Annlyel James 
Does Hawkeye deserve more love from the MCU?
Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye is a character that doesn’t get much love among his fellow Avengers in the fandom world. We fawn over Captain America‘s goodness and adore Iron Man‘s snarkiness and technologically advanced suits. We beam when Hulk turns into a giant green rage monster or Thor darkens the sky as he summons the incredible power of lightning. We get excited when Black Widow steps onto the scene or someone like Captain Marvel arrives to save the day in a dramatically appropriate way. The list goes on and on. And then we have Hawkeye, the quiet Avenger who may just be the most regular (or as fans seem to think, boring) of the entire superhero family.
His first appearance was in a small role in Thor where he stands by in the shadows waiting to take Thor out with an arrow if need be. The moment doesn’t arrive and he’s off, melting into the shadows to conduct more assassin work. The next movie finds him in a larger role as he is used by Loki to infiltrate places with high-security, kill S.H.I.E.L.D agents, and ultimately get him what he needs.
He doesn’t have any fancy powers or a flashy suit, plus he’s played by an actor, Jeremy Renner, who has actually admitted in an old interview that he’ll never have the looks or bravado of a leading man with his “bulldog” like features. He’s a regular guy among individuals who seemed otherworldly. Even Black Widow feels like a woman you won’t run into on the street. She seems special like a superhero should.
When The Avengers came to a close he was clearly a member of the Lame Avenger Club and I never quite understood why. Legolas was my favorite character in The Lord of the Rings because he knew how to use the heck out of a bow and arrow. Hawkeye was my new Legolas (he’s even referenced as such in The Avengers by Tony Stark.) The idea that he only had his bow and arrow to help him fight aliens and he managed to survive made him a character worth caring about. Avengers: Age of Ultron only helped make him more interesting in my eyes when we learned that he had a family. To others, it only made him that much more boring. Since learning about his family in Age of Ultron there has been a sense of gravity to his every decision in the MCU.
When he eventually loses his family to Thanos in Endgame there’s a true sense of character depth that was never there before. He becomes Ronin, an even cooler rendition of the character that he already was. He once again fights aliens in the final confrontation with Thanos, this time using a sword along with his bow and dressed in an even cooler black outfit.
Now he’s going to get his own series which will most likely be a passing-of-the-torch storyline as Kate Bishop joins the MCU and I’m very happy about that. He’s a character that deserves more recognition and honestly when he was Ronin he was undoubtedly one of the coolest characters in the MCU. I’m glad the series will focus more on that side of his story which we only fleetingly grasped in Avengers: Endgame.
Hawkeye fights aliens just like every other Avenger, he even took on Vision with no fear, and I believe he is one of the underrated Avengers in the MCU.
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Annlyel James is a prolific Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her own blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter @annlyeljames where she channels the Force frequently!
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Annlyel James is a Senior Correspondent of The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter where she channels the Force frequently!
