The real star of the upcoming Hawkeye series at Disney + may not be Clint Barton or Kate Bishop, but Lucky the Pizza Dog, the cynical partner of the one-eyed couple. Hollywood, however, does not have many one-eyed actor dogs, so the series’ director explains how the special effects team turned the Golden Retriever into a crippled Lucky.
Director Rhys Thomas explained his initial hesitation by using a natural dog during the filming – Jolt’s real name – instead of making a CGI. “We tried our dogs on Jolt,” Thomas told The Hollywood Reporter. “Jolt did a great job. There are some very specific things the dog needs to do. It was amazing. I was really skeptical and I had pictures of a CG dog. I really can not imagine when we were due that Jolt had wasted time. He was there. ”
Removing the excellent eye Jolt – digitally – proved to be more of a challenge than putting a particular eye patch on in front of a green screen. “I was told that if we rolled our eyes, he would probably make circles,” Thomas said. “These assistants: we recorded a scene with Jolt, and the team with visual effects went in and got all the light reports and everything they needed from each camera setup and followed the other eye, frame by frame, after.”
Lucky the Pizza Dog appeared in Matt Fraction and David Aja’s comic book series Hawkeye from 2012. Originally called the arrow, the unhappy dog belonged to the violent Ivan Banionis, the lord of the slums and a mafia gang in a tracksuit. Clint Burton had become friends with The Arrow, and when the archer collided, The Arrow hurried to defend Clint and attacked the crew.
The dog’s heroic deeds nearly cost him his life, and since Clint would not let him die, he made sure that The Arrow received proper veterinary treatment. When the dog recovered, his severe injuries cost him an eye. So Clint renamed him Lucky and adopted him as his own.
Later in the series, Kate Bishop moves in with Clint, but they both have problems, and Kate later moves in with Lucky.
Loosely inspired by the Fraction and Aja series, Hawkeye takes place at Disney + just before Christmas. Clint confronts enemies from his past while trying to get home to his family before the holidays. The first two episodes of the series will air on November 24th.
