In the giant roster of heroes now established in the MCU, you would find few people who would list Hawkeye as their favorite. Though the character has been a part of the universe since Phase 1 and is one of the original six Avengers, he is just doesn't have the same draw as the other heroes.
Regardless of his lower standings, Hawkeye is a trooper and always shows up for the big adventures. However, that doesn't mean he's always an asset to the team. Though his heart is in the right place and he is a more grounded hero than some of the others, he is far from a perfect Avenger.
New Look
Every so often, the movies seem to try some new approach to the character of Hawkeye in an effort to make him more interesting. When he is brought back into the fold in Avengers: Endgame, he adopts a whole new look inspired by the Ronin persona from the comics.
However, the samurai-inspired look is perhaps better in theory than in execution. The silly mullet-mohawk hairstyle would look silly on anyone but it is especially ridiculous on a middle-aged man.
Coming Out Of Retirement
Though not officially an Avengers movie, Captain America: Civil War is packed with heroes and Hawkeye is lucky enough to be invited along on the adventure. After apparently retiring at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, he returns to fight alongside Cap and his team.
Hawkeye claims he did it for Cap, but it is a pretty selfish decision considering he has a family at home. He is not exactly an essential part of the fight and by jumping into the issue, he gets himself thrown in prison.
Taking The Avengers To His Home
After sidelining him for most of the first Avengers film, Joss Whedon decided to expand Hawkeye's role in Age of Ultron by introducing his family. After Ultron defeats the Avengers, the team takes refuge at Hawkeye's family farm.
He claims Nick Fury helped keep the home off the grid and insists it is a safe house. But to take the entire Avengers team to his home when a killer robot is hunting them seems like a dumb move that put his family in a lot of danger.
Fighting Above His Weight Class
Hawkeye's lack of superpowers is fine and adds a nice dynamic to the team, but it's a little strange when he acts like he is one the same level as the others and doesn't seem to realize he's a B-lister at best.
In Civil War, Hawkeye tries to get in on the fight, but he goes up against opponents like Vision and Black Panther. Captain America on his best day would have a tough time with either of these two, so Hawkeye has no business thinking he can take them on.
Letting Quicksilver Die
In Age of Ultron, the movie sets up Hawkeye to die while saving the world. After trying to rescue a kid in Sokovia, he finds himself in the line of fire. He turns away to shield the boy but at the last minute, Quicksilver saves them and dies in the process.
However, Quicksilver's sacrifice would have been unnecessary if Hawkeye had just stepped aside. He had time to see in incoming threat and could have gotten the young boy out of danger while sparing Quicksilver.
Going To Space
In an attempt to undo Thanos' snap and bring back all the people who were "dusted," the Avengers plan a time heist to go back into the past and steal all the Infinity Stones to reverse the snap.
The team splits up into various factions with Hawkeye and Black Widow going after the Soul Stone on Vormir. But with the fate of the universe at stake, why would they choose to send the only two non-superpowered members of the team into space to retrieve the one stone they know nothing about?
Trying To Sacrifice Himself
When Hawkeye and Black Widow arrive on Vormir, they learn the terrible truth about the Soul Stone and that it requires one to sacrifice something they love in order to get it.
Since they are both very heroic, both Hawkeye and Black Widow attempt to throw themselves off the cliff as a sacrifice so the other can get the stone. But neither of them stops to think that if they are choosing to jump off the cliff then the other isn't sacrificing anything and they could fall to their death for no reason. Luckily, the stone doesn't seem to care about these loopholes.
Becoming Ronin
Part of what makes Avengers: Endgame such a fascinating superhero movie is that it shows the various ways the heroes deal with defeat at the hands of Thanos. While none of them take it well, Hawkeye has the most destructive reaction.
After losing his family, Hawkeye becomes Ronin and, along with his stupid new haircut, he adopts a more deadly approach to fighting crime. He becomes a vigilante who hunts down and kills those he deems unworthy of being left behind. It's hard to see him as a hero after that.
Poor Choice Of Weapon
No matter what Hawkeye does or what the movies do to try and convince the world that he's cool, it's really hard to overlook the fact that he is using a bow and arrow. On a team with a super soldier, a gamma monster, and a demigod, he thinks this is an appropriate weapon.
The fact that Hawkeye is so adamant to stick with that very limiting weapon, despite his immense skill, makes it so hard to take him seriously.
Joining The Avengers
When viewers are first introduced to Hawkeye in Thor, he is seen guarding Thor's hammer. When viewers see him next at the beginning of The Avengers, he is guarding the Tesseract. He was not a high-level operative like Black Widow — he was a security guard.
For some reason, these jobs convince Hawkeye that he deserves to be part of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. As more and more heroes come into the world, it becomes more and more clear that Hawkeye was never really needed on the team.