DC might have a bigger and better coterie of memorable simian characters, but Marvel has one-upped them by bringing their most notorious ape anti-hero to lead an animated series, with Hit-Monkey back in 2021, arguably their best animation work in recent years as well. Don’t get us wrong, we loved X-Men’97, but it lacked the raw style and unadulterated fun that a gun-katana-wielding macaque assassin dressed to the nines can bring to the screen. With a deadly swagger and a kill streak long enough to impress even Baba Yaga and Agent 47, Hulu’s Hit-Monkey is returning with a second season later this week. To get up to speed with the story so far, let us dive into the monkey business.
Spoilers Ahead
The Origin of Hit-Monkey
The story begins with wisecracking, irritably talkative hitman Bryce Fowler, who arrives in Japan to take down a young, promising presidential candidate, Ken Takahara, during one of his political rallies. Despite succeeding in his mission, Bryce unwittingly kills a young cop, Hiroshi, injures Ken’s political patron, Shinji Yokohama, and manages to evade capture. Hiroshi’s veteran partner, Lieutenant Ito, vows to take revenge on the killer, and Shinji ponders ending their political campaign despite having a clear advantage over their dastardly political rival, Ozu. Shinji’s young niece, whom he had taken care of since she became an orphan, an amateur, idealist, short-tempered girl named Akiko, who assisted Ken’s political campaign in a major way, is disappointed in the decision, as she wanted her uncle to carry on the good fight against injustice.Â
On the other hand, as discussed with his handler, Bryce reaches Fukuyama to collect the rest of his blood money, but gets double-crossed by his yet unknown employer as an infantry unit ambushes him. An injured Bryce manages to take out the entire unit and limps his way to a mountaintop, where he is treated back to normalcy by a group of Japanese snow macaques. One of the monkeys identifies him as a killer and tries to warn his tribe against helping Bryce, but the noble leader of the tribe remains adamant about assisting the ailing human. Bryce gradually recovers and trains himself, as he knows he will eventually be tracked down by enforcers sent by his employer, who wanted to tie up the loose ends, and the skeptical monkey learns combat by mimicking his training. Later, as the monkey continues to display violent behavior to convince his clan to sever ties with Bryce, their leader excommunicates him from the clan. Eventually, a bunch of assassins track down Bryce and kill him, along with all the macaques of the clan, and the solitary monkey is unable to stop them in time. Filled with rage and a desire to avenge his family, the monkey slaughters all the assassins using their guns, and with his last breath, Bryce pleads with the monkey to uncover the real perp behind this entire mess and bring them to justice. Taking all the guns he can carry and donning Bryce’s sunglasses, Hit-Monkey leaves his home and is accompanied by Bryce’s ghost, who directs him through possible targets. It should be mentioned that Bryce’s ghost is connected to Hit-Monkey on a spiritual level and is doomed to remain attached forever.
Hit-Monkey’s Bloody Adventures
With the help of Bryce’s ghost, Hit-Monkey goes to Tokyo in search of Bryce’s employer and leaves a bloody footprint all around as the duo move through the dark underbelly of the city. After unwittingly killing Bryce’s handler, Hit-Monkey finds himself on the trail of General Kato, who had sent the infantry unit to kill Bryce. After tracking him down at Ken’s funeral, Hit-Monkey initiates a gunfight among Yakuza. The monkey rescues Akiko and Shinji from the bloody ruckus and chases Kato, who eventually dies as well. On the other hand, Ito and his new partner, a starry-eyed rookie cop, Haruka, learn about this strange situation with the monkey. Later, the monkey and the ghost visit a blind monk named Stick (sensei of Daredevil), who mentions that Bryce’s spirit will be able to ascend if his soul gets the justice it deserves.
Following Kato’s trail, Bryce and Hit-Monkey go to Double Dragon Casino, where they find themselves entrapped by a mob boss and killer twins Keppei and Teppei. Hit-Monkey rampages his way through his adversaries and finds the address of a certain individual named the Accountant, who knows the proper chain of command. It should be mentioned that the monkey remains afflicted with guilt and agony over all the killing, and Bryce finds a connection with him as both of their souls are stained by their action of taking lives. Occasionally, the spirit of the macaque tribe leader appears in front of Hit-Monkey to offer his counsel and to act as a reminder of how doomed he has truly become ever since choosing the path of violence. Hit-Monkey also has a code of killing only killers and has a soft spot for non-human creatures, both of which don’t make much sense to Bryce anyway.
Hit-Monkey and Bryce infiltrate Sugano prison to reach the Accountant and inadvertently get involved in a prison fight in the most notorious section of the jail. The monkey manages to defeat Fat Cobra, a thunder power emanating Sumo, and together they turn on the Accountant, who lives a luxurious life thanks to the police and Yakuza protection. The trail to the real perp continues as the Accountant leads the duo to the Rooster, a Yakuza boss—and this time, they find out that a hefty bounty has been put on the monkey, who has been identified as the killer of hordes of dreaded criminals.
Strained relations and reconciliation
Hit-Monkey’s bloodbath across Tokyo receives divisive reactions, but Ito and Akiko seem to support his actions, considering them a necessary clean-up of society. Ito’s perspective bewilders Haruka, who calls him out for his ill reputation as a crooked cop in his department—only to later learn that Ito took the fall for his first partner and was a victim of the system himself. Haruka gains newfound respect for her senior, but she is adamant about bringing the monkey to justice. On the other hand, Akiko publicly supports the monkey’s actions and blames Ozu for recent attacks on them, and in fear of losing political support, Shinji drops her from the campaign. Meanwhile, Hit-Monkey and Bryce are chased by Yuki, a vengeful two-century-old assassin spirit, who eventually gets convinced of the monkey’s noble and honorable nature after witnessing him save Ito from impending death. Hit-Monkey once again has a run-in with Akiko, and it seems the duo has taken a liking to each other as well.
The monkey tracks down and kills the Rooster after a number of hiccups, and the unknown employer of Bryce calls in the deadly assassin Lady Bullseye to finally put an end to the threat of Hit-Monkey. Haruka deduces Akiko to be sheltering the monkey, and along with Ito, she visits her home, and at the same time, Lady Bullseye pays them a visit as well. Akiko’s house is blown to bits, leaving her grievously injured, and Ito sacrifices his life to save Haruka from Lady Bullseye’s deadly projectile. A chase ensues between Hit-Monkey and Lady Bullseye, which ends in a fiery accident on the bridge and leaves both badly injured in the process.
A remorseful Hit-Monkey blames Bryce for all the death and mayhem that he has been entangled in so far and leaves to return to his home in the mountains after trapping Bryce’s spirit with a salt circle. In a flashback, it is revealed that Bryce himself was a victim of someone else bringing violence to his doorstep as well and had to leave his wife and daughter to keep them from harm’s way. The monkey returns to a new clan and almost manages to find a new life for himself, only to realize later that he is doomed to remain attached to the cycle of violence forever. The spirit of his clan leader once again appears in front of him to instill confidence in him by mentioning that, despite the fact that he won’t belong to the world of either humans or monkeys, he is destined to protect both of them. With newfound resolution, Hit-Monkey returns to Tokyo, frees Bryce, and the duo reconciles.
The Endgame
Akiko and Haruka (who have finally decided to acknowledge the effectiveness of the monkey’s methods) both seek out Hit-Monkey and reveal that the Rooster’s evidence on other hotshots of the underworld has revealed that Bonsai Master, aka Ichiro Hazaki, is the person responsible for putting a hit on Ken for his progressive efforts to destabilize the underworld, and now that Ken’s patron Shinji Yokohama is going to be the President, he is the possible next target. Ozu is in cahoots with the mysterious Bonsai Master as well, and Hit-Monkey gears up to take both of them out—to finally avenge his family and offer Bryce a chance to ascend.
However, Lady Bullseye is once again eying the monkey after recuperating, and in her pursuit, she kills Stick. Eventually, Hit-Monkey manages to defeat Bonsai Master, who is revealed to be an associate of Saigo Takamori, the last samurai who fought against the modernization of Japan, and learns from Ozu that it was Shinji all along who orchestrated Ken’s death to bolster his own position to become the President. Unfortunately, the soon-to-be president is guarded by Silver Samurai and Yuki, making it difficult for Bryce and Hit-Monkey to get to Shinji. Eventually, Bryce manages to convince Akiko and Yuki to help them reach Shinji and Akiko by revealing the entire conspiracy to them.
After facing much trouble, Hit-Monkey reaches Shinji and Akiko, only to find Lady Bullseye already awaiting his arrival, and Bryce manages to buy the monkey some time by temporarily manifesting himself in a physical form using salt. Bryce holds on to Lady Bullseye as Akiko riddles her with bullets, finally avenging her senior’s death.
As Shinji and Akiko escape to safety, Shinji’s guilty conscience acts up, and he confesses everything to his niece. Hit-Monkey arrives just in time to target the corrupt politician, while Haruka and Bryce ask him to spare his life to save his own soul. Bryce’s newfound wisdom allows him to get spirited over, and Shinji gets arrested. However, the crooked politician decides to take revenge by snatching Haruka’s gun and nearly ends up shooting his niece, Akiko, which prompts Hit-Monkey to shoot him to death in response. Akiko is crestfallen and lashes out at the monkey for killing the only family she had left, and her conditional morality shows. Haruka knows that killing the president-elect will mean sure death for the monkey, and she manages to smuggle him out of the country while giving her word to him to clear his name in the near future. Hit-Monkey sulks in loneliness when he is overjoyed to find that Bryce has returned from Hell after making a bargain with the Devil himself, and the duo heads to the States to seek new bloody adventures. As the season ends, Akiko, grieving the death of her uncle, becomes wracked with vengeful motivations and decides to become the next Lady Bullseye by adoring her mask.
