Hawkeye: Clint's Episode 2 Plan Is A Black Widow Avengers Callback

Warning: SPOILERS for Hawkeye Episode 2 - "Hide and Seek".

In Hawkeye episode 2, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) uses one of Black Widow's (Scarlett Johansson) famous tricks from The Avengers. Set a couple of years after Avengers: Endgame, the MCU's Hawkeye teams Clint Barton up with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who idolizes him and also considers herself the world's greatest archer. But Clint's best friend, Natasha Romanoff, isn't far from his thoughts. Barton understandably hasn't gotten over Nat trading her life for his to acquire the Soul Stone on Vormir, and Black Widow's influence is subtly woven into Hawkeye.

Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff are one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's oldest friendships. Black Widow revealed how it was Clint who oversaw Natasha's defection to SHIELD when she (thought she) assassinated General Dreykov (Ray Winstone), the Russian spymaster behind the Red Room, in Budapest. Barton and Romanoff surviving their ordeal in Budapest is the cornerstone of how they became close, and they referenced it several times in the Avengers movies. Natasha and Clint didn't even let the Avengers' Berlin Airport fight in Captain America: Civil War fracture their friendship. When a broken Barton went on a murder spree against the international underworld in Avengers: Endgame, it was Natasha who brought him back to the Avengers and gave him hope again. So it makes sense that Clint continues to mourn Natasha even as he tries to rebuild his family life in Hawkeye.

As Clint Barton tells his wife Laura (Linda Cardinelli) in Hawkeye episode 2, "Hide and Seek," he planned to use "catch and release" to infiltrate the Tracksuit Mafia and get to the person in charge of the gang. "Catch and Release" is a classic Black Widow move that she used in The Avengers. Natasha Romanoff's introduction in Joss Whedon's 2012 blockbuster saw her tied to a chair and being interrogated by Russians led by General Georgi Luchkov (Jerzy Skolimowski). The Russians thought they had Black Widow at their mercy, but Natasha flippantly revealed to Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) on the phone that she was really the one in control and the Russians were gradually telling Romanoff everything she wanted to know. When SHIELD called her in, Black Widow quickly took out the Russians while still tied to the chair.

In Hawkeye episode 2, Clint Barton's version of "catch and release" saw him literally call the Tracksuit Mafia to kidnap him. Soon, Hawkeye was tied to a chair by the Russians just like Natasha Romanoff was in The Avengers. Unfortunately, Barton's plan went sideways when Kate Bishop arrived to rescue him and got herself captured. In The Avengers, Natasha's endgame was to easily take out the Russians when it was time to do so, and this was likely Clint's plan, also, in Hawkeye. Kate's failed rescue threw a whole wrench in Barton's "catch and release" exit strategy. Of course, Clint wasn't terribly concerned for his safety and he voluntarily submitted to be captured because Hawkeye wanted access to the Tracksuit Mafia's leader, who turned out to be Maya Lopez AKA Echo (Alaqua Cox).

Of course, Kate Bishop had no idea about Clint Barton's "catch and release" plan because she never met Natasha Romanoff nor does Kate have any knowledge about Hawkeye and Black Widow's exploits as agents of SHIELD. But Bishop may have awareness about Natasha since Black Widow established the Avengers were world-famous. Kate may have even borrowed some of Romanoff's fighting moves, like Nat's hurricanrana flying headscissors takedown. But considering how important Natasha and Clint were to each other, it's touching that Barton used one of Nat's vintage Avengers tactics in Hawkeye. It's one of Clint Barton's ways to keep Natasha Romanoff's memory alive.

Next: The MCU Nailed Hawkeye's Avengers Problem (& It's Not That He's Useless)

Hawkeye streams Wednesdays on Disney+.