Nonetheless, it’s a stylistic and entertaining animated series that serves as a good reintroduction of one of Marvel’s lesser-known characters. Plus, it shows further proof that Marvel may have a brighter future in adult animation outside of its massive cinematic universe.

Now, the only question that remains is whether or not we’ve seen the last of the snow monkey and his ghostly partner. Based on the final scene in the season one finale, I won’t be surprised if Hulu moves forward with the show’s second season. I guess it’ll strongly depend on how other people respond to something that involves a short-tempered monkey on a killing spree.