Hawkeye's Avengers Watch Owner & SHIELD Connection Confirmed

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Hawkeye episode 6.

The Hawkeye finale secretly confirmed the best Avengers watch theory, revealing that it belongs to Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini) and therefore implying aspects of her pre-retirement identity. Marvel Studios' fourth live-action Disney+ show laid intriguing breadcrumbs early on pertaining to a watch obtained from Avengers Compound. It was up for auction on the black market and stolen by the Tracksuit Mafia, and the show revealed that Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) had a special interest in locating it. This sparked plenty of theories about who the Avengers watch really belonged to – the most exciting of which for comic fans was undoubtedly the Laura Barton link.

Viewers of the latest piece of Marvel Cinematic Universe content created multiple theories about who Hawkeye's Avengers watch originally belonged to. Clint revealed that the accessory had ties to someone he knew that was retired, and the watch falling into the wrong hands could blow their cover. Everyone from Nick Fury to Captain America was suggested as possible answers, but Laura Barton became a compelling answer as Hawkeye unfolded. Her working with Clint to research his latest mission and speaking another language tipped off viewers that there could be more to Laura's story. Speculation mounted that she could be the SHIELD agent known as Mockingbird and that the Avengers watch was hers during that time.

The mystery of Hawkeye's Avengers watch's owner was officially solved in the show's final episode. Clint brings the Rolex with him to the Barton farm on Christmas and gives it to Laura when the kids are opening presents. The confirmation that the watch belonged to Laura Barton was one thing, but then Hawkeye provided another tease of why it is important. The back of Laura Barton's watch has the SHIELD logo engraved on it with the number 19 etched below. This confirms that she was indeed a SHIELD agent in the past and known as Agent 19 during her time in the field. In the comics, Bobbi Morse a.k.a. Mockingbird went on to marry Hawkeye and is known as Agent 19 when she worked for SHIELD. The back of the watch cleverly teases that Laura Barton was the MCU's Mockingbird, or it might just be a subtle nod to Hawkeye and Mockingbird's comic relationship that the shared universe took in a different direction.

Knowing that Hawkeye's Avengers watch belongs to Laura Barton helps flesh out her backstory and relationship with Hawkeye. MCU viewers can now deduce that Clint and Laura met during their time working for SHIELD. It also raises some intriguing questions about what exactly Mockingbird did during this time. Hawkeye implies that Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) was interested in acquiring the Avengers watch. It is possible he just wanted a valuable item from Avengers Compound, but Kingpin might also have a history with Laura Barton's Agent 19 too.

Now that Hawkeye confirmed Laura Barton is the rightful owner of the Avengers watch and teased her Mockingbird past, it is unclear if Marvel Studios intends to do anything more with this information. There are no plans for Hawkeye season 2 officially, and Laura is unlikely to abandon her family to become a superhero at this stage. If Clint Barton's MCU story continues, Laura's Mockingbird past with SHIELD could be explored further. Otherwise, this might be something that isn't discussed again after Hawkeye, which will leave viewers to decide how it does or does not line up with the use of Adrianne Palicki's Mockingbird from Agents of SHIELD.

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