Hawkeye Perfectly Counters His Own Age of Ultron Criticism

The Hawkeye trailer has the perfect response to Clint Barton's description of himself in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Hulk aside (whose rights make things more complicated), Hawkeye is the last of the original Avengers to get his own solo project. Unlike the rest of his teammates, Clint's story will continue not in a movie, but a Disney+ MCU TV show, with Jeremy Renner once again picking up the bow. The first trailer for Hawkeye has been released, giving viewers a great idea of what to expect from his upcoming story, including how it builds on his best and develops his relationship with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).

For all Hawkeye has been a key piece of the MCU puzzle ever since The Avengers (after an initial, brief debut in 2011's Thor), his own Disney+ show will get a chance to develop the character far more than the Marvel movies have allowed. There's very much a sense that Hawkeye hasn't been developed as much as he could've been, nor utilized properly in terms of his powers and abilities, both of which are elements the series is looking to put right. Indeed, based on the Hawkeye trailer, it's not just fixing mistakes with his arc, but directly addressing them.

At the end of the Hawkeye trailer, Clint goes through his different array of arrows, stopping Kate from using a couple because they're so dangerous. Instead, she fires off one that makes a van explode, causing her to ask in alarm, "There are arrows more dangerous than that one?" It's a fun moment, but it also speaks to an aspect of Hawkeye's character that hasn't been explored in the MCU, which is that his arrows are so much more than just regular arrows, often coming with a fanciful array of different abilities. It's a direct response to how he described - and basically criticised himself - in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he said: "The city is flying and we're fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. Nothing makes sense."

Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton in Hawkeye

The idea of Clint just being a guy with a bow and arrow stuck with him across his time in the MCU. Compared to Hawkeye's Avengers teammates, most of whom possessed more obvious and enhanced abilities, there was a sense that Hawkeye was a lesser member of the team, and perhaps even viewed himself as such. That should never have been the case though, since Clint is someone who, while not possessing of super strength or lightning power, uses his arrows in an incredibly varied amount of ways. He has an astonishing range of trick arrows in the comics, ranging from acid to smoke bomb to tear gas and more, essentially making him something akin to an arrow-focused version of Batman in terms of tech. The only part of him having a bow and arrow that doesn't make sense is the notion that it is a limited or simple weapon and that's all he amounts to.

Unfortunately, the MCU never delved into his quiver of tricks, but, based on the first trailer, Hawkeye is at least putting things right. Because it's finally giving Clint the time in the spotlight he's otherwise been denied, then it can really showcase aspects of his character the MCU never did justice. Another example evident in the trailer is how it's showing more of what him becoming Ronin did and the lasting impact of that, something Avengers: Endgame never did justice too. It remains to be seen if Hawkeye is Clint's MCU swansong, but if it is then at least it's making amends where they're needed, and giving viewers a chance to see what he's really capable of.

Next: Marvel Is Fixing Endgame's Biggest Hawkeye Mistake