Hawkeye's Kill Count Broke Marvel's Bloodiest Record

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel's Hawkeye episode 6

Now that the entire series is streaming on Disney+, it's been confirmed that Hawkeye is the single bloodiest MCU release ever. Boasting an impressive kill count, many were shot or stabbed throughout the entirety of the series either by Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), or others featured in the new Marvel series. While it's logical that the count would be quite high considering Clint and Kate's primary use of arrows and Clint's dark past as the vigilante Ronin, the fact that it holds the highest on-screen kill count thus far in the MCU is certainly an achievement.

Hawkeye's kill count begins with the murder of Armand Duquesne in the first episode, later revealed to have been murdered by Kate's mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga). However, it wouldn't be until the third episode after Clint Barton and Kate Bishop met and were captured by the Tracksuit Mafia where the arrows truly started flying, seeing the two archers taking out a handful of thugs before an ensuing car chase involving a van explosion. The third episode also begins with a flashback from Maya Lopez's Echo that saw Clint Barton massacring several more Tracksuits in the past as Ronin (including Maya's father). However, the majority of Hawkeye's high kill count is thanks to episode 6, the series finale where Wilson Fisk's Kingpin is revealed to be the man behind the Tracksuits, sending all of his forces to kill Eleanor Bishop and Hawkeye. As a result, Clint and Kate take out several Tracksuits at the ice rink in Rockefeller Center, a massive standoff which ends with several bodies lying at their feet including the death of Kazi murdered by Maya (Jack Duquesne also stabbed several with his sword as well). While Kingpin was alo shot by Maya at the episode's end, it's likely that Fisk is still alive.

In total, Hawkeye's on-screen kill count comes out to between 50 and 55 bodies total, a number that ignores arrows fired only at hands or feet as well as any trick arrows that looked to be non-lethal. However, it does include the two Tracksuits carried off by the cute owl Clint encountered in the Christmas tree after being shrunk by Kate's Pym-arrow. In comparison, Tony Stark has one of the higher kill counts thanks to the first Iron Man when he escaped the Ten Rings (around 35). While the Winter Soldier's kill count is closer at around 45 on-screen kills, that's only when looking at all of his MCU appearances in total and he isn't a hero for a lot of that time, of course. Discounting the literal wars, robot attacks, and alien invasions seen in the larger Avengers films, Hawkeye certainly seems to have the highest pile of actual bodies by far.

It's shouldn't be that much of a surprise that Hawkeye's kill count is so high. Clint Barton isn't shy in the series about being a killer. It's what he was trained to do long before Hawkeye became an Avenger, being pointed and fired at targets who need to be eliminated. Not only that, but Clint and Kate's lives were in danger from multiple threats who wanted them dead. Combined with Clint's family being in danger, it makes sense why Hawkeye would be fighting to win at all costs. Likewise, Kingpin's forces were numerous, bringing a literal mob army to bear against the archers who don't stop firing arrows as it was the only way to survive. Furthermore, the concept of every arrow being non-lethal would certainly be limiting and would likely hinder the visual storytelling.

Ultimately, Clint and Kate's skills as archers certainly paid off seeing as how Barton was able to make it home for Christmas after keeping his family safe. While it certainly resulted in the deaths of several of the Tracksuits, it's good that Fisk's forces have been limited for the future (assuming Kingpin survived). In any case, it will be interesting to see if any other MCU projects will be able to surpass Hawkeye as the bloodiest MCU release of all time.

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All episodes of Hawkeye are streaming now on Disney+.