Content Warning: The following contains spoilers for Hawkeye on Disney+.
If there's one thing superhero fans have learned, it's that movies and TV shows with superheroes at the center are going to be chock full of Easter eggs. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is very good at slipping these into their projects that can fly under the radar. In the case of Hawkeye, there are plenty of nods to the comic book source material, pop culture as a whole, and the wider MCU.
Some of the references to the MCU are a little more overt than others, like the recreation of the Battle of New York in a Broadway musical. Others are hiding in plain sight, or just reestablishing the connective tissue of the universe. Some of Hawkeye's best MCU Easter eggs are the ones that remind the audience of just how everything is connected in the Marvel Universe, from coffee mugs to iconic landmarks.
Thanos Was Right
A tiny piece of graffiti caused a stir in the audience. In one of the most beautiful shots on Hawkeye, Clint Barton sees that someone has written, "Thanos was right," on the tile in a public restroom. That, of course, is a reference to Thanos eliminating half of the universe in Avengers: Infinity War. The reference doesn't stop there though.
Later in the show, Clint drinks out of a mug with the same message. That means that it's not just a small number of people disillusioned with the world and leaving graffiti in places. There's a marketing team somewhere creating merchandise with the phrase on it, suggesting that it's a pretty popular take on the events in the MCU.
Natasha's Catch And Release
When Clint calls his wife to keep her posted on his plan to take on the Tracksuit Mafia, he informs her he plans to use a little "catch and release." She's the one to note that it was one of Natasha's moves as a SHIELD agent, and the audience can actually attest to that as it's one of her most popular tactics in the MCU.
Natasha frequently allowed a villain to capture her, or think they caught her unaware, only for the villain to spill a lot of information to her. She employed this tactic in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Black Widow to great effect. It's a great idea as long as the person getting caught by the villain actually knows they can escape. While Natasha could, Clint's plan is compromised by Kate trying to help him.
The USB Arrow
Kate makes fun of Clint for having a USB arrow amongst all of the Hawkeye trick arrows, but it's actually been featured in the MCU before. Specifically, it's been featured in the animated What If...? series.
The arrow is in Clint's arsenal when he and Natasha are the only Avengers left in a world taken over by Ultron. Hawkeye and Black Widow have the idea to use it to upload a virus into Ultron to finally bring him to an end. It was also used in The Avengers when Hawkeye needed to get into the computer system. Kate might think the USB arrow is useless, but it's likely to come in handy for a superhero who used to be a spy.
A Timeline Confirmation
While fans know the series takes place after the Blip sees half of the population return to the MCU, Hawkeye does give them a more concrete date. They just have to keep their eyes peeled to find it.
On the bulletin board in Kate's room, there isn't just a picture of Clint Barton himself to remind the audience that she's a fan. There's also an invitation to her mother's holiday party. On it, the date is listed as December 24, 2024. That means the series takes place a year after the Blip happened. The Snap decimated the population in early 2018. Five years later, the Blip brought everyone back in 2023.
Stane Tower
The MCU is always great at acknowledging past characters, but usually, the nods are to past heroes. This one is for a villain.
Obadiah Stane is the longtime family friend who betrayed Tony Stark in Iron Man. His name is on a plaque outside of Kate's school for the clock tower she accidentally destroys. The plaque lets the audience know it's not only the oldest university bell tower in the U.S., but that it was rededicated to Obadiah Stane on July 1, 2006, a couple of years before the events of Iron Man take place. Since SHIELD covered up his involvement in Tony's kidnapping, it's unlikely the general population knows he was a villain.
Yelena Is A Poser
In Black Widow, Yelena Belova spends a lot of time making fun of Natasha for her posing when she lands on the ground after a fight. She calls Natasha a "poser" because of the way she lands. In fact, that particular pose has been made fun of in other superhero movies as well, most notably Deadpool.
Yelena, however, becomes a poser herself when she sticks her landing when she first goes to ambush Hawkeye. She's clearly perfected the move after teasing her sister about it.
Tanner, Dees, And Associates
When Kate tries to stop Yelena from going after Clint Barton in the finale, the two fight their way through practically an entire building after riding in an elevator together. One of the offices they fight their way through is Tanner, Dees, and Associates.
Tanner Bean was a writer for the Disney+ series. Courtney Dees was a production assistant. This particular type of Easter egg can be difficult to spot unless fans comb through every piece of text on the screen.
Captain America's Statue Of Liberty
One of the things Yelena wants to do when visiting New York, other than making Clint pay for Natasha's death, is to see the "new and improved" Statue of Liberty. Fans might have initially wondered what she meant by that as no mention has been made of an upgraded version of the iconic landmark.
Fans who have seen Spider-Man: No Way Home will know the statue was under construction to honor another Avenger. Without spoiling any of the plot of the movie, the statue's torch was being replaced with Captain America's shield in its place. With Hawkeye set after the events of the movie, it appears that construction may have been finished.
Kate Uses Kingpin's Cufflink
Clint teaches Kate how to use a very small object with incredible accuracy when they spend one night bonding with frozen drinks and ugly Christmas sweaters. That time pays off later in the series when Kate fights Kingpin alone. What she uses to ignite several arrows though is the bigger reference.
She uses one of his cufflinks as her projectile. Daredevil fans will know that Wilson Fisk made a point of wearing his father's cufflinks to remind himself of what a horrible man his father was, and as a way to mark how far he'd come from the little boy who used to be afraid of him.
Yelena Loves Mac 'N Cheese
When Yelena breaks into Kate's apartment and makes herself a boxed mac 'n cheese, it's not just Yelena being intimidating. She offers to share the meal with Kate and notes how great it is. That's a callback to her first appearance in the MCU.
When the audience first meets Yelena, it's as a child in the Black Widow movie. As the family of spies sits down together, the six-year-old Yelena declares that she wants mac 'n cheese for dinner. It looks like it's still her favorite dish to consume, even after all these years.