How Old Is Hawkeye In The MCU (Older Than The Comics)?

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Hawkeye episode 3, "Echoes."

Clint Barton is an experienced former SHIELD agent and superhero in Hawkeye, but his precise age is never confirmed in the MCU or the comics. While not part of The Avengers’ first roster in the comics, Hawkeye was one of the team’s earliest members, forming its second iteration (affectionately nicknamed “Cap’s Kooky Quartet). Since the Silver Age of superhero comics, Clint Barton has had a prominent place in the Marvel universe and now, thanks to the MCU, is a pop culture icon beyond comics, yet his in-universe age is unknown in both iterations. Hawkeye’s age can be extrapolated, however.

Hawkeye’s MCU iteration combines elements of his mainstream Marvel universe and alternate Ultimate Marvel continuity. Debuting as an elite SHIELD agent in 2011’s Thor, Clint Barton is often described as one of Nick Fury’s top operatives, which he repeatedly proves true throughout his MCU appearances. Barton joined his best friend, Natasha Romanoff, in becoming a founding member of The Avengers. Like his Ultimate Comics iteration, the MCU’s Barton is married and the father of three children, and he, with Nick Fury’s assistance, keeps his family off the grid for their safety.

Throughout the MCU, Clint Barton has tried to retire several times, indicating a world-weariness that comes from years of service to SHIELD. In Hawkeye episode 3, “Echoes,” Barton reveals that he’s been Hawkeye for 20 years, providing a hint towards his age. Moreover, his actor, Jeremy Renner, is 50 years old, with the birth year of 1971. With Captain America: The Winter Soldier giving Black Widow the same birth year as her actress, Scarlett Johansson, Barton was most likely born in 1971, like Renner, making him 53 during the events of Hawkeye and making him older than his comic counterpart.

The mainstream Marvel comic version of Clint Barton has no confirmed birth year, but Matt Fraction revealed his birthday to be June 18th, referencing the late, beloved, Marvel writer, Mark Gruenwald, who wrote Clint Barton’s first Hawkeye solo comic in the early '80s. The MCU’s Hawkeye takes place in late December of 2024, following the time skip in Avengers: Endgame. This would make the MCU’s Hawkeye older than his actor by just three years.

In the mainstream Marvel comics, Clint Barton had a long and complicated career that’s lasted almost 60 years. Due to the Marvel universe’s sliding timescale, however, it’s far more difficult to determine a character’s age than in the MCU. Clint is, visually, depicted as being roughly in his late 30s or early 40s, still in his prime, despite his understandable weariness. The Clint Barton of Ultimate Marvel is similarly depicted as younger than the MCU version, and his specific age is also unknown.

Clint Barton’s dialogue suggests that he began his SHIELD career at age 32, and much of his background in the MCU is unknown. Hawkeye may explore Barton’s life before joining SHIELD, either through flashbacks or dialogue, creating opportunities to make the MCU’s Hawkeye even closer to his mainstream comic counterpart, with perhaps some shared history with Jack Duquesne. Clint Barton appears to be much older than his comic inspirations, allowing for a more in-depth backstory than the MCU has suggested thus far.

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Marvel's Hawkeye releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.