The true star of the upcoming Hawkeye series on Disney+ might not be Clint Barton or Kate Bishop, but instead Lucky the Pizza Dog -- the pair's one-eyed canine companion. Hollywood doesn't have many one-eyed dog actors, though, so the show's director explains how the special effects crew transformed the fully sighted golden retriever into one with Lucky's disability.

Director Rhys Thomas first explained his initial hesitation using an actual dog -- whose real-life name is Jolt -- in filming, rather than a CGI creation. "With Jolt, we had an audition process with our dogs," Thomas told The Hollywood Reporter. "Jolt did an amazing job. There are very specific things the dog needs to do. She was great. I was definitely dubious, and I had images of a CG dog. Genuinely, I can’t think of a moment we lost time because of Jolt. She was on it."

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Removing Jolt's good eye -- digitally, that is -- proved to be more of a challenge than simply wearing a special eye patch against a green screen. "I was informed she would probably walk around in circles if we obscured her eye," Thomas said. "Those wizards -- we would shoot a scene with Jolt, and the visual effects team would come in and take all of the lighting references and everything they needed from each camera setup and go in and track this different eye after the fact. It’s a painstaking process where you have to track this thing, frame by frame."

Lucky the Pizza Dog was introduced in Matt Fraction and David Aja's 2012 Hawkeye comic series. Originally named Arrow, the unfortunate pooch belonged to the abusive Ivan Banionis, slumlord and member of the so-called Tracksuit Mafia crime gang. Clint Barton had befriended Arrow, and when the archer came into conflict with the Tracksuits, Arrow rushed to Clint's defense and attacked the gang.

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The canine's heroic actions nearly cost him his life, and unwilling to simply let him die, Clint ensured Arrow got the proper veterinary care. While the dog recovered, his serious injuries cost him one of his eyes. Clint therefore renamed him Lucky, and adopted him as his own.

Later in the series, Kate Bishop moved in with Clint, but the two ran into difficulties and Kate later moved back out, taking Lucky with her.

Hawkeye on Disney+ is loosely based on Fraction and Aja's series, and takes place just before Christmas, when Clint must deal with enemies from his past while he struggles to try and make it back home to his family before the holiday. The first two episodes of the series premiere on Nov. 24.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter