HAWKEYE'S ENDGAME

In Avengers Endgame we saw Jeremy Renner return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Clint Barton/ Hawkeye, after being absent from Infinity War. The archer got a larger role in Endgame after being absent from Infinity War. We are going to recap and review the character of Hawkeye in the film, and take a look at his future in the MCU, so spoilers for Endgame ahead.

Recap of Hawkeye in Endgame

Endgame opens with Clint who sees his whole family fade to dust as a result of Thanos’ snap. Five years later, Clint has a new vigilante identity, Ronin the assassin. Natasha finds Clint in Japan and tells him that they have a way to bring everyone back.

At Avengers HQ, Clint is the first one who tries the Quantum Realm time travel as he travels back a few years to his farmhouse where he hears his family before being bought back to 2023. With all the stones in history tracked down, the Avengers time leap. Clint goes with Natasha to Vormir, 2014 to retrieve the Soul Stone. Red Skull tells the two that a sacrifice must be made for the stone to be secured. Clint is about to sacrifice himself, but Natasha saves him and lets herself fall into the abyss. Clint wakes up in a puddle with the Soul Stone in hand and he travels back to 2023.

Clint tells the team what happened to Natasha. With all six stones secured, Bruce snaps his fingers and half of all life that Thanos eradicated comes back. Clint gets a phone call from his wife before the Avengers compound is destroyed by a time traveled 2014 Thanos. Clint picks up the stoned out gauntlet and is chased by the Outsiders, and hands the gauntlet to secret evil 2014 Nebula. However, 2014 Gamora and 2023 Nebula stop the old evil Nebula. Clint grabs the gauntlet and continues running before tossing it to T’Challa in battle.

With Thanos defeated, Clint meets Wanda near a lake as they mourn over Natasha. Clint goes with his family to Tony’s funeral, as he returns home, with his family, not forgetting the sacrifice that Natasha made to bring them back.

Review of Hawkeye in Endgame

The extended role of Clint in Endgame was brilliant. I believe this may have been the most screen time the character has received in any of the other films he has appeared in. It was great getting a more in-depth look into this character and his psychology. The darker persona that Clint takes on as Ronin was a great development for the character. Seeing a mostly campy character turn this dark.

The Ronin introduction was one of my favorite scenes in the whole film. The gritty action in the scene with Ronin slashing the yakuza in the streets of Tokyo was brilliant and shows how a real person with no powers would fight with nothing but a sword and revenge.

It was an interesting dynamic switch between Black Widow and Ronin in this scene. We know that Clint saved Natasha from a dark place in the past and bought her to SHIELD, and Natasha did the same thing here. This scene really helped solidify their friendship even further and helped with scenes later on in the film.

The confrontation that Ronin had in the scene was awesome. It provided the reason as to why Clint was out doing what he was doing as Ronin. And also, the subtitles were amazing and well stylised.

The best scene that Clint had in the film was sacrificing Natasha to secure the Soul Stone. It was really interesting to see so much on the line for Clint. If the plan of gathering the stones did not work, Clint would have lost everyone he truly cared about in the world. Natasha was really the only person who he really had a deep friendship with on the team. They related to one another as they are the only people on the Avengers team who have to fight the hardest because there is no super suit or no powers which they can rely on.

In the final fight, Clint being the first one taking the gauntlet was really exciting. The horror elements used when he was being chased by the outriders was a great addition to the scene and really bought up the stakes with the character. Clint tossing the gauntlet to Black Panther was a great character moment, especially when T’Challa remembers Clint’s name after saying in Civil War that he doesn’t care.


The Future of Hawkeye

But now the future of Clint in the MCU. We know that the character has a rumored Disney Plus series with Kate Bishop. The show seems like Clint will be training Kate to take over the Hawkeye mantle like what happened in the comics. It seems like Clint just wants to retire after being Hawkeye around 15 years.

After the Disney Plus series, I would expect to see Clint return to have some role in future Avengers films. In Avengers five, it would make sense for whoever is assembling the new Avengers to try recruit Clint, and maybe he joins, or maybe he tells them about Kate Bishop who joins the new Avengers team instead of him.

I suppose whatever the threat is will determine whether or not Clint would join the team. If someone like Dormmamu was the Avengers five villain, Clint would probably opt out, but say if we saw a Secret Invasion story adapted for Avengers five, it is possible that we could see Clint help out in one way or another.

Anyway, that does it for this discussion on Clint. I really enjoyed the character in the film and his extended role. The Ronin identity that was bought on was a great change in the character and something that I really loved. I am also looking forward to the character’s future in the MCU.

Comment below your thoughts on the character in Endgame and what do you think will happen to the character in the future?

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