While Disney+ is certainly the first and foremost home of Marvel's on-screen content, Hulu has been quietly putting out a variety of comic-centric media. Hulu's newest piece is Marvel's Hit-Monkey and it's a well-put-together but vapid series that's all been done before. Hit-Monkey was created by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, a duo who've been writing and directing studio comedies since their big debut with the Will Ferrel vehicle Blades of Glory. The series stars iconic performers like Jason Sudeikis and George Takei, with legendary voice actor Fred Tatasciore in the title role.
Hit-Monkey is a fairly recent addition to the Marvel comics universe, introduced in a self-titled digital comic in 2010. The character was created by comics writer Daniel Way and artist Dalibor Talajić, and his one shot appearance led to a brief storyline in Deadpool. The character has only appeared in a handful of comics in the eleven years since his introduction, but he seems to have made an impact in that short time.
In the comics, the character is a simple Japanese macaque, living with a troop who takes in and cares for a human assassin. Hit-Monkey observes and learns from this assassin, honing his skills to prepare himself from the conflict he sees coming. When soldiers come to exact revenge upon the assassin, they slaughter Hit-Monkey's troop, leaving him with his new calling; hunting and killing other professional killers.
At its heart, Hit-Monkey is a dark buddy comedy mixed in with heavy violence and some harsh shifts in tone. Sudeikis portrays Bryce, a bored, lonely assassin with a drinking problem. After his death, Bryce becomes a ghost, attached by a short invisible tether to his new monkey friend. Since Bryce is dead and Hit-Monkey is a monkey, the pair are only capable of speaking with each other, meaning a heavy majority of dialogue is snarky one-liners in response to primal screeches. Bryce is a seasoned professional, and much of the series sees him leading Hit-Monkey through scenarios with near-constant incorrect advice. The pair have a strange chemistry, the monkey is morally conflicted but flies into an unstoppable rage when cornered, making him a near-perfect opposite to Bryce's effortless professionalism. They are fun to watch as a duo, essentially combining to form a single compelling, if unoriginal, main character.
The action is the most uneven aspect of the series. Some of it is genuinely engaging, using the unique traits of the eponymous primate's physicality to sell him as an incredible threat. He thrashes his targets with tooth and claw, but just as often trades up to guns, samurai swords, and all manner of found objects. Unfortunately, a portion of the action is broken up by a deeply disorienting visual gimmick, made to recreate the effect of a handheld camera. The frame often swings and bounces around wildly, making the action hard to follow and sloppy. This technique is not always present, but it's there often enough to really detract from some otherwise solid cartoon violence. The action scenes are nicely varied, in setting, stakes, style, and even visual presentation.
The animation quality of Hit-Monkey is not stellar. It's definitely distinct, reminiscent of an American take on particularly grounded anime. On technical grounds, it looks like a fairly high-end internet animation, or more precisely, like early seasons of Archer. As a matter of fact, a lot of the show feels like FX's long-running action-comedy series. This gets to the heart of the problem with Hit-Monkey, there is nothing that this series does that is not accomplished much better elsewhere. When it's focusing on comedy, it's a lesser season of Archer that pairs the titular spy with a monkey. When it's focusing on action, it's like if Samurai Jack soaked all its combat with meaningless blood. Its take on a killer trying to forge a life apart from violence is also nothing new, a well-worn concept when Logan was quoting it from Shane half a decade ago.
The side stories, like the main one, are decently executed but largely uninspired. Hit-Monkey is pursued by a pair of detectives, a hard-drinking pro with a checkered past and an eager rookie who plays by the rules. Fans may remember this as the dynamic from Lethal Weapon with the roles reversed. The assassination Bryce is murdered over lays the path for a political battle between a corrupt jerk and an idealistic public servant aided by his opinionated niece. The pair contend with the media and pressure from their opponents' obvious criminal interests. Every side character needs to take time out to discuss their feelings on vigilante violence just to stay tied to the main plot's well-worn tropes. In a vacuum, most of it works, but very little of it stands out in a crowded market. Marvel completionists who feel the need to watch everything with the brand name on it will find a few references and obscure characters that may never make it to screen elsewhere.
Hit-Monkey is not a bad show, and there is definitely fun to be found in this series, but fans looking for anything groundbreaking should look elsewhere. Audiences seeking a competently put-together action series to kill around four hours could do worse, but could also do much better.