Hawkeye

: "Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots... and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there because it's my job."
: ―Hawkeye to Wanda Maximoff[src]
Clinton Francis "Clint" Barton is an extremely skilled marksman, a former special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of the founding members of the Avengers. Known for his use of the bow and arrow as his primary weapon and an extremely keen eyesight and accuracy that earned him the codename Hawkeye, Barton had become one of the best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, responsible for the recruitment of Black Widow, with whom he developed a strong friendship with. Assigned by Nick Fury into watching over the Tesseract, he was brainwashed by Loki and used as his pawn in his attempt to become king of Midgard. However, following the Attack on the Helicarrier, he was freed from Loki's mental controls by Black Widow and joined the Avengers to fight against Loki and the Chitauri army in the Battle of New York, ending Loki's invasion, before Hawkeye returned to his work at a S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hawkeye continued to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. until its collapse following the HYDRA Uprising, he and the Avengers worked to bring down the remnants of HYDRA, eventually capturing Baron Strucker and ending the organization's threat to the world. However, Hawkeye was pulled back into their fight as Tony Stark had inadvertently used HYDRA as well as some Chitauri technology to create Ultron. As Ultron tried to destroy their world, he allied himself with Pietro and Wanda Maximoff and Barton focused much of his efforts in convincing them to change sides while keeping all the Avengers safe by bringing them into his family home. During the final Battle of Sokovia, Hawkeye's life was saved by Pietro, who sacrificed his life in the process, after which Barton chose to retire.
Despite living happily within retirement for a brief time, Barton was recruited by Captain America to help him during his fight against these newly produced Sokovia Accords, which forced Rogers to protect his friend Bucky Barnes from being arrested for a crime that he did not commit. Feeling that he owed a debt to Rogers and Maximoff, Barton joined in the Clash of the Avengers, fighting against Iron Man's faction who were in support of the Accords. Despite putting up a good fight, Hawkeye and most of their team were eventually defeated and confined at the Raft under the order from Thaddeus Ross, only to be freed by Rogers. Barton returned to retirement and, after striking his deal with Ross, was placed under house arrest.
In the wake of the Snap, Barton lost his family and went onto a grief-fuelled rampage against criminals for five years as a vigilante known as Ronin. In 2023, Barton was convinced by Black Widow to return to the Avengers in attempt to resurrect the victims of the Snap. Hawkeye joined the team in enacting the Time Heist in order to obtain the Infinity Stones from alternate timelines, during which he witnessed Romanoff sacrifice her life so Hawkeye could obtain the Soul Stone. However, as the Avengers succeeded in their goal, they were ambushed by Thanos, with Hawkeye being ordered to ensure Thanos could not get the Nano Gauntlet. Eventually, Thanos and his army were defeated, as Stark sacrificed his life, allowing Barton to return home with his family, while he mourned Romanoff's death.
In December 2024, Barton wanted to spend Christmas with his family, but was drawn into dealing with the Tracksuit Mafia after Kate Bishop stole and donned the Ronin suit, bringing with it the demons of Barton's past. Barton reluctantly took on Kate as his protégé, as the two archers navigated the increasing complication of the conspiracy. The pair had a series of clashes with the Tracksuits and their leader Maya Lopez, who wanted revenge on Ronin. Barton was also hunted by Yelena Belova, who believed that he killed Romanoff, as well as helping Bishop uncover her mother's involvement with Kingpin. Ultimately, Hawkeye had held back fighting Belova as he convinced her that her sister's sacrifice was her choice. Ending the Ronin conflict, he made it home to his family, gaining a new partner in Bishop.
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
==== The Son of a Thief ====
: "My kid never misses."
: ―Edith Barton[src]
Clint Barton was born in Iowa to Edith Barton. Being a young single mother living on the street with no money to support them, Edith became a petty thief, which she justified to her son as they were less fortunate. Growing up, Barton also developed a talent for marksmanship, something he had perfected to the point where he could never miss.
==== Day Out at the Fair ====
: "Did I do a good job?""You did a great job."
: ―Clint Barton and Edith Barton[src]
In 1984, Barton attended a local fair with his mother, where they discussed Robin Hood, and the fact that he used a bow and arrow as his main weapon, much to Barton's intrigue. Edith took the opportunity of being at the fair to steal from people, something Barton assisted with, taking a watch from someone. Barton went to the shooting gallery, but missed his first shot, causing him to realize that the game was rigged using magnets, so he adjusted his aim, hitting all of the targets without fail.
==== Separated from his Mother ====
: "Mom, I'm sorry. I missed.""You never miss."
: ―Clint Barton and Edith Barton[src]
That night, as they sat in their car, Barton asked whether they would get caught for stealing, but his mother assured him that she would protect him, and that the money did not matter to that people they stole from. Barton then asked his mother to tell him about the dream house they were going to live in, although he was doubtful whether it would ever come true, so Edith made a promise that they were never going to sleep in the car again. The next morning, Barton was tasked with distracting a gas station clerk so that his mother could steal some money from the register, but the plan failed when Edith was caught.
The clerk went to stop Edith, so she grabbed his rifle out, but dropped it on the floor, so Barton picked it up. Barton aimed the rifle at the clerk, and was told by his mother to shoot, but he could not do it, and instead shot the window. The police arrived and arrested Edith, and as she was escorted to a car, Barton apologized for missing, but she stated that he never missed. Now on his own, Barton did get to go to high school, but he never finished. However, he continued to possess his nature ability for marksmanship, becoming most proficient with a bow and arrow.
=== Joining S.H.I.E.L.D. ===
==== Recruited by Nick Fury ====
: "Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files."
: ―Clint Barton[src]
During the early 2000s, Barton was hand-picked by Nick Fury for his skills, becoming one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most skilled agents. Barton served in S.H.I.E.L.D. together with his colleague, named Laura, whom he eventually married. When she retired, Fury, the only one Barton told of his relationship with Laura, excluded her from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files in order to protect them, as well as setting up a farmhouse for the couple in Iowa. Barton and Laura had two children, Cooper and Lila, who were raised in secrecy at the farmhouse.
During one of his missions for S.H.I.E.L.D., Barton had been targeted for assassination by Marcus Scarlotti, who came closer than anyone else to killing Barton, although he had still failed.
==== Recruiting Black Widow ====
: "I was sent to take her out. And when I got there, when it was time... I couldn't do it. I just had this feeling that she wanted out. Turns out, I was right."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
In 2008, Hawkeye came across an assassin known as Black Widow while she was on a mission for the Red Room, causing her to appear on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. Nick Fury ordered Barton to go to Russia, where he would carry out the assassination of Black Widow. However, once Hawkeye had tracked down Black Widow and confronted her, he saw her true potential and made a decision to let her live. Black Widow provided S.H.I.E.L.D. with the information about the Red Room, a clandestine organization that operated using Black Widows, which forced her to work for them, so Hawkeye was assigned on the operation to take down the Red Room together with Black Widow.
Hawkeye and Black Widow tracked Dreykov, the leader of the Red Room, to his secret office in Budapest. They rigged the building with bombs and Black Widow used Dreykov's daughter to lure him there and gave Hawkeye a signal to detonate the bombs. After both Dreykovs were seemingly killed, Hawkeye and Black Widow were confronted by the Hungarian Special Forces who engaged in a pursuit for bombing the building. Hawkeye and Black Widow engaged in a firefight with the operatives and spent the next ten days hiding in the city, two of which were spent inside the ceiling of a subway station, where they would bond and play games.
With Dreykov killed, S.H.I.E.L.D. concluded that the Red Room was terminated, which allowed Romanoff to defect to the United States and join S.H.I.E.L.D., becoming Barton's partner. Barton and Romanoff were assigned to the STRIKE Team: Delta, participating in numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. missions, such as the Abidjan Operation. During their partnership, Barton and Romanoff developed a close friendship, and Barton even told her about his family. She became a good friend to them, even adopting an aunt-like relationship with Barton and Laura's two children. In return, Romanoff also told Barton about her past life with the Red Room as an assassin, as well as her sister, Yelena Belova.
==== New Mexico Mission ====
: "Better call it, Coulson, 'cause I'm starting to root for this guy."
: ―Hawkeye to Phil Coulson[src]
Barton was woken up on the first day of his vacation by Nick Fury. The director instructed him to go down into New Mexico and investigate an 0-8-4 that had been discovered. Along the way, Barton found a gas station which was almost robbed until a suited man had intervened. Barton then arrived onto the site where he was put under the leadership of Phil Coulson. Soon after his deployment at the site, an intruder had managed to successfully break into the compound and had fought his way towards their 0-8-4 that they were currently investigating.
Barton was ordered to be their eyes up high and to use a gun, but Barton instead collected his compound bow. Barton then claimed a vantage point suspended from a crane and watched from above as the intruder continued. Hawkeye then requested if he should fire, but Coulson wanted to see what the intruder would do, as Hawkeye then commented that he was starting to root for him. Finally, the intruder got to the 0-8-4 and attempted to steal it, as Hawkeye watched on.
When the intruder failed to steal the 0-8-4 and screamed in complete frustration, Coulson had him arrested and ordered Hawkeye to stand down. Hawkeye then noticed a woman fleeing, as he decided to let the intruder go, so they could track him. Hawkeye was later called in as the Destroyer attacked Puente Antiguo, witnessing Thor regain his powers and defeat it. With the Destroyer defeated, Barton helped to transport it to Headquarters and discussed his next missions.
==== Security Check ====
: "You really sure you can count on this bunch in a tight spot?"
: ―Hawkeye[src]
Upon orders from Nick Fury, Hawkeye broke into the Helicarrier to access the Avengers Initiative database in order to test its security. He learned about each of the choices Fury had made for the Avengers; Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. Black Widow, ignorant of his assignment, fought the masked Hawkeye until Fury entered to stop the scuffle.
=== Chitauri Invasion ===
==== Destruction of P.E.G.A.S.U.S. ====
: "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end.""At this end?""Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."
: ―Clint Barton and Nick Fury[src]
Barton was ordered to observe the Tesseract's study at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., as he ensured Erik Selvig's history to ensure he was clean. When Fury came to view the facility himself, Barton discussed Black Widow's undercover work, before Fury left for the Arctic, leaving Barton with Selvig.
Sometime later, the Tesseract began acting strangely so Fury and Maria Hill were called in to inspect the situation during the evacuations of the facility, while Barton stayed up on a platform in the main facility, ensuring that the scientists were not tampering with the Tesseract in anyway, as he believed he could observe everything better from higher up. Fury first demanded a report about the Tesseract's energy levels from Selvig, questioning what could be causing the unusual activity, before he spoke to Barton about his views on the situation, asking for a briefing on the team.
Barton confirmed that Selvig and his team were not a threat to them, having completed his background checks. When Fury asked if he believed that the Tesseract had been tampered with, Barton responded that if there was, it was not at this end of the Tesseract; which confused Fury, as he asked Barton to explain his theory. Barton then explained that he viewed the Tesseract as a doorway from space which could be opened from both sides, something Selvig and the other scientist had been unable to figure out, only for their conversation to be cut short, as the Tesseract began emitting high levels of energy right beside them.
Suddenly, the Tesseract opened a portal that brought Loki to Earth, who immediately attacked the base, killing several agents. Barton was just able to save Fury's life from a blast of energy from Loki's Scepter. Loki then used his Scepter to alter and control the minds of Barton, Selvig, and a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Under Loki's influence, Barton believed that he willingly worked for Loki and recommended that they evacuate the facility as the Tesseract was about to overload. Loki ordered Barton to shoot Fury before they departed.
Barton helped Loki steal the Tesseract and escape from the base towards S.H.I.E.L.D. Jeeps. However, Fury managed to survive due to wearing a Bulletproof Vest and warned Hill of his betrayal, leading to a brief shoot out. They managed to get into a jeep and were chased by Hill, until she got trapped under rubble when the facility imploded. Fury managed to catch up with them and shot at them from a Helicopter, Loki shot the helicopter from the sky and Barton drove them away to safety.
==== Controlled by Loki ====
: "You admire Fury.""He's got a clear line of sight.""Is that why you failed to kill him?""It might be. I was disoriented. And I'm not at my best with a gun."
: ―Loki and Hawkeye[src]
Barton then acted as Loki's commander at his safehouse, which Barton personally selected due to protective defenses. Barton commanded various other mind-controlled mercenaries and workers and helping collect the materials that Erik Selvig needed to utilize the Tesseract. Selvig asked Barton were he found all of the workers, to which he informed Selvig that S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot of enemies. Barton located a material that Selvig needed to complete his work. Loki came to be updated on their work, while Selvig complimented the Tesseract's incredible power, Barton noted that it had shown him their next target, which he would require a distraction and an eyeball.
When Selvig mocked the choice of hide-out, Barton explained that it was the most secure base that they could acquire. Barton told Loki that Nick Fury would be putting a team together to stop their plans, although Barton insisted that the team was more likely a danger to themselves. Loki demanded to know everything about them, vowing to test them so he could rule the Earth. Loki questioned why Barton had failed to kill Fury, asking if it was because he admired him, but Barton argued he was disorientated and not at his best with a gun. Barton would go on to inform Loki all about the members of Fury's team, including the dangerousness of Hulk, Black Widow's past, and the power of Stark Tower.
Barton traveled to Stuttgart, Germany with Loki where he used his infiltration skills and knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. to help to steal a store of Iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract. While Loki attacked Heinrich Schafer and used a device to violently scan his eyeball, Barton silently shot several guards with his arrows before getting inside and using a hologram of Schafer's eyeball to gain access to the facility and successfully steal the iridium before escaping. Barton would then proceed to collect any other raw materials that would be needed for the portal with ease, while Loki allowed himself to be captured.
==== Attack on the Helicarrier ====
: "It's Barton, he took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anyone copy?"
: ―Nick Fury[src]
Loki allowed himself to be captured by the Avengers, and Barton led a group of mercenaries in an attack on the Helicarrier, using a stolen Quinjet to covertly approach the Helicarrier. Barton destroyed an engine with an accurately placed explosive arrow and boarded the Helicarrier with a team of mercenaries with their task to destroy the Avengers by unleashing Hulk and freeing Loki so they could complete their plan to use the Tesseract to bring about the war on Earth.
Using the chaos on board the Helicarrier to his advantage, Barton made his way to the control room and while mercenaries distracted the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with grenades and gunfire, Barton fired a Hacker arrow at the controls where he further crippled the ship's systems, turning off the remaining engines and causing the Helicarrier to fall from the sky. Before he could cause more damage with explosive arrows, he was shot at by Nick Fury and Maria Hill, forcing him to retreat and continue his way through the Helicarrier to find Loki.
As he continued to make his way through the Helicarrier, Barton was confronted by Black Widow; who snuck up behind him in an attempt to disarm him. The two old friends had a prolonged fight using Barton's bow and arrows, knives, and when the fight got dirtier – with teeth. Barton used all his top-level training to kill his former friend, including firing several arrows at her, although she was able to dodge them, as well as attempting to drive a knife into her neck while pulling her hair back.
In the end, Barton was no match for Romanoff's speed and quick-thinking, and eventually, she got the upper hand, disarming him and slammed Barton's head onto a steel pipe. The blow weakened Loki's grip on Barton's mind and he recognized Romanoff, calling her by her first name before she knocked him out with a final strong punch to the head, breaking his connection to Loki and restoring his mind. He was then taken away by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team to be rehabilitated and cared for to ensure he was safe to continue working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
==== Regaining Control ====
: "You got to level out. It's gonna take time.""You don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?"
: ―Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton[src]
Barton was arrested and tied down until Loki's control was completely gone and he was no longer a threat. With Natasha Romanoff looking after Barton in the recovery room, he was able to break free of Loki's control, although the experience still had an impact on Barton, which he compared to being unmade. Romanoff refused to tell Barton how many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he had killed when he asked, telling him that Loki and Loki alone was responsible for the killings and he must not blame himself.
Satisfied that he was freed of his mind control, Barton resolved to help the Avengers fight back against Loki and stop his schemes of world domination. When Steve Rogers arrived to ask Romanoff if she could pilot a Quinjet, Barton told him he could. After Romanoff gave him the nod of approval, Rogers allowed Barton to join them on the mission, but first ensured that he had a uniform ready to go, Barton assured him they did and together they agreed to disobey the World Security Council and confront Loki head on as they had discovered he was hiding at Stark Tower.
==== Battle of New York ====
: "Do you think you can hold them off?""Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure."
: ―Captain America and Hawkeye[src]
With their determination to stop Loki, the Avengers took control of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet. Hawkeye flew Black Widow and Captain America to New York City just as the Tesseract portal opened. As Iron Man engaged the hordes of Chitauri that came pouring out of the portal, Hawkeye and Black Widow assisted by using the Quinjet's Gatling gun to shoot them out of the sky as they flew past. They found Loki battling Thor on top of Stark Tower when they attempted to assist, Loki shot down the Quinjet and the team crashed on the ground.
Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America made their way to Stark Tower on foot and witnessed the Chitauri coming in from the portal and they all stayed on the ground to fight. Alongside Black Widow, Hawkeye fought the oncoming horde of Chitauri until the rest of the Avengers arrived. Hawkeye fired several trick arrows at the Chitauri while the civilians all clear out. While Hawkeye and Black Widow fight the Chitauri, she reminded him that the situation of being similar to their mission in Budapest, which Hawkeye told her that he remembered Budapest differently.
==== Avengers Assembled ====
: "I have unfinished business with Loki.""Yeah? Well, get in line."
: ―Thor and Hawkeye[src]
While Hawkeye and Black Widow took on the Chitauri, Captain America joined them and was soon followed by Thor. While Hawkeye was reloading his quiver with used arrow rods from before, Thor told the Avengers that the power protecting the Tesseract is impenetrable so the team decided to fight the Chitauri in the meantime. When Thor discussed his desire to battle Loki, Hawkeye made it clear that he wished to kill him for revenge for the trauma he had suffered through, by telling him to get in line although Captain America told him to save that anger.
As Captain America told them the plan, they were interrupted when Bruce Banner arrived. Banner then transformed into Hulk to stop an incoming Leviathan, which Iron Man then blew up, so Hawkeye took cover behind a car to protect himself from the destruction. The Avengers all stood together in a circle as they overlooked the city overrun with Chitauri soldiers. Captain America then formulated a plan, ordering Hawkeye to take up a position on a building's rooftop, calling out enemy movements. Hawkeye asked for a lift from Iron Man who told him to clench up while jokingly calling him Legolas.
==== Eyes On Everything ====
: "Stark, you got a lot of strays sniffing your tail.""Just trying to keep them off the streets.""Well, they can't bank worth a damn, find a tight corner.""I will roger that."
: ―Hawkeye and Iron Man[src]
On the rooftop, Hawkeye was able to shoot many enemies out of the sky and used his skills in combat to kill any Chitauri who made it onto the roof, while advising the Avengers the best strategical maneuvers to defeat them. Hawkeye assisted Iron Man in fighting the Chitauri and to use his maneuvering skills to force them to accidentally crash into the side of buildings. Hawkeye also informed Iron Man that Thor was taking a squadron on sixth to which he joked that he was disappointed that he was not also invited.
Hawkeye fought off all Chitauri that climbed the building and flying on the chariots, managing to casually shoot one out of the sky without looking. Hawkeye dodged a blast and then fired an arrow at a soldier flying on a chariot at a far distance that crashed into a Leviathan. While Captain America fought a hostile, Hawkeye informed him that a civilians were being cornered in a bank ready to be executed, to which Captain America told him that he was on it and went to rescue them single-handedly from the alien attackers.
==== Last Stand ====
: "Hawkeye!""Nat, what are you doing?""A little help?""I got him."
: ―Black Widow and Hawkeye[src]
When Hawkeye witnessed Black Widow being chased by Loki on a Chitauri Chariot, she called him for assistance. Delighted to get his shot at revenge against his own enslaver, Hawkeye loaded an explosive arrow out of his quiver and, taking his time to aim the perfect shot and fired it at Loki. However, Loki managed to catch the arrow and looked at it which made him smile smugly at the Avengers attempt to stop him.
The smile disappeared when the arrow exploded in Loki's face and caused him to fall from the sky and crash land on Stark Tower, where he was promptly attacked by Hulk who beat the god into submission. As the battle became more intense, The Avengers found themselves starting to become overpowered by Loki's forces. As Hawkeye continued to fight the Chitauri, he found that he has almost exhausted his supply of arrows. Looking across New York City, Hawkeye spotted a young girl being targeted by the Chitauri in her penthouse, so Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow at the Chariot and destroyed it, much to the young girl's amazement. Eventually, Hawkeye ran out of arrows and began to fight the Chitauri with his bow. He then saw an incoming horde of Chitauri crafts heading in his direction.
He took his last arrow that was in a dead Chitauri, put it in his quiver, and turned it into a grapple. As the building was destroyed by the Chitauri, Hawkeye jumped off and shot the arrow while falling, and swung into a window to safety. Eventually, with the combined effort of Black Widow, Erik Selvig, and Iron Man, the portal was closed and the Chitauri army was killed. After the battle, the Avengers went to Stark Tower to capture Loki. As Loki turned around, he saw the Avengers stand before him with Hawkeye taking aim at him.
==== Invasion Aftermath ====
: "Careful with that thing.""Yeah, unless you want your mind erased, and not in a fun way."
: ―Black Widow and Hawkeye[src]
Iron Man then told them to stop with the posing and to get Loki up, as HYDRA agents who were infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived to help take in Loki, the Tesseract and the Scepter. Hawkeye went to the bar and poured him and Black Widow a drink as they told Jasper Sitwell to be careful with the Scepter, stating that it could erase their minds, and not in the fun way, calling back to his recent experience influenced by Loki.
Hawkeye and Black Widow then relaxed together in Stark Tower as the STRIKE team left with the Scepter, as well as helping Thor, Iron Man and Hulk escort Loki and the Tesseract out of the tower. Later, the team decided to get some lunch together, so they took a breather at the Shawarma Palace, under Stark's recommendation. During their meal, they were interrupted by War Machine, who arrived too late to help in the battle.
The next day the team, along with Selvig, gathered together at Central Park to send Loki back to Asgard with Thor and the Tesseract, where he would be punished for his crimes. While Loki was in chains, Romanoff whispered something in Barton's ear about Loki's punishment, which caused Barton to grin. The team then went their separate ways, Barton leaving with Romanoff to go back home to his family, while Romanoff continued working for S.H.I.E.L.D., with Steve Rogers joining the STRIKE team.
=== War on HYDRA ===
==== Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. ====
In 2014, S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, causing Barton to no longer be working for them and he did not join the new S.H.I.E.L.D. that was created from the aftermath. Instead, Barton rejoined with the Avengers as they developed themselves into their own independent team in the war against the resurgent HYDRA, operating out of the remodeled Stark Tower, with Tony Stark's financing them and giving them new equipment.
==== Battle of Sudan ====
: "I'm gonna have to do better than that if I don't want someone else grabbing my seat on the Avengers. Stark's got his armour. Steve's got his Super Serum-ness. Thor's a god. Hulk's Hulk. If I don't got this, then what have I got?."
: ―Hawkeye[src]
Barton felt insecurity about his place with the team due to being a unpowered human amongst gods and super soldiers. However, he refused to let this concept slow down his training or cause him to leave the team. When the Avengers reunited on the call of J.A.R.V.I.S. that Natasha Romanoff needed assistance in Port Sudan, Barton stopped practicing and piloted the others in the Quinjet there. During the Battle of Sudan, Hawkeye fired an explosive arrow at Doctor Jensen that defeated her assault and raised Barton's confidence in himself and his place among the others.
==== Attack on the HYDRA Research Base ====
: "I think we lost the element of surprise."
: ―Hawkeye[src]
Hawkeye joined the other Avengers in an assault against Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's HYDRA base. As the team charged inside Baron Strucker's base, Hawkeye rode in the back of a Jeep being driven by Black Widow, firing his arrows as they went while Iron Man and Thor flew alongside then and Captain America commanded the mission while riding his own weaponized motorcycle. When the jeep was crashed, Hawkeye continued to fight, keeping himself at a safe distance, using explosive arrows to destroy many HYDRA bunkers and tanks which Strucker sent after them.
As Hawkeye destroyed a HYDRA bunker with an explosive arrow and assisted Black Widow in her fight against Strucker's soldiers, he also stated that they had lost the element of surprise for the mission. As he silently sneaked through the battlefield, Hawkeye took up position behind a tree and attempted to destroy another HYDRA bunker with an explosive arrow, but the arrow was strangely intercepted by a fast moving opponent, much to Hawkeye's surprise and confusion.
Hawkeye attempted to reload and fire again at the bunker, but before he could release the arrow, his attacker then returned and in the blink of an eye had managed to throw Hawkeye through the air as he then landed awkwardly in all the snow. As Hawkeye had recovered from the ambush, his attacker revealed himself to be Pietro Maximoff, who taunted Hawkeye for failing to see the attack coming before dashing off into the distance, while holding Hawkeye's arrow in his hand.
Annoyed as he had watched his attacker vanish into the distance to attack all of the other Avengers, Hawkeye had then launched up and aimed his bow, but before he could fire, he failed to notice the bunker which he had failed to destroy, was currently taking aim and he was shot in the side by a HYDRA Cannon, falling onto the ground, gravely wounded. Black Widow had witnessed this assault and ran to his aid, while Captain America updated the team of Maximoff's arrival.
Black Widow then patched up the wound while Hulk destroyed the bunker before he could continue shooting at them. With Hawkeye in dire need of medical attention, Thor came to his aid and was able to get him back to the Quinjet to recover while the rest of their team continued with the mission and were able to capture both Baron von Strucker as well as the Scepter, although both of the Maximoff twins were still able to make their escape during all the ongoing chaos.
==== Treated by Doctor Cho ====
: "Oh, he's flatlining. Call it. Time?""No, no, no, I'm gonna live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic."
: ―Tony Stark and Clint Barton[src]
With his wound now threatening his life, Barton was returned straight back to Avengers Tower where Natasha Romanoff stayed by his side while all of his injured skin was repaired by Helen Cho using the Regeneration Cradle, which replaced his damaged skin with plastic. Joining them, Bruce Banner asked how Barton was doing, to which Tony Stark had jokingly stated that he was 'still Barton' and that he was thirsty.
Stark brought Barton a drink and he joked that he was already dying, to which Barton had insisted that he was going to live forever and be made out of plastic, as he continued to make his full recovery. When Cho asked if he had a girlfriend who would notice the difference with his new skin, Barton claimed her that he did not have a girlfriend, not mentioning his wife before they discussed the upcoming celebration that Stark would be hosting in the Avengers Tower in a few days.
==== The Avengers Celebration ====
: "'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.' Whatever, man! It's a trick.""Please, be my guest."
: ―Clint Barton and Thor[src]
Having fully recovered from his life-endangering injuries, Barton had then attended the party at Avengers Tower to celebrate their victory over HYDRA. Enjoying the company of his fellow Avengers as well as some of their other allies including James Rhodes and Sam Wilson, Barton also spent time speaking to Helen Cho during the party.
Before long, almost all of the other guests had departed, which had left only the other Avengers, Rhodes, Cho and Maria Hill to continue enjoying the celebrations about their victory over HYDRA as well as Baron Strucker. As they sat around and drank, Barton had voiced disbelief that the Mjølnir could only be lifted by Thor, since he believed this to be nothing more than a trick and not an enchantment from Asgard created by Odin, which Thor insisted was the truth.
Thor then challenged Barton to lift his hammer, where everyone joked at him about lifting it, including Tony Stark who made a reference to Barton's injuries from their previous mission. Barton acknowledged Thor of his first encounter of him, seeing him fail to lift the hammer. Barton then attempted to lift the hammer but had failed, laughing at the ridiculousness of the challenge. As the others continued mocking him, Barton had then challenged Stark to lift up the hammer.
Before long, all the others had attempted to pick up the hammer with no success: Bruce Banner had mocked his sudden transformation to Hulk, getting a little reaction from the others, while unbeknownst that Steve Rogers had moved it slightly during his own attempt, and Natasha Romanoff simply refused to take part in the challenge. Once everyone else failed, Barton and Stark claimed the game was rigged, which had simply left Thor to proclaim that they were unworthy.
=== Ultron Offensive ===
==== Attack on Avengers Tower ====
: "Cap!""That was dramatic."
: ―Hawkeye and Ultron[src]
The party was interrupted when a piercing screech rang through the room and a broken down and seemingly malfunctioning Iron Legion drone calling itself Ultron appeared. Barton then watched as Ultron claimed that he had been created by Tony Stark to bring about peace, but he also believed that the only way to achieve peace was the extinction of the Avengers, viewing them as destructive and a danger to the world.
When Natasha Romanoff questioned what Ultron's mission was, he told her that it was peace in their time and sent out a small army of Iron Legioners to then attack the Avengers, quickly subduing Steve Rogers by charging directly towards him at full speed. Barton found himself unarmed and was initially forced to hide during the sentries' assault, using his speed and agility to duck and dive out of the way of the blasts, leaping over and under the tables towards safety.
With Barton unable to get his weapons, he was forced to stay on the defense as Ultron had continued to try and kill him, with none of the Avengers able to do anything as one of the Ultron Sentries managed to steal the Scepter during all of the ongoing chaos. Eventually, more of the Sentries were destroyed by the team's efforts until Barton had found the Captain America's Shield and managed to throw it to Rogers to help him to defeat the last sentry, ending their brief battle.
With all of his Sentries finally destroyed, Ultron commented on how dramatic the whole battle had been as Barton watched on alongside the other Avengers. Barton watched on in horror as Ultron claimed that the Avengers had only meant to save the world but not allow it to change, claiming that the extinction of the Avengers would save the world. Barton had then witnessed Thor throw Mjølnir in order to then finally destroy the original robotic body of Ultron apart.
==== Avengers Argument ====
: "He also said he killed somebody.""There wasn't anyone else in the building."
: ―Clint Barton and Maria Hill[src]
With the team confused and rattled after Ultron's attack, Barton had joined the rest of the Avengers to discuss what they had witnessed as they noted how Ultron had stolen the Avengers secret files, which then led James Rhodes to fear he could gain access to America's nuclear codes. As they discussed Ultron's motivations, Barton had noted how Ultron claimed to have killed somebody although there was nobody else in the building.
Although Barton stayed mostly silent during the ensuing argument on how this could have happened, he had witnessed the rest of the team's tempers being tested when Tony Stark tried to defend his actions in creating Ultron in the first place, which caused Thor to attack him by grabbing his throat while discussing how they would find both Ultron and the stolen Scepter. The team eventually calmed back down and had then resolved to discover what Ultron's next step would be.
==== Looking for Ultron ====
: "I gotta go.""Who was that?""Girlfriend."
: ―Clint Barton and Steve Rogers[src]
Barton then used a few of his old contacts to find Ultron, but he had not heard from them so he called his wife to tell her he was alright. While on the phone, Steve Rogers then came over and told him they may have found key information regarding Ultron's location which caused Barton to hang up the call. When Rogers questioned who Barton was speaking to, Barton simply claimed it to be his girlfriend, which he had previously stated to Helen Cho he did not have.
As Barton then joined the team, the Avengers discovered that Ultron had just managed to track down and brutally murder Baron Strucker in his prison cell, as well as stealing all of the Avengers files of Strucker before deleting them to keep them from tracking his movements. Barton was then also informed that Ultron had recruited the aid of Pietro and Wanda Maximoff in his quest as the team began finding ways of researching Strucker without any computer files.
They decided to go through all of their hard copy files that they have on him and any known associates which could help them find Ultron. As they looked through boxes of files, Tony Stark alerted them to one of Strucker's associates, Ulysses Klaue, that he knew back when he sold weapons several years earlier. They had soon discovered that he was connected with Wakanda, the source of Vibranium, which made them believe that this was where Ultron would be going to next.
==== Battle at the Salvage Yard ====
: "I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan."
: ―Hawkeye to Wanda Maximoff[src]
Hawkeye then joined the team when they had located Ultron and the Maximoff twins on a ship off the coast of South Africa as Ultron was getting a supply of Vibranium from arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, taking Klaue hostage and cutting off his arm to take his Vibranium from him. While the other Avengers had confronted Ultron and the Maximoff twins directly, Hawkeye and Black Widow had stayed further back to provide cover, sneaking through the ship without being detected by Klaue's soldiers.
Since peaceful negotiations quickly failed, Ultron and the Maximoffs attacked the Avengers, with Ultron and Iron Man battling through the skies, whilst at the same time Klaue sent his soldiers to attack both groups in revenge for losing his vibranium and his arm. Hawkeye had positioned himself onto a high vantage point, his specialty, where he could eliminate any enemies with great ease, firing multiple arrows at Klaue's soldiers before they could get close to his teammates.
Hawkeye and Black Widow focused their efforts on battling Klaue's soldiers, Hawkeye taking down many soldiers as the other Avengers fought the Ultron Sentries. As the battle continued to fall towards the Avengers' favor as Hawkeye used his Pulse Arrow to knock out the last of Klaue's soldiers, Wanda Maximoff had then stepped onto the field and managed to entrance most of the Avengers with her power, causing them all to become distracted by some terrible visions.
Just as Hawkeye overlooked the battlefield to ensure that there were no other soldiers loyal to Klaue out there, Maximoff attempted to entrance him as well. However, as soon as Maximoff got close to him, Hawkeye had incapacitated her with a Mind-Warping Arrow, not allowing himself to be put under mind control again, following all his experiences with Loki and the Scepter, as Hawkeye then prepared to take Maximoff into the Avengers' custody to be questioned.
However, just before Hawkeye had been able to capture Maximoff, her brother charged in and threw Hawkeye through a window before he whisked her away to safety before she could be captured, with Hawkeye mockingly telling Pietro to run from him. Hawkeye then tried to call the Avengers, but he did not receive a response as they were all under the effects of the hypnosis. He went to check on them, as he saw Black Widow defeated and barely conscious.
Having retreated outside, the Maximoff twins continued their mission and attacked Bruce Banner, which had caused him to transform into a rage-filled Hulk who charged to Johannesburg. To defend the people, Iron Man flew in to confront Hulk, along the way Iron Man had asked if Black Widow would be able to perform her lullaby to calm him back down, before Hawkeye informed him that she was currently unable to join the fight, along with the rest of the team.
==== Returning Home ====
: "Honey? I'm home. Hi. Company. Sorry, didn't call ahead."
: ―Clint Barton to Laura Barton[src]
The Avengers all gathered into their Quinjet, defeated by Ultron and the Maximoff twins. As Barton piloted the jet, Maria Hill had informed them that public opinion on the Avengers was unpopular due to the massive battle between Hulk and Iron Man in his "Hulkbuster" armor in the middle of South Africa; at the same time, many of the members were still suffering from the effects of Maximoff's visions.
Hill stated that there was no information about Banner's arrest order yet but recommended that they lie low for the time being due to the effects of this most recent battle. Knowing the Avengers needed time to get away and recover before their next fight, Barton then decided to take the team back to his homestead, since no one would be able to find them there. Barton had then informed Stark that he would be taking the team to a safe house for their recovery.
Once the Avengers arrived at his farm, Barton led them into his house, while the team was unsure of where they were. When the team entered, they found a pregnant woman, who was soon revealed to be Barton's wife, Laura. Barton immediately hugged his wife and children. The rest of the Avengers were left confused as they were not aware of Barton having a family, which made Stark believe that they were all actually just S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working undercover.
Barton then introduced the team to his family. Seeing how surprised they were at the revelation, Barton explained how Nick Fury had set up this hideaway for him when he joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and requested that the team keep his secret. While Natasha Romanoff spoke with Laura about when their new baby was due to be born, Thor decided to leave the farm to find Erik Selvig and investigate his vision in detail. Barton and the others then began recovering during their stay.
==== Place on the Avengers ====
: "You don't think they need me.""I think they do, which is a lot scarier. They're a mess.""Yeah. I guess they're my mess."
: ―Clint Barton and Laura Barton[src]
As Barton then got changed, Laura felt Barton's chest where his skin had just already repaired with the Regeneration Cradle. Laura then informed Barton that some of the Avengers will have to sleep together which Barton knew would not go well, which lead to Laura asking about how long Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner had been seeing each other. However, Barton was unaware of this, which Laura found cute and jokingly called him "Hawkeye" for not seeing their relationship.
Laura expressed her concern about whether Barton should continue being a member of the Avengers, which he initially believed meant that she believed they did not actually need him, but she instead had revealed that she felt they needed him too much, since all the others' teamwork leaves a lot to be desired and she did not believe that they would support him and all the work that he did. As Laura touched her husband's chest, she noted that she could feel the difference.
Having settled in, Barton and the Avengers then spent some time at his Homestead trying to get their minds straight following their defeat at the hands of the Maximoff Twins in South Africa. Barton had then joined his two children outside and did some more woodworking with his son for a brand new crib for his unborn son, while also managing to convince Tony Stark and Steve Rogers to assist him by chopping some wood together while they had discussed their next battle.
==== Nick Fury's Return ====
: "So, what did they say?""He's fixated on the missiles. But the codes are constantly being changed."
: ―Clint Barton and Nick Fury[src]
As their team got back together, Nick Fury arrived after having been called there by Maria Hill. That night Barton rejoined the rest of the Avengers as they gathered in his kitchen and spoke with Fury about regaining the motivation to fight back against Ultron. Fury had also explained that Ultron had been unable to access America's nuclear codes due to someone blocking all his attacks. Barton had then teased Stark by beating him at darts, hitting the bullseye with multiple darts.
As Natasha Romanoff noted she had hoped Fury had more to offer, Fury gave them a speech to inspire them to get up and fight against Ultron, telling them to stand and fight as a team once again. While they discussed what Ultron's next move against them could possibly be, Bruce Banner worked out that Ultron would create another body made of synthetic tissue using his stolen Vibranium, which would be mixed with the Regeneration Cradle, and would do this with Helen Cho's help.
==== One Last Project ====
: "I'm gonna finish reflooring that sunroom as soon as I get back.""Yeah, then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart.""No. It's the last project. I promise."
: ―Clint Barton and Laura Barton[src]
The Avengers then made a plan to deal with the situation, Hawkeye going with Captain America and Black Widow to Seoul in order to confront Ultron directly before he could escape, while Tony Stark would go to NEXUS Internet Hub in order to learn more about why Ultron had been unable to access the nuclear codes. While the team prepared to leave they collected their uniforms and their equipment ready for their battle against Ultron, Barton went to his wife to say goodbye.
Barton promised his clearly nervous wife that this would be his final mission with the Avengers and vowed that he would return and finish redecorating the house, although Laura had still teased that he would inevitably find another project that he would start on after that. They kissed each other goodbye and Barton left with the Avengers, taking control of the Quinjet and then flew their team to Seoul to search for Ultron, as well as the Maximoff twins, and finally end the war.
=== Striking Back ===
==== Battle of Seoul ====
: "You're not a match for him, Cap.""Thanks, Barton."
: ―Hawkeye and Captain America[src]
Their team arrived in Seoul where Captain America departed from the Quinjet to do recon and had eventually found Helen Cho lying injured in the remains of her Laboratory. They discovered Bruce Banner was right about Ultron attempting to build himself a body using the Regeneration Cradle. Flying overhead, Hawkeye and Black Widow searched for Ultron, Black Widow had suggested that he could be at a private jet taking off.
Before long, however, Hawkeye spotted a truck from the lab driving away, as he scanned the inside and confirmed that Ultron was inside along with the Cradle and several Ultron Sentries. Hawkeye informed Captain America of this and then told him that he could eliminate the driver, but Captain America stopped him, warning him of the danger of the stone. With little time remaining, Captain America then went to stop the truck himself, drawing out Ultron away from the cradle.
Captain America attempted to distract Ultron by engaging him in one on one combat as the truck drove through the roads of Seoul, hoping that this would ensure that he could not complete his plan of building his newest body inside the Cradle. Seeing that Captain America was facing Ultron alone, Hawkeye made it clear that he was considerably outmatched by the robot during their fight, something which Captain America was clearly frustrated to hear from his own teammate.
While Captain America had continued fighting against Ultron on the roads, Hawkeye made his way through the city, eventually catching up to Captain America and prepared to drop Black Widow out of the Quinjet on a Motorcycle to aid Captain America and also obtain the cradle. As Hawkeye dropped Black Widow, telling her to give Ultron hell, he navigated her towards the truck's current position but had no shot at it from the Quinjet, while giving Black Widow directions.
Having managed to catch back up with the truck, Black Widow then returned Captain America's Shield and asked Hawkeye to draw away the Ultron Sentries who were currently guarding the truck so that she could then attempt to get inside. Hawkeye made his way in front of the truck and began firing at Ultron, knowing that the Sentries would come after him in defense. Hawkeye then began to fly straight up, in the hope of leading these Ultron Sentries away from the others.
As a result of this assault, however, Hawkeye had then found himself under attack by the Sentries, who were attempting to blast through the cockpit. However, Hawkeye was able to maneuver away from the Sentries, while spinning the Quinjet around to throw them off. When Captain America removed Ultron from the truck and threw him onto a moving train, the Sentries went to return to the truck to protect it as Hawkeye had advised Black Widow make her next move soon.
When the Sentries had returned to the truck, they attempted to fly it away. Hawkeye went to take out the truck since the explosion would be out of range of any civilians, but Black Widow alerted him that she was inside, much to Hawkeye's shock and frustration. Black Widow then informed Hawkeye to be ready to receive the cradle by lining up with the truck. With time running out, Hawkeye then advised Captain America that it was time to go while Black Widow freed the Cradle.
As Black Widow then jumped from the truck with the cradle, she was then grabbed by Ultron at the last second, but still able to deliver it to Hawkeye. Hawkeye then called out to her, worried for her safety and asked Captain America if he knew of her status. However, he ordered Hawkeye to take the cradle to Stark, much to Hawkeye's dismay as he pleaded to rescue her. Hawkeye reluctantly left Seoul and headed to Avengers Tower, frustrated over leaving his best friend behind.
==== Birth of Vision ====
: "Are you on our side?""I don't think it's that simple.""Well, it better get real simple real soon."
: ―Steve Rogers, Vision and Clint Barton[src]
Bringing the Regeneration Cradle back to Avengers Tower from Seoul, Barton first caught back up with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner who were getting prepared to study it. Barton attempted to physically open the Cradle but was not able to. Banner asked if there was any word on Natasha Romanoff, but Stark confirmed that they had not heard anything. Stark suggested that Romanoff might be using old school spy techniques to send out a message for Barton to search for.
Taking Stark's advice, Barton then immediately began searching for Romanoff by working out where Ultron may have taken her, listening out for any Morse code messages being sent out through the airways which would not be heard by any of their high tech machinery. Before long, Barton managed to find a signal she was sending over the radio waves which revealed her location to be in Sokovia, which confirmed that Romanoff was still alive, much to Barton's considerable relief.
Having confirmed Romanoff was being held in the HYDRA facility which had been previously owned by Baron Strucker, he went to inform the rest of their team. However, Barton soon discovered that during the Battle of Seoul aftermath, Steve Rogers had also recruited both Pietro and Wanda Maximoff as they had betrayed Ultron. Barton was present as Stark and Banner were confronted when they tried to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into the same body Ultron had been creating.
The realization of Stark's latest plan resulted in a massive argument breaking out, which Barton had stayed out of, although he remained close by. When Pietro had then attempted to sabotage the machine by ripping out its wires, Barton was able to defeat him by firing his gun at the glass below his feet, causing it to shatter as Pietro fell and landed onto the floor by Barton's feet, as Barton mockingly repeated what Maximoff had taunted him during their other encounter.
As tensions still rising between the Avengers, Stark and Rogers had finally begun to fight, with Rogers then using his shield to do more damage to the machinery, until they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Thor who proceeded to use lightning to activate machine. The being within jumped out and briefly attacked Thor until he looked out over New York City. Having calmed down, the being apologized and called itself Vision, much to Barton's surprise.
As they spoke to Vision, Wanda noted how she had seen annihilation inside his head, to which Barton made it clear that he did not trust anything that either of the Maximoff twins had to say on any subject. Barton then informed the team of Romanoff's current location back in Novi Grad while Vision claimed that he intended to assist them in fighting Ultron. As proof of his honor, Vision simply handed Thor back the Mjølnir while Barton and the rest of the team were shocked.
As the team prepared for their mission, Barton collected his uniform and weaponry ready for the oncoming battle. Barton took a moment to look at the photograph of his family to remind himself of what he was fighting for. Barton then took control of the Quinjet and flew the Avengers into Sokovia while Rogers gave them a speech about what they had to expect from Ultron and vowing that they would protect all of the innocent people of Sokovia before confronting Ultron.
==== Battle of Sokovia ====
: "Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out."
: ―Captain America to Avengers[src]
The Avengers soon located Ultron in Novi Grad where he had planned to continue his evil schemes. Once the team had arrived; Captain America made it clear that the first priority was to evacuate all of the civilians to ensure their safety.
The Avengers landed and as they exited the Quinjet, Captain America had then noticed some graffiti written on a wall which Hawkeye had commented as not bad. Hawkeye sat in the clock tower and overlooked the whole evacuation, watching as Wanda Maximoff continued to use her mind control power to convince the people to leave while Hawkeye had ensured that the Ultron Sentries did not attack the people.
Eventually, Ultron made his move and sent out his armies of Ultron Sentries to attack the Avengers, targeting their fire at the civilians so the Avengers would have to prioritize protecting them over stopping Ultron directly. As the battle broke out, Hawkeye had stayed close to Maximoff and begun shooting the Sentries out of the sky with his arrows while Maximoff also created an energy shield to keep the civilians safe from Ultron: However, they were soon overpowered.
However, despite the best efforts of Vision to incapacitate Ultron, the A.I. was able to activate his machine in the center of Sokovia which caused a massive Earthquake. As Hawkeye tried to understand what was happening, he watched on in horror as the ground around them shattered and Novi Grad began rising up into the sky, as Ultron had created his device with all the Vibranium which he stole from Ulysses Klaue to turn all of Novi Grad into his own destructive meteorite.
When one of the Sentries gave a speech about Ultron's plan to wipe out all of humanity with his meteorite, Hawkeye shot it out of the sky, only for another Sentry to continue the speech regardless. Following the orders of Captain America, Hawkeye and all the rest of the team engaged the robots in the major battle, while focusing on protecting the civilians. As Maximoff had created more forcefields to defend the people from the blasts, Hawkeye engaged them all in battle.
==== Helping Wanda Maximoff ====
: "It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good. I'll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door… you are an Avenger."
: ―Hawkeye to Wanda Maximoff[src]
With the battle still raging across Novi Grad, which had continued to rise higher and higher into the sky, Hawkeye stayed close by Wanda Maximoff as even more Ultron Sentries continued attacking them. While Hawkeye used his training from S.H.I.E.L.D. to avoid the Sentries' attacks and destroy as many as he could, he noticed that Maximoff was struggling to cope with such an onslaught.
As they had swiftly become completely overwhelmed by the endless attacks from the Ultron Sentries, Hawkeye saved Maximoff and hid her in a building while she had her panic attack. Maximoff believed everything that was happening was her fault, since she had sided with Ultron and helped him obtain the vibranium from Ulysses Klaue. As he saw this, Hawkeye tried to reassure her that nobody cared about that anymore and simply questioned if she was ready to continue their fight.
Wanting Maximoff to make her choice, Hawkeye then noted that the entire city was flying and he was battling an army of robots with nothing but a bow and arrow. Hawkeye finally managed to calm her down as he told Maximoff that he would continue to fight and it was her choice to stay or run, promising to go get her brother to help her if needed. However, he assured Maximoff that if she continued fighting, she would be an Avenger, before getting up and readying himself for the continued battle.
Hawkeye then loaded his bow and charged out of the door, leaving Maximoff to consider what he had said to her. With Ultron Sentries still baring down on him, Hawkeye fired off arrows as swiftly as he could, destroying multiple robots across the city. However, the ongoing fight against Ultron's massive army of robots had taken its toll as Hawkeye had dived for cover, complaining about the amount of pain he was in before another onslaught of Sentries arrived.
Just as he became overpowered by the great number of Sentries that had him completely surrounded, Hawkeye's words proved effective as Maximoff stepped out of the door and rejoined him, destroying the robots with ease and confidence while he looked on. With Maximoff having finally gained his faith, Hawkeye called Captain America over the radio to tell him they had just cleared the area and learned that he was currently being overwhelmed at the bridge.
Hawkeye and Maximoff began to make their way to the bridge to assist the rest of the Avengers, but before they could get back there, Quicksilver took his sister into his arms and ran to the center of the city, mocking Hawkeye by calling him an "old man" and telling him to keep up. Irritated, Hawkeye then aimed his bow at Quicksilver as he jokingly considered shooting him, thinking no one would know since he could blame the speedster's death on Ultron, before jogging after them.
==== Reinforcements ====
: "The air is getting thin. If we go up much higher people will start dropping.""There are people in the city still hiding."
: ―Hawkeye and Wanda Maximoff[src]
Hawkeye eventually made his way to the middle of Novi Grad, where he reunited with Black Widow who had managed to escape from her imprisonment. As Hawkeye took off his jacket, he gave Black Widow her weapons to fight. Hawkeye had then informed them that if the city got any higher the people would start collapsing. Captain America ordered Wanda Maximoff to help get all the people hiding in the city out and Hawkeye told him that he would watch her back.
While the first wave of Ultron Sentries was pushed back, the team's attention turned to how they would get the people to safety without destroying the city. Suddenly, Nick Fury and Maria Hill arrived on a Helicarrier and sent in Lifeboats to bring all the citizens to safety. Hawkeye and Maximoff took charge of the operation to load the people onto the Lifeboats while Iron Man and War Machine were both then ordered to protect them from more Ultron Sentries.
==== Protecting the Key ====
: "What about the core?""I'll protect it. It's my job."
: ―Hawkeye and Wanda Maximoff[src]
Hawkeye rejoined the Maximoff twins at the center of Novi Grad as they regrouped with the other members of the Avengers. As everybody had arrived, Iron Man explained to the team that they had to protect the device's key from Ultron, since activating the key would cause the city to drop out of the sky, all while Ultron had gathered his entire army just outside the church, which completely surrounded the Avengers.
As Hawkeye watched on, Ultron mocked the Avengers by claiming that having them all gathered in one place to face him was exactly what he had wanted. When Thor had furiously taunted him about the size of his army, Ultron responded by unleashing his entire army of the Ultron Sentries upon the Avengers and Hawkeye joined his team in putting all his energy in fighting against the seemingly unstoppable army of evil robots, firing his arrows as fast as he possibly could.
Despite doing his best to keep these Sentries at bay by shooting his many trick arrows at them, Hawkeye was forced to resort to hand-to-hand combat as he threw his bow aside and began using his arrows as his melee weapons to overpower the robot army. Before long, the combined might of the Avengers pushed the army of Ultron Sentries back and with combined efforts of Vision, Iron Man, Thor as well as Hulk had destroyed Ultron's armor and sent him fleeing.
With Novi Grad rising ever so higher, Captain America then ordered the team to fall back before the city could be destroyed in the sky to keep it from falling down to the surface of the Earth and wiping out all of humanity as Ultron planned. Hawkeye questioned what would be done to protect the key, which Maximoff vowed to protect it, noting that it was her job to do so, repeating the words Hawkeye had said to her earlier. Hawkeye nodded and then made his escape.
==== Rival Turned Savior ====
: "No, no, I'm fine. It's been a long day."
: ―Hawkeye[src]
With little time to spare, Hawkeye and Black Widow stole a car and drove to the Lifeboats ready to be taken to safety. As they drove along, Hawkeye explained his plans to rework his home by fixing up the dining room to make more room inside for his children to play. As they parked, they overheard Hulk's roar and Black Widow went to calm him down and bring him to safety.
While Black Widow was speaking with Hulk, Hawkeye had finally made it onboard one of the boats and attempted to leave Novi Grad behind. However, as Hawkeye briefly paused in order to check that nobody was left behind in the city, he then heard Zrinka's cries, as her brother Costel was still missing somewhere in the city, as Hawkeye knew that he had to help and ran back to the remains of the city to find him and bring him to safety before it was too late.
Before long, Hawkeye had managed to find Costel trapped underneath the rubble and had managed to free him as he lifted the child up in order to bring him back to the Lifeboat. However, just as Hawkeye picked up the child, the Avengers found themselves under fire by Ultron who had stolen the Quinjet. Ultron then aimed directly at Hawkeye and the boy in his arms, mercilessly firing a hail of bullets at them.
Seeing no way out, Hawkeye tried to use his body to shield Costel from harm, but, as a dash of wind went by, they found that none of the bullets had struck them. Hawkeye looked up to see that they had all hit Pietro Maximoff, who had run into the line of fire to save Hawkeye and was fatally wounded. Quicksilver told Hawkeye with a smile that he did not see that coming before falling down. Captain America ran over to their aid but Hawkeye confirmed that Maximoff was dead.
Hawkeye had ensured that the boy was reunited with his sister and Captain America then carried Maximoff's body on the Lifeboat. Hawkeye refused medical attention as he claimed to be fine, as he then laid down beside his savior, exhausted by the battle. Moments later, Ultron activated the key and the city began to descend, only to be destroyed by Iron Man and Thor, saving billions of lives. Shortly afterwards, the final Ultron Sentry had been destroyed by Vision, finally ending the war.
==== Retirement with Family ====
: "Clint?""Says he's retired."
: ―Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff[src]
Having promised his wife during the Ultron Offensive, Barton retired from the Avengers and returned home to his family. Soon after, Laura Barton had given birth to their son, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, who had been named after Natasha Romanoff and Pietro Maximoff. Later, the Bartons sent a video for Romanoff to show off their newborn while she was working at the Avengers Compound. Shortly after, Barton relocated himself and his family to a new farmhouse.
During his retirement, Barton played golf with his spare time, always hitting a hole-in-one due to his incredible marksmanship. Barton also would plan a waterskiing trip for his kids to go on around mid-2016. Nearly a year later, Barton had been informed by Romanoff about the new Sokovia Accords, a registration document created for enhanced individuals. When asked about signing, Barton told Romanoff that he was retired, allowing him to not need to sign these Accords.
=== Avengers Civil War ===
==== Rescue of Wanda Maximoff ====
: "Guess I should've knocked.""Oh, my God, what are you doing here?""Disappointing my kids."
: ―Hawkeye and Wanda Maximoff[src]
During his retirement, Barton was called by Steve Rogers, who had become a fugitive due to defying the Sokovia Accords, and asked Barton to help rescue Wanda Maximoff from the Avengers Compound where Tony Stark had told Vision to supervise her. Upon arriving at the facility, Hawkeye set off an explosion which distracted Vision while he got in. However, Maximoff had sensed a presence behind her, causing her to launch a knife towards the intruder.
Fortunately, Maximoff saw it was Hawkeye and stopped the blade inches from his head, as Hawkeye pushed the knife away and joked that he should have knocked. Maximoff then asked what Hawkeye was doing here, to which he claimed to be disappointing his kids. Hawkeye shot his Trap Arrows on both sides of the room and told Maximoff they had to go as Rogers currently needed their help, taking Maximoff's hand as they then attempted to leave.
Before they could get out, however, Vision returned to the room as he told Hawkeye that he should not be in there to which Hawkeye joked that he had retired for five minutes and it all went to shit. While Vision started to approach Hawkeye and Maximoff, as he told Hawkeye to consider the consequences of his actions before he was stunned due to Hawkeye's electrical arrows. With Vision incapacitated, Hawkeye started to leave, knowing that it would not hold him for long.
However, as he went towards the exit while they still could, Hawkeye had then noticed Maximoff's hesitancy to leave as she stayed in the same spot, with Hawkeye becoming frustrated as he turned back to attempt to convince her to leave. Maximoff, however, then explained how she felt guilty following the fight against Crossbones earlier that week and felt that she should stay in their facility, to which Hawkeye mockingly told her to go back to school if she wanted to mope.
Telling Maximoff that if she wanted to make amends for her previous mistake while fighting Crossbones then she needed to get off her ass as Hawkeye attempted to get her to leave. However, before he could, Vision used the Mind Stone to escape the electrical bondage. He approached Hawkeye, who fired an arrow, but that phased through Vision. Vision then knocked Hawkeye away, with the now frustrated Hawkeye responding by noting that he should have stretched first.
Seeking to use any weapon he could, Hawkeye had then equipped himself with his collapsible baton and prepared to fight the android. All of Hawkeye's attacks were countered by Vision's ability to phase around objects. Hawkeye attempted to punch Vision several times in the head, but his attack was useless due to Vision's Vibranium skin. Hawkeye soon became overpowered by Vision, who broke his baton and captured him in a headlock which he could not escape from.
Vision then calmly stated to Hawkeye that he could not really defeat him, to which Hawkeye had agreed and noted that Maximoff could. Maximoff told Vision to let Hawkeye go and that she was choosing to leave, while Vision told Maximoff that he could not let her. Maximoff proceeded to use her powers to control the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead and forced him to phase, which released Hawkeye and then caused Vision to fall to his knees by increasing his density.
While Hawkeye recovered from their fight, he watched as Maximoff then pushed Vision several stories through the ground. Having taken a moment to look at the crater left by their battle where Vision could no longer be found, Hawkeye and Maximoff left the Avengers Compound. The pair then had to make one final stop on their way to help build up Captain America's team by recruiting Scott Lang, who had been recommended to join their Avengers team by Sam Wilson.
==== Recruiting Scott Lang ====
: "Cap.""You know, I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice.""Hey, man, you're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt."
: ―Clint Barton and Steve Rogers[src]
Arriving there first, Barton and Wanda Maximoff waited for the arrival of Steve Rogers in Berlin as they arranged to meet in a quiet parking complex where nobody would see them. When Rogers arrived, the two friends reunited as he told Barton that he would not have called him if there were any other choices,
But Barton insisted that he was doing him a favor, noting that he owed Maximoff a debt following the death of Quicksilver. When Rogers thanked Maximoff for rejoining them, she quoted back what Barton had said to her back at their Avengers Compound about how she needed to get off her ass and make amends for her past mistakes, which Barton had simply smiled about.
When Rogers then asked about Scott Lang, who was asleep in their van, Barton woke him up and introduced him to Rogers, much to the amazement of Lang. They all then discussed the Winter Soldiers who were under the control of Helmut Zemo. As they prepared to leave, they then heard the airport was being evacuated by Tony Stark. The group then suited up and made their way into the airport where they would depart to Siberia before Iron Man could stop any of them.
==== Clash of the Avengers ====
: "Hey, Clint.""Hey, man.""Clearly retirement doesn't suit you."
: ―Iron Man and Hawkeye[src]
As their plan went into effect, Captain America and his team headed to the Leipzig-Halle Airport where they had a helicopter waiting to take them to Siberia. However, almost immediately Captain America got surrounded by Iron Man's team, as Spider-Man stole his shield and webbed his hands. Hawkeye, who had taken a position inside the airport with Wanda Maximoff, waited for his perfect opportunity and then shot one of his arrows, which cut straight through the webs on Captain America's hands and the Avengers began fighting.
While many other members of the team were being located and then confronted, Hawkeye attempted to get Maximoff out of the danger zone. However, while the pair of them were running towards a newer safe spot, Iron Man quickly located and went after the pair of them and fired several missiles near them, causing some large explosions which blocked their path, forcing them to stop. Hawkeye protected Maximoff from the flames as Iron Man confronted them.
Having caught them, Hawkeye watched while Iron Man told Maximoff she may have hurt Vision's feelings when she had escaped from their Avengers Compound, which she denied while Iron Man insisted he locked her there to protect her. Iron Man then joked about Hawkeye coming out of retirement while Hawkeye stated that he had played eighteen holes of golf and had managed to get eighteen holes in one, noting that he simply had not been able to miss once.
With Iron Man briefly distracted by their conversation, Hawkeye had then fired a few arrows at him, only for Iron Man to dodge and easily destroyed them all. Unimpressed by the shots, Iron Man commented that this seemed to be the first time that Hawkeye had missed, only for Hawkeye to note that he had made Iron Man look behind him as he revealed that he was just distracting him so Maximoff could drop a bunch of cars on top of him from the car park, which allowed them both to then get away while Iron Man was still trapped.
==== Fighting Former Comrades ====
: "We're still friends, right?""Depends on how hard you hit me."
: ―Black Widow and Hawkeye[src]
While the conflict continued, Hawkeye and Wanda Maximoff managed to make their way back to Captain America and his team, so they could get to the Quinjet that would take them to Siberia. As their team ran together, Hawkeye spotted the Quinjet up ahead, but they were then stopped by Vision who shot a laser beam from the Mind Stone in front of them. Vision warned them to surrender as the rest of Iron Man's team regrouped. However, Captain America then told his group to fight regardless.
The battle between the Avengers began with the two teams charging at each other, Hawkeye firing several trick arrows at his former allies as one of his arrows managed to incapacitate Vision as Hawkeye had aimed his other arrows at Iron Man and Spider-Man. Hawkeye and Black Widow then started to fight. He had managed to throw Black Widow to the ground, she questioned if they were still friends, which he had jokingly claimed that it depended on how hard she hit him.
As their clash still continued, Black Widow had then finally managed to get the upper hand due to Hawkeye holding back all his punches. Taking advantage of Hawkeye's unwillingness to really hurt her, Black Widow threw him off her and attempted to kick him in the head, only for Maximoff to save Hawkeye and then knock her out with her telekinetic powers, telling off Hawkeye for holding back. As the battle raged on, Hawkeye continued to fight against Iron Man's team.
As Falcon was being attacked by Iron Man while they flew over the airport, Hawkeye teamed up with Ant-Man to assist their ally, firing one of his arrows with Ant-Man riding on it so he was able to crawl inside and disable Iron Man's armor from the inside. As planned, the arrow broke apart into several, smaller arrows, but was destroyed by Iron Man's repulsor blast, while Ant-Man had managed to then jump off the arrow, land on top of Iron Man and crawl inside his suit.
While Ant-Man was still disabling the suit from the inside, Hawkeye had continued to fire more of his arrows in order to distract Iron Man while Ant-Man continued doing his work. Right as he prepared to fire back at Hawkeye, Iron Man's armor started to malfunction due to everything that Ant-Man had been doing, as Hawkeye made his way to his next fight as F.R.I.D.A.Y. had been able to locate Ant-Man and had then managed to harmlessly eject him out from the armor.
==== Winning a Losing Battle ====
: "As much as I hate to admit it, if we are going to win this fight, some of us might have to lose it."
: ―Hawkeye to Captain America[src]
As team Iron Man pressed in, Falcon had finally realized they could not win the battle and get everyone to Siberia. While he was dodging an attack by War Machine, Hawkeye commented that some of them would have to stay behind and fight in order for Captain America and Bucky Barnes to get to the Quinjet. As the team made their way to the getaway vehicle, they discussed how to best distract Iron Man during the escape.
In an attempt to cause a distraction so some of their team could get away, Ant-Man transformed into Giant-Man, causing chaos around the airport which allowed Captain America and Barnes to get away unseen. While Giant-Man fought against Iron Man and War Machine, Hawkeye then faced off against Black Panther in order to distract their enemies from noticing the escaping pair, with Hawkeye firing arrows at Black Panther who managed to simply avoid them.
Hawkeye shot another two arrows at the closing in Black Panther, but he managed to catch these arrows in mid-air before they exploded in his face, with his Panther Habit absorbing the explosions. Knowing that archery was not the best for face-to-face conflict, Hawkeye put away his bow and transformed it into a bo staff, before introducing himself to T'Challa, who claimed to not care. Resuming the attack, Hawkeye continued to distract Black Panther.
Hawkeye managed to hold his own briefly but was defeated as Black Panther struck him in the face, broke his staff, and was knocked out, allowing Black Panther then chase down Captain America and Barnes. Due to all of the efforts of Hawkeye and Giant-Man, Captain America and Barnes had boarded the Quinjet and escape, despite the efforts of Vision and Black Panther. However, despite the team's success, all of Captain America's allies were then arrested.
==== Imprisoned in the Raft ====
: "The Futurist, gentlemen! The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you whether you like it or not.""Give me a break, Barton. I had no idea they'd put you here."
: ―Clint Barton and Tony Stark[src]
Following the Clash of the Avengers, Barton and all the other heroes who supported Captain America were captured and taken to the Raft, where they were imprisoned for their role in destroying the airport and defying the Sokovia Accords by impeding Bucky Barnes' arrest. When Tony Stark visited, Barton sarcastically applauded his arrival, taunting that "the Futurist" had just arrived. Stark noted the Raft was built for criminals, to which Barton angrily claimed they were all now because of Stark trying to bring them down.
Barton then noted how he, Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff had all become criminals now. However, Stark refused to take Barton's bait, casually replying that he did not make the former Avengers readily break the law, his calm attitude at his former friends being imprisoned enraging Barton. Stark pointed out Barton should have thought of his family before he chose to join Captain America and walked off, furthering angering Barton with his dismissal.
As Stark walked to Wilson's cell, Barton slammed on his cell wall and warned his friends to watch their back, as Stark was likely to break it; emphasizing his anger at his former teammate and making a clear reference to James Rhodes being seriously injured during their clash. The Avengers leader, however, did not turn to look back at Barton for the remainder of his visit while he spoke with Wilson, also choosing to ignore Scott Lang as Lang then tried to insult him.
Unwilling to let his friends be imprisoned, Steve Rogers returned and infiltrated the Raft to free Barton and the others. While they celebrated their freedom, Barton decided to officially retire from the Avengers in order to care for his family. Barton and Lang had then made deals with the FBI to be placed under house arrest and agree to follow the Sokovia Accords as Thaddeus Ross demanded, with Barton returning to his Homestead until his house arrest was complete so he could live a peaceful life.
=== Becoming Ronin ===
==== Losing Everything ====
: "You lost your family in the Blip?""Yeah. Like half the world.""God, that must have been devastating.""Yeah, there are no words."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
In 2018, Barton, who was still under house arrest, was having a picnic with his family outside of his homestead. While Laura prepared lunch and his sons played catch, Barton was teaching his daughter Lila archery. Barton guided Lila in how to shoot an arrow, a skill he had perfected, as his wife called out for what condiment they wanted on their hot dogs: mayonnaise or mustard. Barton requested mustard for the two of them, joking with Lila how only her brothers preferred mayonnaise on hot dogs.
Barton then watched as Lila took her shot, hitting the bullseye. He proudly congratulated his daughter, calling her "Hawkeye". As Lila went to collect her arrow, Laura called them over for lunch. When Barton called for his daughter, he discovered that she was gone. Barton called out for Lila again, wondering where she had gone, but to no prevail. Confused by his daughter's sudden disappearance, Barton turned to where his wife and sons were, only to find them gone too.
Starting to get very worried, Barton began to unsuccessfully search for his family around the homestead, unaware of what was happening. Barton could do nothing but desperately, and with great fear, call out for his family. Barton would eventually learn in complete horror that his wife and children actually perished alongside half of the universe's population, all thanks to Thanos obtaining the six Infinity Stones to commit the Snap, despite the best efforts of the Avengers to stop him.
Even when the other Avengers were able to successfully track down Thanos to the Garden several weeks later, it became all for naught as Thanos had already destroyed the Infinity Stones, before Thor proceeded to behead him with Stormbreaker, leaving the Avengers in utter defeat as they could not bring back the victims of the Snap without the Infinity Stones' power. This left Barton completely devastated, as any hope of saving his family appeared to be lost forever, due to the complete destruction of the Infinity Stones and the death of Thanos.
==== Massacring Criminals ====
: "The Ronin brought a brutal form of justice to his victims, and his identity continues to remain a mystery to this very day."
: ―Black Market Auctioneer[src]
As a result of losing his family, Barton had embraced his grief and became Ronin, going on a path of vengeance against any criminals who had survived the Snap. Using a ninja suit and weaponry, including a retractable sword, Ronin massacred and destabilized many criminal organizations, including the Tracksuit Mafia.
Following a tip from Wilson Fisk's informant, Ronin attacked the Fat Man Auto Repair and killed the Tracksuit Mafia members inside, including William Lopez. Ronin slaughtered some criminals outside of their car, using his sword to cut them down and stab them while they begged for mercy. In 2023, Ronin travelled to Mexico where he ruthlessly murdered all members of Mexican Cartel. This resulted in Ronin being sought out by the remaining Avengers, as James Rhodes, under orders from Natasha Romanoff, began investigating his actions.
==== Massacre in Tokyo ====
: "テメェ、なぜこんなことをする? 私たち俺達はテメェに何もしてねえだろう!""地球の半分。 タノスにやられ。 お前は何故。無事なのだ…"
: ―Akihiko and Ronin[src]
Ronin then found himself in Tokyo, Japan, where he planned to eliminate all members of the Yakuza faction there. Despite the great numbers and rapid gunfire, Ronin managed to make his way through all enemies with great ease, going through a building where he headed for Akihiko. The two then found themselves in the streets, where Akihiko questioned Ronin on his actions, which he informed him that it was the fact they survived and half the population did not. The two then drew swords and began to fight.
Despite the duel being fairly even, Ronin was able to cut Akihiko's throat, causing him to beg for his life, promising to give Ronin anything he wanted. However, Ronin ignored his cries for mercy, stating that the only thing he wanted, which was his family, could not be given by Akihiko. He then finished off Akihiko, cleaned his sword, as he became aware of Natasha Romanoff standing behind him, telling her that she should not be there.
But Romanoff believed that he should not either, but Barton informed her that it was all a part of a job that he believed he had to do. Romanoff addressed how everyone he has murdered was not going to bring his family back, for which she then informed him a plan to bring everyone back. However, despite desperately wanting to be reunited with his wife and three children again, Barton initially rejected the idea, not wanting to be given hope, only for it to be taken away if it failed.
Romanoff, clearly seeing her best friend in distraught and what he had become, apologized for not giving hope to him sooner. She then comforted him by holding his hand. The two then entered the Quinjet and flew back to the Avengers Compound, in order to attempt to undo the actions of the Snap.
=== Rejoining the Avengers ===
==== Testing Time Travel ====
: "Alright. I'm not ready for this.""I'm game. I'll do it."
: ―Scott Lang and Clint Barton[src]
With Scott Lang giving the idea to use the Quantum Realm to travel back in time, the Avengers began to work on a way to successfully do so. Barton watched as Lang prepared to test the time traveling, to see if it actually worked. However, after an accidental triggering of one of the last available Pym Particles, Lang stated that he couldn't do it. Barton then volunteered to do the test run and switched with Lang. Nebula then helped Barton into the Advanced Tech Suit as Bruce Banner instructed him on some experiences he may have during the test.
As they prepared, Rhodes and Lang expressed their thoughts on time travel, believing that changing the past changes the future, something Barton supported. However, Banner tried to explain how time travel actually worked, debunking all the examples of time travel seen in movies that Rhodes and Lang listed, stating that them going into the past is their future, and the present would be their past, which couldn't be changed by the new future.
Barton stood on the platform and waited to be transported through time, via the Quantum Realm. Banner counted down to when he activated the machine, causing Barton to be sent into the Quantum Realm. Barton navigated his way through, coming out at his home, before the Snap. Barton took a moment to adjust to being back in the past, before approaching his house, where he picked up a baseball mitt. He then overheard his children, causing him to call out to his daughter to try and see her again. However, he was sent back to the present just before he could, narrowly missing his daughter.
When he returned, he was temporarily discomforted by the travel, but quickly adjusted. Natasha Romanoff went to check on him and see if he was fine, which he told her he was. He then informed the Avengers that their plan had worked, and he had successfully traveled through time, as he had brought the mitt back with him. He threw the mitt to Tony Stark and they all began to brainstorm about the Infinity Stones. Through this experience, Barton was given hope again, and was now back to himself, although the Ronin identity still stuck with him.
==== Locating the Infinity Stones ====
: "Not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.""Which means we have to pick out targets."
: ―Tony Stark and Clint Barton[src]
With the means of travel accounted for, the team then began brainstorming when and where they could retrieve the stones, addressing that they need to be specific where they travel to, as the stones have all crossed paths with most of them. They decided to brief themselves on each stone and the history of where they've been. Thor told them about the Aether, but began to get off topic as he had not come to terms with some of the trauma in his life, including his mother's death.
Rocket Raccoon then informed them about the Power Stone, which Peter Quill stole from Morag, and Nebula told them about the Soul Stone, and how Thanos also killed her sister there, too. They then refined their plan to retrieve all six stones the best way possible, as there was a time when three stones were on Earth at once. They then split the Avengers into small teams, each responsible for a different stone.
They assigned three teams: Stark, Steve Rogers, Banner and Lang going to 2012 to get the Space Stone, Mind Stone and Time Stone, Thor and Rocket to 2013 to get the Reality Stone, and Barton and Romanoff were tasked with retrieving the Soul Stone, which they would do by going to Vormir in 2014 with Rhodes and Nebula, who would go to Morag to get the Power Stone. However, they only had enough Pym Particles to send them back in time, and back to the present, meaning this was their only chance.
==== Retrieving the Soul Stone ====
: "Wow. Under different circumstances... this would be totally awesome."
: ―Hawkeye to Black Widow[src]
The Avengers all then suited up in their Advanced Tech Suits and made their way to the platform, where Captain America gave them a speech about everything that had led up to that moment and how this was their only opportunity to change what had happened.
Hawkeye was given a shrunken down Benatar to take with him so he and Black Widow could travel to Vormir, which Rocket Raccoon made him promise to return without any damages, which Barton casually agreed to. Bruce Banner then activated the machine and they all were transported to the Quantum Realm, where they each traveled to their designated time.
Hawkeye, Black Widow, War Machine and Nebula all successfully arrived in 2014 on Morag, where they enlarged the Benatar and waited for Nebula to lower the Benatar's Space Pod. Hawkeye and Black Widow then boarded the Benatar and said goodbye to War Machine, who asked them to watch over each other. They then departed Morag and headed to Vormir, to retrieve the Soul Stone.
As they traveled to Vormir, which Nebula had set the coordinates for, making their only requirement to not fall out of course, the two best friends enjoyed the sight of space travel. They laughed with each other as Hawkeye mentioned that they had come a long way since being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, mentioning their mission in Budapest. While the ship was on autopilot, the two had a deep conversation about their relationship.
They soon arrived at the planet, which amazed Hawkeye, saying that what they were doing would be awesome if not for the circumstances. They then made their way through the planet, climbing up the mountain, which they found to be exhausting. When they made it to the top of the mountain, they were greeted by Red Skull, who alarmed them, causing them to draw their weapons at him.
Red Skull informed them that he was a guide for those seeking the Soul Stone, so Black Widow demanded that he show them where it was. However, he informed them that it is never that simple. They learned that the stone was at the bottom of the cliff, and then the Red Skull told them that they had to make a sacrifice of someone they love for the Soul Stone.
==== Losing his Best Friend ====
: "Tell my family I love them.""You tell them yourself."
: ―Hawkeye and Black Widow[src]
Upon learning about the price to pay for the Soul Stone, Hawkeye and Black Widow took a moment to let the severity of the situation sink in. Hawkeye felt as if the Red Skull may be lying, but Black Widow believed that he was not and that a sacrifice is necessary.
She considered how Thanos arrived on Vormir and did not leave with Gamora, believing it not to be a coincidence with their current predicament. They then repeated what Captain America had said before their mission "whatever it takes", before accepting that one of them needed to sacrifice themselves for the stone. Hawkeye decided that he would make the sacrifice, holding Black Widow's hand to comfort her in their final moments.
However, she then reciprocated the same gesture, making him realize that she intended on sacrificing herself. They then argued over which one it should be, neither wanting to willingly let the other die. Black Widow attempted to make her case, saying this is what she had been working towards all these years, and that she did not want Hawkeye to die. However, Hawkeye told her he should do it, as he saw himself as too far gone, which she assured him that he is more than his worst moments.
However, when he told her that she should not try and give him a chance, she responded to the fact that he did for her when they first met. They then took a moment to embrace each other's friendship, resting their heads on one another, until Hawkeye took her off guard and threw her down so he could sacrifice himself. He told her to tell his family when they were brought back, that he loved them.
However, Black Widow gained the upper hand and threw him down, deciding to make the sacrifice herself. She hit him with her Bite, causing him to get shocked. As she made a run for the cliff, Hawkeye ripped off the taser, drew his bow, and fired an explosive arrow near her, causing her to be thrown away from the cliff. He then made it for the cliff and jumped off, but Black Widow also jumped and grabbed him, shooting a grapple and attaching it to him, so he wouldn't fall, sacrificing herself.
However, Hawkeye was able to grab onto her, but could not pull her up, without both of them falling. He got mad at her for stopping him from sacrificing himself. She asked him to let her go, knowing that there was no other way, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He desperately tried to get her to not do it, not letting go of her, as he did not want his best friend to die, but she felt the exact same and forced him to let go. Hawkeye cried as he watched Black Widow fall to her death, helpless to do anything else.
With the required sacrifice being made, a light burst out and knocked Hawkeye out and teleporting him to a river. Hawkeye soon awoke, confused on the new area he suddenly appeared in, sitting up in the water. He had obtained the Soul Stone, which appeared in his hand, but at that moment, all that he was thinking about was the death of his best friend. As he sat in the river, Hawkeye cried over her death.
==== Grieving Natasha Romanoff ====
: "It can't be undone! Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say! Maybe you wanna go talk to him! Okay, go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him! It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone, she bet her life on it!"
: ―Clint Barton to Thor[src]
Regardless, Hawkeye had achieved his mission's goal, so he activated the Time-Space GPS and was momentarily transported back through the Quantum Realm, back to the present, where all the other Avengers safely returned. There was an initial celebration from the other Avengers, which was interrupted when Hawkeye fell to his knees. The others saw Hawkeye alone and asked about Black Widow's whereabouts, but he was too upset to respond, but they were able to understand what had happened.
The remaining original Avengers gathered outside and let the news of their friend's death sink in. However, Thor believed that Romanoff could too be brought back along with everyone else. However, Barton made it clear to him that there was no way to undo what had happened. Barton then got upset, stating that it should have been him that made the sacrifice. They then decided not to let their friend's death go without meaning, so they started working on making a Nano Gauntlet capable of wielding all Infinity Stones.
==== Blip ====
: "Honey.""Clint?"
: ―Clint Barton and Laura Barton[src]
With all the Infinity Stones in their possession, Tony Stark, along with Bruce Banner and Rocket Raccoon began creating an Nano Gauntlet that could house all of the Infinity Stones and allow the wearer to wield all them. When they were done, they discussed who should be the one to snap their fingers; Thor desperately believing he should do it, wanting to do something right.
However, they came to the realization that Banner must be the one to do it, due to the levels of Gamma Radiation, and that anyone else would be killed from. As Banner was about to wield the gauntlet, each Avenger suited up and made sure to protect themselves from any blast, Barton stood by Stark, who had generated a shield in front of them. As Banner became overwhelmed by the Stones' power, he was able to snap his fingers, attempting to reverse the Snap and bring everyone back.
Afterwards, Banner collapsed to the floor, and the gauntlet fell off. Barton kicked the gauntlet away, telling no one to move it. They then checked on Banner, when suddenly, Barton's phone began to ring. He checked his phone and saw that it was his wife calling, revealing that they were successful. He answered the call and attempted to talk to his wife when suddenly, the Facility was attacked by Thanos, blasting Barton backwards, causing him to fall to the undergrounds of the facility.
==== Attack on the Avengers Facility ====
: "Oh, hey... I know you.""Father, I have the Stones.""What?"
: ―Hawkeye and 2014 Nebula[src]
Hawkeye found himself under some rubble, having fallen through to the access tunnels of the Avengers Compound. He took a moment to recover from the impact of the explosion, as he turned on a flashlight on his wrist to see where he was, calling out to the other Avengers. Hawkeye then noticed the Nano Gauntlet on the ground, when he then heard movement behind him.
Hawkeye drew his bow and quickly turned around, firing a flare arrow towards the movement, where he caught a glimpse of the Outriders. He then grabbed the gauntlet, and ran from the creatures, trying to protect the Infinity Stones from falling into the wrong hands. As Hawkeye made his way through the tunnels, he was finding himself about to be overrun by Outriders, so he started planting explosive arrows along the tunnel.
The arrows then went off, causing the Outriders to be caught in the explosion, with Hawkeye just avoiding it. However, when he looked back, he noticed the Outriders were still alive and heading for him. He then fired a grapple arrow from his Wristbow and scaled upwards to safety. However, this did not stop the Outriders, who continued to viciously go after Hawkeye, climbing upwards to get him.
He then drew his sword and began to fend off the ruthless creatures, slicing them in half as they leaped at him. He then made it to the level above, eliminating all of them, screaming at the Outriders in his victory. Exhausted by his recent fight, Hawkeye laid down to rest for a moment, when he noticed Nebula approach him. Unaware that this was not the Nebula he had been working with, but the 2014 version of her from the alternate timeline, he handed the gauntlet over to her.
When Nebula revealed her true nature, Hawkeye attempted to stop her from giving the Gauntlet to Thanos, but he was unsuccessful due to her pulling a gun out on him. Before she could kill him, Nebula was stopped by Gamora and the Nebula from the present. When Nebula pulled her gun away from Hawkeye to aim at the present day Nebula, he moved to safety, as he watched present day Nebula kill the other Nebula. Confused by what just happened, Hawkeye then picked up the gauntlet and continued to protect it as he made his way out of the facility.
==== Battle of Earth ====
: "Cap! What do you want me to do with this damn thing?""Get those stones as far away as possible!""No! We need to get them back where they came from."
: ―Hawkeye, Captain America and Bruce Banner[src]
When all the heroes returned to help fight against alternate Thanos and his massive army, Hawkeye stood amongst them as Captain America led the charge. During the battle, Hawkeye continued to protect the Infinity Stones, carrying the Nano Gauntlet around with him as he made his way through the battlefield. Not being able to properly fight while holding onto the gauntlet, Hawkeye managed to avoid numerous attacks from Thanos' army, with assistance from the other heroes.
Being in a position of danger with all of the Infinity Stones, Hawkeye asked Captain America about what he should do with the Stones. He told him to get the stones away from the battlefield, but Hulk interjected, telling him that they needed to get the stones back to where they got them. Ant-Man informed them that Luis' van was on the battlefield and could be used to get the stones back. Hawkeye then made his way to the van, fighting off many hordes of Outriders with his sword and wristbow. As he pursued, he was spotted by Ebony Maw who sent more of the alien army towards him. As Hawkeye witnessed the aliens draw near, he was saved by Black Panther, who used his kinetic pulse to blast them away.
He then acknowledged Hawkeye, calling him by his first name, something he learned during the Clash of the Avengers, and told him to hand over the Nano Gauntlet. Hawkeye did so, knowing that he was faster and would be able to get past Thanos' army easier than he would. With the gauntlet out of his possession, Hawkeye was now able to fully join the fight. Hawkeye, along with all the other heroes were able to fight off Thanos' army, but it wasn't until Iron Man wielded all the Infinity Stones, that they were victorious. All of alternate Thanos' army disintegrated, followed by Thanos himself.
However, this came at the cost of Iron Man's life, due to the immense power of the stones. As Iron Man died on the battlefield, everyone gathered around him. Hawkeye saw his friend who he had fought beside many times, and out of respect, knelt before him as he mourned his death. This was then followed by Black Panther, who noticed Hawkeye kneeling, proceeded by everyone else kneeling in front of the fallen hero.
=== Return to Family ===
==== Barton Family Reunion ====
: "I hope families are reunited. I hope we get it back, in somewhat like a normal version of the planet has been restored, if there ever was such a thing."
: ―Tony Stark[src]
Having been successful in bringing back those who died, as well as defeating Thanos, Barton took a Quinjet and returned to his homestead, where his family was now alive.
As Barton approached his house, Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel came outside and reunited with their father, holding each other in their arms. After hugging his children, Barton looked over and saw his wife. He and Laura walked over to each other and embraced one another. Now that his family had been brought back, Barton could return to his retirement.
==== Tony Stark's Funeral ====
: "You know, I wish there was a way... that I could let her know... that we won. We did it.""She knows. They both do."
: ―Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff[src]
Barton and his family all attended the funeral for his friend and fellow Avenger, Tony Stark, along with all of their allies at Stark's home. Barton, along with Pepper Potts and her daughter, Happy Hogan, James Rhodes, and the remaining original Avengers, gathered inside Stark's home, where they watched a recorded message Stark left before the Time Heist. They all then stood outside with their allies as Stark's Arc Reactor was sent adrift in the lake.
Afterwards, Barton reunited with his close friend Wanda Maximoff and confided in her about his desire to be able to let Natasha Romanoff know that they were successful in bringing everyone back. Maximoff assured him that Romanoff knew, as well as Vision. The two then comforted each other over the loss of those close to them. Afterwards, Barton and his family returned home. Barton told Laura about his time as Ronin. Due to the number of explosions and loud noises he had been subjected to over the years, Barton became hard of hearing, requiring him to wear a hearing aid in his left ear.
==== Befriending Scott Lang ====
: "Okay. Solid plan. So who are you going to get to tell that story?""You, Scott. You're the guy who got scooped up in all this pretty recently. You've still got one foot in their world. And you're a guy everyone likes... and trusts."
: ―Scott Lang and Clint Barton[src]
Around 2024, Barton also formed a friendship with fellow Avenger, Scott Lang, so much so that Lang shared vials of Pym Particles with him, for use in his trick arrows. One day, Barton, along with Bruce Banner invited Lang to lunch, where they asked him to author an official account of the events surrounding the Blip and Thanos' defeat, in order to mitigate the public's confusion surrounding the events, deeming Lang to be the perfect candidate as he is a newer hero and still maintains a normal family life. Lang agreed and wrote his memoir, Look Out for the Little Guy!, which he published the following year. During the writing of the book, Lang spoke to Barton about his experiences with Natasha Romanoff for a memorial chapter about her. Barton told Lang about all the battles they fought together in and her sacrifice on Vormir, a story which was very emotional for Barton to tell.
Around this time, Barton was contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. and interviewed by an agent who was writing a book, I Was There..., about the Battle of Earth. Barton gave his personal account of what transpired during that time.
==== Christmas Trip to New York ====
: "You know it's fine if you don't wanna watch the show. I mean... I know everyone misses her, but she was your best friend."
: ―Lila Barton to Clint Barton[src]
In December 2024, Barton took his children on a trip to New York City, while Laura remained at the farmhouse so he could spend time with the children alone. They attended a performance of Rogers: The Musical after being invited. However, Barton became uncomfortable during the show, due to it retelling events he was a part of, including the Battle of New York, and turned off his hearing aid briefly. The inaccuracy of portraying Ant-Man in the battle only further irritated him. Additionally, the constant reminders of Natasha Romanoff made it hard for Barton to watch it, so he decided to leave the auditorium.
While in the bathroom, Barton was approached by a fan for a selfie, but he refused due to it being an inappropriate time for it. Barton then went outside and was soon joined by Lila, who told him they could leave, understanding that the loss of his best friend was still affecting him. When Cooper and Nathaniel came out, they decided to get dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
==== Dinner with the Family ====
: "There's a thousand things to do. It's going to be amazing, but the most important thing is that we're going to do it all together."
: ―Clint Barton to his children[src]
While eating their dinner, they were called by Laura, who wanted to check on them, and they then made plans to do Christmas activities together. Once the food was finished, Barton was approached by the waiter, who gave them more to eat, and claimed that the meal was on the house, as a thank you for the work Barton and the Avengers had done during the Chitauri Invasion, which made Barton somewhat uncomfortable. Changing the subject, Barton suggested that they go see the largest Christmas Tree that New York City had to offer, which excited Nathaniel Barton as they all got up to leave and enjoy the rest of the evening.
=== Return of Ronin ===
==== Meeting Kate Bishop ====
: "You're Hawkeye!""Who the hell are you?""I'm Kate Bishop."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
After bringing his children back to the hotel room, Barton witnessed in a NY1 report that someone had been spotted wearing his Ronin suit while rescuing a dog, forcing him to leave to deal with it.
Barton tracked down the individual, who was engaged in a fight with the Tracksuit Mafia, so he fought off and defeated the group with ease. Barton then dragged away the new Ronin, and unmasked her, only to discover she was young, so he did not hurt her. Kate Bishop introduced herself to Barton, who asked where she go the suit from, but she was unable to answer, being shocked to be meeting her hero. Hearing sirens coming, Barton decided to help Bishop, and escorted her back to her apartment to question her further.
==== Attacked by the Tracksuit Mafia ====
: "The person that wore this suit made a whole lot of enemies. All right? And the Tracksuits are just one of them."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
As they walked back to her apartment, Barton had begun to question Kate Bishop about the situation. Barton told Bishop to take off the Ronin Suit, and she explained how she took from a black market auction and wore to fight the Tracksuit Mafia. Stepping inside the apartment, Barton was greeted by the golden retriever, although Bishop claimed that the dog did not actually belong to her. Bishop asked if Barton could sign her bow, but he continued to question her, asking if she was injured, and figuring out if anyone saw her face or connected her to the suit, to which she said no one had.
Bishop then realized that she came to her apartment earlier to drop off the retriever, which led the Tracksuits to them, and they began throwing Molotov cocktails inside the building. Barton was able to catch one and throw it back at the Tracksuits, and Bishop fired an arrow at them. Barton saw that the Ronin suit was amongst the fire, but after Bishop failed to put the flames out, they were forced to leave it and escape from the burning building.
==== Going on the Run ====
: "So, what's the plan now? Let me guess. We're going to your safe house? Is it in Avengers Tower?""No. Tony sold that. A few years ago."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
Barton, Kate Bishop and the golden retriever made their way to the subway station, where they caught a train to get away from the Tracksuit Mafia and headed to get some supplies. As Barton bought some items from a store, he tried to think of a place to hide out in, with Bishop suggesting Avengers Tower, but Barton informed her Tony Stark had sold it years ago. Bishop decided to take Barton to her aunt's apartment, and he told her to stay there and clean her wounds as he headed back to her apartment to retrieve the Ronin suit.
==== Search for the Suit ====
: "Did you get the suit?""No.""But you have a lead."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
When he arrived back at Kate Bishop's apartment, Barton discovered that the Fire Department of New York City were already there. Disguising himself as a firefighter, Barton snuck into the apartment and looked for the Ronin Suit but discovered that it was gone. Heading back outside, Barton noticed a NYC LARPers sticker on a firetruck.
Barton returned to Kate Bishop, who had cleaned her wound incorrectly, so he did it for her, telling her that he was unable to recover the Ronin Suit. Barton then investigated the NYC LARPers, discovering via social media that Grills had taken the suit and was wearing it. Receiving a text from Lila, Barton told her to pack her things, but knowing that he would not be able to leave with them, as he had to stay to deal with the situation.
==== Extended Stay in New York ====
: "My problem is you. And this ninja suit, and the people trying to kill you 'cause of it. It's a problem that I am going to solve today, so I can go home to my family."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
The next morning, Barton said goodbye to his children, but when Lila Barton became concerned about his disappearance the night before, he assured her that everything would be fine, and that he will make it back home for Christmas.
Barton then headed back to Kate Bishop, where they watched NY1 news talk about Bishop as Ronin, suspecting her being connected to the death of Armand Duquesne III. Barton attempted to get Bishop to stay put for safety, but she insisted upon leaving, as he went to find the suit. As they walked together through Times Square, Barton explained to Bishop that he was deaf in his left ear, as well as them discussing his public recognition as Hawkeye, with Bishop stating that Barton's problem was branding.
Barton claimed that he was not trying to sell anything as Hawkeye, but Bishop informed him that people wanted sincerity, as he could inspire, much like he inspired her. After walking her to the front of Bishop Security Headquarters, they exchanged numbers, which Barton said was only for emergencies, and split ways, with Barton saying it may be the last they would see of each other, despite Bishop wanting to learn more from him.
==== Forced into LARPing ====
: "You're a superhero in real life. This is as close as I'm ever gonna get to being one. Just work with me. Let me kill you.""And I fought Thanos."
: ―Grills and Clint Barton[src]
Barton arrived at Central Park where the LARP was being held, but was unable to enter, so he begrudgingly decided to participate so he could get to the suit. After being told the rules and provided with armor, Barton made his way through the park, where he fought off a bunch of LARPers using his superior fighting ability.
He then came across Grills, so Barton told him to hand over the suit, but Grills promised he would return the suit if Barton would let him "kill" him in a duel. Barton was initially against prolonging his LARP experience, but when Grills said that this was his only chance to be a superhero, Barton complied. They then held a duel, where Barton allowed Grills to "kill" him, and he finally reclaimed the suit, expressing that he enjoyed the experience to Grills.
==== Captured by the Tracksuit Mafia ====
: "Now, the suit. She put it on by accident. She didn't know what it meant. She's not Ronin."
: ―Clint Barton to Maya Lopez[src]
Barton called up Laura to let her know that he will be missing his flight and should only need another day in New York City. Laura asked how it was going with the Ronin suit, so he told her he got it back, but he had to sort things out with the Tracksuit Mafia, promising to still get home for Christmas. Barton explained that he was going to do a catch release, which Laura noted was one of Natasha Romanoff's old moves. She then told him that they were building gingerbread houses, with him saying he'd slow them up if he was there.
Barton waited outside, and was soon surrounded by the Tracksuits, who he let take him into their van. They put a bag over his head, but he told them he could still see. They then took him back to their hideout. In their warehouse, Barton informed them that he was not who they were after, which the Tracksuits stated was Kate Bishop, but Barton attempted to deny knowing who she was, and asked to speak with their boss. At that moment, Bishop crashed through the skylight, but because she was immediately held at gunpoint by the Tracksuits, she got herself and Barton tied up.
Being tied to a kiddie ride, Barton and Bishop were taunted by the Tracksuits through to the morning, as they were forced to ride on the coin-operated horses. When the Tracksuits moved away from them, Barton explained to Bishop that he was close to clearing her name from the Ronin suit until she got herself caught. They were then faced with the leader of the Tracksuits, Maya Lopez, who noticed Barton's hearing aid and asked if he was deaf like her, but he explained that he was only hard of hearing, so she used Kazi Kazimierczak to translate.
Lopez called out Barton's reliance on technology with needing the hearing aid, suggesting he might be better without it. Barton proceeds to explain that Bishop was not Ronin, and only wore the suit by mistake, but Lopez was unconvinced, stating that Ronin could still be out there. Having moved past that part of his life, Barton told Lopez that Ronin was dead, killed by Black Widow, but she still didn't believe him, so she questioned Bishop, letting Barton begin to free himself.
While the Tracksuits talked amongst themselves, Barton told Bishop to harness her over-confidence as he commenced his escape, resulting in Barton being chased in the warehouse by the Tracksuits. Barton skillfully evaded several of the Tracksuits, but was matched when fighting Lopez, who destroyed his hearing aid. Barton managed to reclaim his bow and quiver, which allowed him to subdue Lopez by shooting two arrows next to her head, free Bishop, and defeat the rest of the Tracksuits.
==== Car Chase ====
: "We're out of the regular arrows.""What do you mean, we're... Oh, my God, trick arrows?"
: ―Clint Barton and Kate Bishop[src]
With the Tracksuit Mafia still coming after them, Barton and Kate Bishop rushed outside and attempted to steal a car, bickering about who would drive and who would shoot, with Barton being unable to hear Bishop, due to his hearing aid being broken. The Tracksuits then came outside, forcing Barton to drive them away, only to soon be pursued by numerous vehicles.
Bishop retrieved Barton's quiver full of arrows to fight against the Tracksuits, but Barton warned her that there were only trick arrows left, much to her excitement. Unsure of what each arrow did, Bishop fired different ones to varying effects, from an explosive arrow to a plunger arrow. In order to let Bishop, shoot better, he drove backwards, eliminating each of the vehicles. Leaving just the one Maya Lopez was driving.
The chase led to a bridge, where they were caught up to by Lopez's car, so Barton fought off Tomas while driving, until Bishop fired a smoke screen arrow, allowing them to get clear momentarily. Noticing that the road was blocked by traffic and that Kazi Kazimierczak was driving straight towards them, Barton told Bishop to shoot an arrow upwards, as he shot an arrow containing Pym Particles at it, enlarging the arrow, and destroying the approaching van.
Out of arrows, Barton rushed over to collect the plunger arrow and quickly returned to Bishop, all while under fire from the Tracksuits. Barton and Bishop jumped off the bridge, and as they fell, both holding onto the bow, Barton released a grapple so they could swing over to a passing train, which they stuck to with the plunger arrow. They entered the train, and Barton acknowledged Bishop's claims of being one of the world's greatest archers, having been impressed by her efforts. While catching their breath in the train, they both noted that they needed to get back to the dog.
=== Gaining a New Partner ===
==== Advising Kate Bishop ====
: "This life you wanna live. To really help people. I mean, try to help people, anyway. Comes with a lot of sacrifices. And some things you'll lose... forever."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
They returned to Kate Bishop's aunt's apartment, with Barton still unable to hear. The next morning, he was called by Nathaniel, but because he could not hear him, Bishop wrote down what he was saying, so Barton could understand. Barton assured his son he'd be home for Christmas, and thanked Bishop for helping him.
Barton, Bishop, and the dog went to an audiologist to get his hearing aid repaired, where Bishop joked about it being good Barton wasn't called "HawkEar." They then went to get breakfast together, where Bishop talked about how she was finally doing what she had dreamed of, and being who she was supposed to be, with Barton noting the day he felt the same thing. But Barton informed Bishop that the superhero life comes with a price of sacrifices and losing people.
However, Bishop responded that there were things to be gained from being a superhero, like trick arrows and cool costumes. This led Bishop to explain that his branding problem was due to his costume needing to be more recognizable, but Barton explained that his job for the last twenty years was to not be recognized as she showed him a drawing of a potential purple costume with a winged helmet, an idea which he dismissed immediately.
Bishop then began to talking about Ronin, believing Barton couldn't say their identity because it was someone close to him, so Barton returned the conversation back to his costume, saying he could never wear something flashy, as he had to be a ghost, and that his wife would divorce him if he did. Barton's main reason was because he was not a role model, much to Bishop's disagreement, recounting how he left his family to help her because she was in danger, stating that now they were in this together as partners.
==== Investigating the Tracksuit Mafia ====
: "They started small, but grew. Or at least the guy at the top, he'll do anything to grow the operation.""I thought Maya was the boss.""No, there's someone above Maya. Someone you don't wanna mess with."
: ―Clint Barton and Kate Bishop[src]
As they walked the dog in Central Park, Barton and Kate Bishop discussed the Tracksuit Mafia, with Barton explaining their operation, in that they started small, but being controlled by Kingpin allowed them to grow. Barton told Bishop, Kingpin was not to be messed with because of his past with Ronin, revealing that Ronin took out his supplier and the upper management of the Tracksuits.
Barton asked Bishop where they were heading, so she revealed that she needed a change of clothing, although he did not think this was a priority. Approaching Bishop's apartment, Barton spotted an unmarked car sitting outside, so he quickly turned them around, questioning Bishop about what it was doing there. She revealed that she had forgotten to give the police a statement, as her recent actions were all tied to crimes being investigated. Bishop called them a taxi, claiming that she had an idea, which Barton did not trust.
Barton questioned what the Tracksuits were after at the auction, expressing his displeasure that things from the Avengers Compound were out in the world. They then talked about Jack Duquesne's possible connection to the Tracksuits, with Barton not being convinced by Bishop's theories, so they decided to get more evidence from her mother's files.
The three snuck into the Bishop Residence, which Barton was amazed by the size of the home, and they headed to the computer. Barton told Bishop to search up Kazi Kazimierczak, where they found that he was an employee of Sloan Limited. Hearing something, Barton went to look around the house as Bishop looked at the files, but he was soon stopped when he was caught by Duquesne, who held Barton's sword to his throat.
Duquesne kept the sword trained on Barton until Bishop told him to stop, with Eleanor joining them, calling out that he was an Avenger. They all then sat down, and Bishop explained to her mother that she was working with Barton on a case, claiming that they were friends and partners, something Barton was hesitant about. After Duquesne thanked Barton for saving the world, Bishop revealed that they used Eleanor's computer to get information, which Barton confirmed to Bishop's mother.
Satisfied with what she was told, Eleanor went to escort Barton out, which allowed him to secretly steal back his sword. Before he left, Eleanor told Barton that Bishop was not a superhero, and that she did not want her daughter to be killed no matter how good she was at it, bringing up Natasha Romanoff's death. Eleanor then asked if Barton had any kids, explaining that she couldn't lose Bishop, and asked him to forget the case, but Barton said he couldn't, and promised to keep Bishop safe.
Barton texted Laura, asking if she could look into Sloan Limited, and she called him back not long after to say that it was a front for the Tracksuits, and that Duquesne is the CEO. With this development, Laura realized Barton would need another day there, as he explained that he needed to ensure that Bishop was safe. Laura then spoke in German so their children wouldn't hear and asked if the Rolex was stolen from the Avengers Compound. He wasn't sure and asked her to check its transmitter.
==== Bonding with Kate Bishop ====
: "Have you ever heard of boomerang arrows?""What? Why would I ever want to use a boomerang arrow?""Because they come back."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
Barton returned to the safehouse and proceeded to tape frozen items to his body so he could recover. But he was interrupted when Kate Bishop arrived to celebrate Christmas with him, bringing decorations, movies, and sweaters, knowing that he was missing out on being with his family.
Barton informed Bishop that she was right about Jack Duquesne, so they decided to make a plan to bring down the Tracksuit Mafia while also having a Christmas celebration. Bishop told Barton they had to get the NYPD and the Tracksuits no longer after her, while also figuring out how Duquesne was involved. Bishop asked about getting more trick arrows, but Barton told her he didn't have any more, just a few arrowheads, which made Bishop suggest a boomerang arrow, much to Barton's confusion.
As they decorated the tree, Bishop enquired about the possibility of splitting an arrow down the middle with another arrow, so Barton revealed that he had done it a few times. Barton also revealed that he was able to knock someone unconscious with a coin, but when Bishop casted doubt, he proved himself by snapping a coin at the TV and turning it off, impressing Bishop. She asked Barton to teach her, so he did, and Bishop was able to successfully turn the TV back on.
Bishop asked Barton what the best was shot he ever took, which he answered was the one he didn't take: when he met Natasha Romanoff. Barton was uneasy about sharing the story, but decided to tell Bishop, detailing how he was assigned to kill Romanoff, but seeing that she wanted to get out, he spared her and gave her a chance. Barton stated that Romanoff was the best there ever was but attempted to hide his grief by claiming that his job was about managing loss. As they watched It's a Wonderful Life, Barton's sadness grew, as he was reminded of how he was unable to be with his family.
Bishop deduced that Barton had lost his family from the Snap and asked if it was during that time that he met Ronin, only to then realize from Barton's silence that he was Ronin. Barton explained to Bishop that he resorting to hurting people as that was what he was trained to do, as he was a weapon, despite his time doing good as an Avenger. Bishop attempted to comfort Barton by saying his mistakes were behind him, but he corrected her in that they were tied to him and his family. Barton thanked Bishop for what she did for him, and they got some sleep, with Barton reflecting on his past.
==== Threatening Kazi Kazimierczak ====
: "She's chasing a ghost. I think you know that. But I can't convince her of that. And I'm guessing you're the only one who can. This is the final warning."
: ―Clint Barton to Kazi Kazimierczak[src]
The next morning, Barton informed Kate Bishop that he was going to talk with Kazi Kazimierczak, and that she had been tasked with tracking down his trick arrows from the NYC LARPers, as they had been collected and stored in a NYPD facility.
At that moment, they heard someone opening the door, so Barton grabbed the phone to use as a weapon. However, they discovered that it was Moira Brandon returning home, so Barton told Bishop to handle it, but when Brandon saw them in her kitchen, she was spooked, thinking they were burglars. Barton and Bishop collected their things and made their way out of the apartment, as Brandon chased them, hitting Barton with her cane. Exiting the building, Bishop reflected that she should have contacted Brandon.
Barton headed to Fat Man Auto Repair, where he broke into Kazimierczak's car, locating and removing all stored weapons. When Kazimierczak got inside, Barton told him that he wanted to leave the city, and therefore needed the Ronin situation to be over. Knowing that Kazimierczak understood the operation, and that Kingpin wouldn't be wanting the attention, Barton told him to get Maya Lopez to stop her obsession with Ronin, as it was only going to lead to more people dying.
==== Retrieving the Rolex ====
: "I cannot be your partner if you don't tell me what's going on.""You're not my partner. Do you understand that? You never were."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
Barton regrouped with Kate Bishop, who told him that his arrows would be brought to them soon, and that she made a deal with the NYC LARPers to get them material for new costumes, including ones for Barton and Bishop. Laura texted Barton back to tell him the rolex wasn't destroyed, providing its location, so he and Bishop left, collecting the arrows from Wendy Conrad.
Barton and Bishop headed to the location and scouted the apartment building on a rooftop opposite. Barton told Bishop that a rolex stolen from the black-market auction was inside one of the apartments, and he proceeded to call out his plan for entry only to discover that Bishop was gone, already making her way inside. Bishop ignored Barton's plans, and instead took the elevator, telling a resident that she was partners with an Avenger.
As Bishop approached the apartment, Barton kept watch from the rooftop, listening in as she told him about strobe lights that went off. Barton told Bishop about the Rolex, and how it could blow the cover of his friend if the Tracksuit Mafia figures out who owns it. Bishop found the watch, but also spotted a note about Barton's family, but was told to get out of the building when Barton realized it was Maya Lopez's apartment, as the lights were a silent alarm for deaf people.
However, at that moment, Barton was attacked by a masked person, who he initially believed to be Lopez, until Bishop revealed she was in the room with her. Barton quickly fired a zip line arrow, allowing Bishop to return to the rooftop, as he continued to fight against his opponent, who pulled a gun on Bishop, so Barton stood in front of her. Lopez knocked the attacker away and began fighting Barton, but when the masked person threw Bishop off the roof, Barton rushed to save her.
When Barton reached over the rooftop, he saw Bishop dangling, which reminded him of his final moment with Natasha Romanoff, so he decided to cut her down so she would no longer be put in danger. Now by himself, Barton fought against Lopez and the masked person at the same time, being greatly outmatched. He was soon assisted when Bishop returned, shooting a shockwave arrow that threw them all aside, as well as getting rid of Lopez after she got shot in the shoulder.
With just the masked person left, Barton resumed their fight, managing to remove her mask, revealing her to be Yelena Belova, who then stunned him with her Bite. Bishop aimed her bow at Belova but did not shoot, allowing her to retreat. Bishop asked Barton why he didn't fill her in as his partner, but he rejected that they were partners, telling her he was doing it alone, due to the severity of a Black Widow assassin being hired. Bishop refused this, but Barton, not wanting to lose another partner, demanded she leave for her own safety, taking her bow from her.
==== Next Course of Action ====
: "I do my best every day to earn what you gave me. I just wanna say I'm... I just wanna say I miss you. And I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do."
: ―Clint Barton[src]
Exhausted from his previous encounter, Barton headed to Grills' apartment, and as they ate pizza, he was invited by Grills to stay at his place. Grills then told Barton that Missy had dropped off the costumes for him and Kate Bishop, but Barton was too tired to look at them.
The next day, Barton, determined to end the conflict with Maya Lopez, decided to don the Ronin identity once more. Preparing for the inevitable fight, Barton sharpened his sword. Grills asked Barton where he was going, and he revealed that he had to avoid being killed by a highly trained assassin while trying to talk to Lopez, commenting that he didn't see both of them walking out of it alive. Barton defused the intensity by claiming he was joking to Grills.
Having gone through a lot to put the Ronin identity behind him, Barton went to the Battle of New York memorial site and used it to "speak" to Natasha Romanoff, recounting her sacrifice, expressing how he wished things played out differently. Barton stated that he had worked to earn the chance she had given him to be better and that he missed her, but now had to return to his old ways to settle his conflict.
Barton tracked down Ivan Banionis and shot an arrow at him that had a note hidden inside, asking Lopez to meet him at Fat Man Auto Repair alone. That night, before the meeting, Barton called Laura to tell her that in addition to still needing to stay longer, Lopez stealing the rolex meant she knew information on all of them, and that if things didn't end, Kingpin would get involved. Understanding the severity, Laura supported Barton in what he needed to do, knowing what he had planned.
==== Facing Off with Maya Lopez ====
: "We're weapons. But when you're filled with rage, it makes you blind. It could be used, could be manipulated. Trust me, I know."
: ―Clint Barton to Maya Lopez[src]
Putting on the Ronin suit, Barton arrived at Fat Man Auto Repair, which was surrounded by the Tracksuit Mafia, who Maya Lopez had positioned all around the area. Barton anticipated this, and snuck up behind Kazi Kazimierczak, who had taken a sniper position, immediately knocked him out, and proceeded to stealthily eliminate the remaining Tracksuits on the ground.
Leaving just Lopez standing, Barton drew her fire so she would run out of ammo, and then confronted her. The two clashed, with Lopez stealing Barton's sword, which he managed to disarm off of her, resorting it too hand-to-hand. The fight was evenly matched, but it was when Barton managed to reclaim his sword and knock Lopez down that it finally ended. Barton held his sword to Lopez and unmasked himself so he could tell her that if she ever came after him or his family, he would kill her.
Barton attempted to explain to Lopez that they were the same, but she retorted that he was a monster, leading Barton to elaborate that they were both weapons. He then continued that being filled with rage only made them blind, and therefore easily manipulated, just like he was when he killed her father, revealing that an informant tipped him off under orders from Kingpin, who wanted William dead.
At that moment, Maya Lopez caught Barton off guard, and dropped him to the ground, snatching his sword off him. But when she went to kill him, an arrow that had been shot by Kate Bishop knocked the weapon out of her hands, allowing Barton to retreat.
==== Reunited with Kate Bishop ====
: "The Kingpin will not take this lightly. He is going to react, and he's gonna do it in a big way.""Clint, this is my mess to clean up. You should go home, you should be with your family. You can still make it in time for Christmas.""Kate, you're my partner. Your mess is my mess. I'm not going anywhere until this is finished."
: ―Clint Barton and Kate Bishop[src]
Barton ran down an alleyway, where he was reunited with Bishop, and he asked what her escape plan was, only to discover that she had called for an Uber to drive them away. During the car ride, Bishop informed Barton that the masked attacker was Natasha Romanoff's sister, Yelena Belova, which surprised Barton. They then got out of the car, and as they walked down the street, Barton handed Bishop back one of her arrows, and they resumed their partnership.
They went to Grills' Apartment, and had breakfast, where they watched a new trick Grills had taught the dog, when Bishop received a text from Belova. She revealed that the person who hired her to kill Barton was Eleanor Bishop, much to Bishop's shock, so she showed Barton her phone. Bishop asked him who was the person with her mother in the video sent by Belova, which Barton revealed was the boss of the Tracksuit Mafia, Kingpin.
After they watched the video, Barton, seeing that Bishop was having a hard time processing this information, told her to calm down, as they needed to focus on helping her mother, because Kingpin would come after her in a big way. Bishop told Barton that it was her mess, and that he should return home to his family for Christmas. But Barton refused, stating that they were partners, and as such, he would not leave her until they had ended the conflict together.
==== Making Trick Arrows ====
: "It is part of the job. It's always inconvenient. It's lonely. You will get hurt. Heroes have to make some tough decisions. So, if you're gonna do this... I just wanna know you're ready."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
On the train, Barton expressed sympathy for Bishop's situation, but she responded that they needed to stay focused on what was to come that night. Barton agreed, mentioning that they were going to require a lot more trick arrows.
Requiring supplies in order to make more trick arrows, Barton and Bishop headed to a sporting goods store. They collected an assortment of items and when they went to the register to pay for them, the clerk recognized Barton, although Bishop tried to suggest he may have been surprised and delighted to see her. The clerk continued to be amazed by meeting Barton, stating that he was a legend and revealed how he once witnessed Barton performing his superior talent at an archery range. Barton interrupted as they were in a hurry and asked for as many arrows the store had available, with Bishop inquiring about boomerangs, still thinking it was a good idea.
The two returned to Grills' Apartment and began manufacturing an arsenal of new arrowheads with various capabilities to equip them in the inevitable battle that awaited them. As they worked together, Barton got Bishop to label the arrows, as per her recommendation, and asked about the party's attire. He told her that she didn't have to go through with their plan, due to the inconvenience it would bring to her life, warning her that there would be some tough decisions to be made, and she needed to be ready.
Bishop then revealed to Barton that during the Battle of New York, she witnessed him fighting the Chitauri, and jump off the building, despite his lack of superpowers, which inspired her and helped her too not be afraid. Barton listened as Bishop praised his contributions to the idea of being a hero not having to mean that you were super, but instead willing to do what was right, no matter who you were, which made Barton smile. Bishop then confirmed to Barton that she was ready, and they prepared for the night.
==== The Bishop Holiday Party ====
: "This is some Christmas."
: ―Clint Barton[src]
That night, Barton and Bishop got dressed in formal attire, while secretly wearing their new costumes underneath, and got the NYC LARPers to go disguised as waiters and bring their equipment and headed off to the Bishop holiday party. Once inside, they looked for Eleanor Bishop, while Barton also got Bishop to analyze their assets and threats.
While scouting the party, they noticed that Jack Duquesne was there, having been bailed from prison, and Barton gave Bishop an earpiece so they could be in contact as he walked around the room. After Bishop reported in that she found her mother, Barton spoke with Wendy Conrad, where he discovered there was a sniper in the other building, so he quickly blocked the shot with a tray just in time. Barton ordered the LARPers to get everyone to safety, as he went to get his equipment.
Barton retrieved his equipment from Orville, and told him to find Eleanor, as he went downstairs so that he could draw the fire away from the people. Taking out his bow, Barton opened a window and shot a smoke arrow at Kazi Kazimierczak, forcing him to leave his sniper position. Barton checked in with Bishop, who warned him about Yelena Belova coming down the building, allowing him to avoid being shot by her as she passed. Bishop also informed Barton that the Tracksuit Mafia had arrived.
Barton began planting explosives in the room to take out the Tracksuits when they arrived, but before he could detonate them, Kazimierczak ambushed him, and the two began to fight. As the Tracksuits got closer, Kazimierczak was strangling Barton, but he managed to break free and reclaim his bow to set off the explosives, taking out the Tracksuits and Kazimierczak. Noticing that more were coming, Barton decided to jump out the window, but the line broke, causing him to fall into the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
==== Battle at Rockefeller Center ====
: "Is it time?""It's time. All right, Kate... Let's give 'em hell."
: ―Kate Bishop and Hawkeye[src]
Hawkeye informed Kate Bishop that he was stuck in the tree, where he witnessed Grills, Wendy Conrad, Missy and Orville in their LARP costumes helping the people get to safety. Bishop then told Hawkeye to hang on as she shot an acid arow at the tree, causing it to fall, landing Hawkeye on the Rockefeller Center ice rink.
After getting up, Hawkeye found himself completely surrounded by the Tracksuit Mafia. But before he could draw his bow, Bishop came in to rescue him by shooting multiple arrows to release steam around the area to cover them. Hawkeye used a magnet arrow to remove all the guns from the Tracksuits and took off his shirt to reveal his costume, much to Bishop's excitement. With the Tracksuits coming down to face off with them, Hawkeye gave Bishop some of his trick arrows, and told her to give them hell, as they prepared to fight.
They partnered together as they proceeded to unleash their trick arrows, eliminating the incoming Tracksuits with great ease. Hawkeye and Bishop managed to hold off the countless Tracksuits, but more of them kept coming, so they fended them off with their fighting ability. Hawkeye picked up Bishop's bow and handed it to her as another wave of Tracksuits arrived, so they continued shooting arrows at the last few enemies. When one of the Tracksuit's trucks was heading straight for them, Bishop grabbed a Pym Particles arrow, and shrunk it, leaving them confused on what would happen to the tiny Tracksuits, which Barton said he'd ask Scott Lang about.
Having defeated all of the Tracksuits, Hawkeye and Bishop made their escape, learning of Eleanor Bishop's whereabouts, so Bishop went to go after her. But, before they could leave, they were shot at by Kazi Kazimierczak, so Hawkeye told Bishop to go, as he grabbed an arrow, shot it at Kazimierczak, and then shot another one, which split the first arrow in half, taking out the two Tracksuits next to him. Kazimierczak managed to catch the arrow, but before he could open fire, Hawkeye was tackled by Yelena Belova.
==== Amends with Yelena Belova ====
: "She made her choice. We're gonna have to find a way to live with that.""I loved her so much.""Me too."
: ―Clint Barton and Yelena Belova[src]
As Yelena Belova stood over Barton, she said that before she killed him, she wanted to know what happened when Natasha Romanoff died. Barton, meeting Belova for the first time, told her that she would not believe him, due to the circumstances of the event, but stated that Romanoff sacrificed herself to save the world. Belova did not believe Barton and began attacking him.
Barton defended himself against Belova, but did not fight back, instead trying to convince her that he was telling the truth, and that nobody killed Romanoff. Barton managed to restrain Belova, and once again reiterated that Romanoff sacrificed herself, and she could not be stopped, but Belova still thought he was lying. Belova questioned why her sister would sacrifice herself for Barton, to which he responded that he didn't deserve it, and that he fought her for it. Belova then began ruthlessly beating Barton with her baton.
Belova pulled her gun out, but Barton did Belova and Romanoff's secret whistle, which made her pause and ask how he knew that. Barton revealed that Romanoff told him about Belova, telling the story of when they had to leave their home, as well as assuring her that Romanoff always loved her. Belova wished that she could have stopped Romanoff's demise, but Barton claimed that no one could have stopped her, and they both expressed their love for Romanoff. Belova was convinced by Barton, and helped him up, and they parted ways.
With the conflict finally over, Barton regrouped with Kate Bishop, and told her that a few times in his life he had encountered someone who had made him better in every way, although he initially joked that he meant Missy for making their new costumes, but he was referring to Bishop. Barton acknowledged what Bishop had gone through, and how she took on Kingpin by herself, admitting he was proud of her. They then held hands, and Barton remembered that they had to walk Lucky.
==== Home for Christmas ====
: "Brought home a couple of strays.""Hi.""This is Kate."
: ―Clint Barton and Kate Bishop to Laura Barton[src]
On Christmas Day, Barton headed home to be with his family, letting Kate Bishop and Lucky come with him and stay, as she was now alone. As they got out of the car, Bishop asked Barton if it was ok that she was there, but he assured her that his family was excited to meet her.
Barton's children came out and welcomed him home, and he introduced them all to Bishop. Barton went inside and was reunited with his wife, who he hugged, and expressed that he had missed her, and introduced Laura to Bishop. As their children opened presents with Bishop, Barton sat down with Laura, where he gave her rolex, which he was able to recover, joking that she needed to take better care of her stuff, which she commented he did too, referring to his Ronin suit.
Being reminded of this, Barton asked Bishop to help him outside with destroying the Ronin suit. After Barton doused it with lighter fluid, Bishop lit a match and set the suit on fire and asked whether she should say a few words. Bishop then wanted to hear Barton's thoughts on some superhero names for herself, such as "Lady Hawk," "Hawk Eve," "Hawk Shot," and "Lady Arrow," but Barton thought they were all terrible. Instead, Barton came up with his own idea for them to share the name "Hawkeye."
== Personality ==
: "You know what I've done. You know what I've become.""I don't judge people on their worst mistakes.""Maybe you should.""You didn't."
: ―Hawkeye and Black Widow[src]
Clint Barton is a brave operative with a deadpan focus; dedicated to his job of protecting the innocent. Through his years of being with S.H.I.E.L.D., Barton had made himself one of their best soldiers and marksmen and had shown great loyalty and dedication to whatever his objective is, and always gets the mission done, as he will fight until the end and then keep fighting. However, despite this commitment, Barton has proven himself to be a maverick, disobeying orders in order to do what he believes is right as well as seeing through whatever he does his own way. When Phil Coulson gave Barton orders to use a gun to take aim at Thor but he chose to grab a bow, his signature weapon, as he knew that he was at his best with it.
However, two people Barton has ultimately shown to follow completely are Nick Fury and Steve Rogers due to their qualities he holds to value. He admires Fury's clear line of sight, something Barton maintains in situations, and respects Rogers' ability to always fight for what is right. This is why Barton, even while under the influence of Loki, managed to spare Fury, and chose to help Rogers during the Avengers Civil War. In addition to this, Barton trusts Rogers' leadership of the Avengers and performs as the ideal soldier in battle, following his orders and strategies, as seen when he took the Regeneration Cradle to Avengers Tower, despite wanting to save Black Widow, and requesting for Rogers' plan during the Battle of Earth when he was protecting the Nano Gauntlet.
Though commonly misjudged and underestimated as one of the most underpowered Avengers, with his ability to blend in with his environment, his stoic professionalism, and ability to see and assess from afar, Barton is often valued by his superiors for his ability to keep an eye on people and assess situations. For this, he was able to figure out that the Tesseract could be activated from another location, as well as know the weaknesses of the Avengers and how to exploit it when under Loki's influence. He was also able to stay alert and levelheaded during the Battle at the Salvage Yard and not succumb to the effects of Wanda Maximoff, unlike the other Avengers, who were easily subdued due to their more reckless approach. In fact, it is Barton's near anonymity that makes him more effective, as being away from the public spotlight allows him to work better as a ghost.
It is because of this that Barton can even understand when he is outmatched and accepts it and use his skills to benefit him. When he went to rescue Wanda Maximoff, he knew that he could not defeat Vision, despite placing traps to stop him but instead had Wanda defeat him. When he was being chased by a group of Outriders, despite knowing he could not outrun them Barton endured protecting the Infinity Stones. During the Avengers Civil War, Barton also understood that in order for them to win, some of them had to sacrifice themselves and be arrested, including himself.
For Barton, this is not a tough call, as he is willing to sacrifice himself for what is right. That is why he went back to save a Sokovian boy who was missing, even though Barton himself was safe from the near destructing country because for Barton, he needs to make sure that everyone is safe no matter how the fight is going. So even though there was a massive army of aliens attacking, Barton went to rescue a bus filled with civilians who were trapped, rather than fight them off with Black Widow. And when he and Black Widow were informed that one of them had to sacrifice themselves in order to obtain the Soul Stone, Barton didn't hesitate to allow himself to be the one to do it, especially in order to save his best friend and redeem himself for his actions. Or when he discovered that Kate Bishop was in danger due to his past actions, he gave up possibly being with his family for Christmas to protect her from danger.
Despite his professionalism and approach to missions, Barton is a humorous and often sarcastic person and is able to not take things too seriously, even in the midst of a battle where he can sometimes be overwhelmed. Whether it be fighting aliens, robots or even fellow Avengers, Barton will constantly make a joke or bring levity to a situation, mainly when he is fighting alongside his best friend and partner, Black Widow, one of the few people who not only understand Barton's level of banter, but is also able to keep up with it.
This is due to their many years of working together, which developed into a strong friendship, where the two could be completely comfortable with each other. As a result, Barton trusted her with the secret of his family, and she told him about her dark past. And when both were compromised, the other cared for them as they recovered. Because of their closeness, they often stay together in situations as that's how they work best. This allows them to frequently not be serious as seen in the Battle of New York where both of them made jokes about the situation, when the two were casually having a conversation during the chaotic Battle of Sokovia. And when Barton lost his family, he had become more hardened, which Black Widow tried to help him through. However, this was partially restored once he was given hope, and he continued to joke with his friend during the Time Heist, as seen when the two were on Morag, waiting for Nebula and War Machine, jokingly being impatient.
Barton's humor is occasionally used to compensate for him being overwhelmed in situations that include people like Thor, a literal god. However, despite his ability, or lack thereof, Barton is respected and valued in the Avengers, being seen as equal to them, being able to confidently express doubt about Thor's hammer, but also open to be made fun of, all in good sense as they are all friends. And when the team planned to retrieve the Infinity Stones and bring everyone back, Barton was seen as essential in order for the whole team to be together. Barton is mainly the one who makes the jokes at a constant, even in moments of pain, seriousness or conflict, such as the Avengers Civil War, or when Red Skull revealed the cost for the Soul Stone, not initially believing him, or when he was having an emotional moment with Bishop. For this, Barton is seen as the jokester of the team.
Because of this, Barton can sometimes be seen as more immature than the other Avengers, as well as being cocky and always feels the need to be competitive with anyone who acts as a challenge. When he was easily bested by the enhanced Quicksilver, Barton then happily participated in a rivalry with him, despite it being childish as he is much older than the adolescent. He also uses his perfect aim to show off, such as hitting a moving target without looking, especially towards those who appear to be more powerful or better than him, mainly Tony Stark. While Stark casually threw darts, Barton decided to hit the bullseye with three darts at the same time, right next to Stark's head, disarming the usually confident and always-in-control billionaire.
He is also seen to be very revengeful and does not take kindly towards being betrayed or manipulated. After regaining control from Loki's influence, Barton was then motivated to fight by the thought of killing his former enslaver. During the battle against Loki, even though focusing on protecting others and stopping the attack, Barton seized the moment to get revenge by exploding an arrow right next to the God of Mischief, defeating him. And when he learnt that his family was being targeted by Maya Lopez, Barton threatened to kill her if she ever went after them. However, Barton is not as immature when the person who wrongs him is someone he trusts. For Barton, trust is very important, but when Stark, a man who Barton was good friends with and even revealed his secret family to him, had a hand in fighting against and arresting him, Barton became furious and lost his respect for him, even to label him as someone who can never be trusted. However, this would change over the years as they worked together again to reverse the Snap, which resulted in Stark's death.
Uniquely, Barton is quite compassionate for an assassin, as he sees the good in people and who they could be, rather than who they were. For this, Barton is seen as a better man, then a good soldier. When he was ordered to kill Black Widow, he made the call to spare her, recruiting her for S.H.I.E.L.D., and developing a great friendship with her, while others would only see her as a merciless assassin, beyond redemption. From this, Barton developed a strong partnership with Romanoff, caring for her deeply at all times, as seen when he would go to check on her when she was affected by Wanda Maximoff and frustrated when Ultron captured her, causing him to not stop searching for her. When the two were faced with the realization that one of them would have to sacrifice themselves for the Soul Stone, Barton could not bring himself to allow her to do so, forcing himself to be the one, to only be stopped by Romanoff, who also didn't want to allow her best friend to die, wanting to give him another chance, as he did for her when they met. And after Romanoff's death, Barton was left broken, and finding it hard to accept.
This connection is also seen with Wanda Maximoff, one of the other people Barton possesses a close bond with. Much like Romanoff, he inspired Maximoff to move past her conflicted history and do good and help fight with the Avengers against Ultron. Since her brother's death, ultimately saving Barton, he has felt some responsibility towards Wanda, him being a father figure towards her, guiding her and making sure she does what is right. That is why he was happy to rescue her from the Avengers Compound, giving her the opportunity to make amends for her actions. Despite both of them being at either end of the scale in regard to powers: Wanda being incredibly powerful and Barton being a regular man with a skillset, this does not come into play within their relationship, but rather they see past that and focus more on accepting the reality of their situations and doing what needs to be done.
Despite wanting to stay in retirement and away from the superhero life, Barton saw the potential in Bishop and decided to take her on as his protégé and then partner. Through this new partnership, Barton connected well with Bishop, as she was only just older than his own children, and he adopted a father-like relationship with Bishop, who had lost her own father when she was young. However, he also respected Bishop as an equal, felling comfortable with her to reveal some of his personal stories and secrets. When Bishop was left all alone, Barton decided to let her stay with his family for Christmas, embracing her as his partner, which was something he was hesitant to do initially, still mourning Romanoff, which was why he previously sent her away to protect her.
Barton is a very loyal, caring and dedicated person who would do anything for the people he cares about. But the most important people in his life are his family, who are very supportive in his role as an Avenger. Being a loving husband and father, Barton thinks about his family before a battle, motivating him, and would call them afterward to tell them he is fine. However, because he cares so much about them, he decided to retire to be with them. Although, if he was ever needed, Barton would also go to help his friends if they asked him, especially Wanda, but this has also been shown for complete strangers, too. Barton being a compassionate person and a family man goes hand in hand with each other and is what separates him with the other Avengers. It is the experience of being a husband and a father that makes him the man he is.
Due to this, it was the death of his family that caused him to fall into a state of grief and rage that fuelled his path of vengeance, becoming extremely ruthless, murdering those who he saw as deserving of death. Because without his family, the only thing that was important to him, he was reduced to only his skillset used for killing people. Despite seeing his actions as necessary at the time, Barton believed himself to have gone too far for redemption. However, he was able to overcome this, mainly due to honoring his best friend who still believed in him, and sacrificed herself to bring everyone back, including Barton's family. Therefore, he took comfort when Wanda told him that she would have known that they would have been successful. Although still not over the death of his best friend, it was through meeting Bishop that helped Barton, and made him be better.
Barton's place on the Avengers can be misconceived, with him not having any powers, but in fact, he is incredibly vital to the team's unity. As the other members either have extraordinary powers or are beings beyond human, Barton grounds the team and makes sure that they stay focused and helps them to be better. However, despite this, Barton still can seem very overwhelmed by the other members. However, he does not let that stop him. Barton is able to address the absurdity of his situation, such as fighting against an army of robots with a bow and arrow, but he keeps fighting anyway. From this, Barton is able to understand his place amongst the Avengers, usually taking a high vantage point, assessing the situation, and keeps up with the Avengers, showing himself to be confident in his place.
== Abilities ==
: "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things.""Well, I see better from a distance."
: ―Nick Fury and Clint Barton[src]
Clint Barton's main ability is his extraordinary talent in marksmanship, with a particular specialty in archery. Barton's unique skills have made him a core member of the Avengers, and one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents prior to the fall of the agency. His situational awareness is extremely superb, as during Battle at the Salvage Yard, he was the only one who could sense Wanda Maximoff's presence and immediately incapacitate her before she was able to mind control him, while others like Black Widow, enhanced human like Captain America, and even extremely powerful beings like Hulk and Thor failed to do so. Barton was the first person to come to Bruce Banner's mind when the latter realized the Avengers would require "all hands on deck" in the fight against Thanos and his army. In addition to his skills, Barton is an excellent mentor; under his tutelage, his daughter would become an expert archer to the point where she can hit a bullseye with ease.
: "Just can't seem to miss."
: ―Hawkeye to Iron Man[src]
* Master Marksman: Hailed as the world's greatest archer, Barton is an outstanding all-around marksman, extremely skilled in wielding both conventional firearms and archery bows with unerring accuracy due to his keen eyesight and impeccable hand-eye coordination. Barton is able to make extremely precise and perfect shots from virtually any angle, physical position, or state of motion. He is capable of firing multiple arrows in a few seconds, striking enemies' weak points with extreme accuracy and directly hit small targets in the greatest of distances, and even precisely shoot down a Chitauri Chariot without even looking at it. Barton was able to aim and hit many Chitauri troopers and Ultron Sentries in the head. Barton has better eyesight than any normal human being, allowing him to see more clearly, further and in low light. He is also a left-handed bowman, meaning he holds the bow with his right hand and draws the string with his left, although he did once hold his compound bow with his left hand while drawing the string with his right when he aimed an arrow at Thor, implying he is ambidextrous. During the Clash of the Avengers, he fired three arrows at Iron Man simultaneously. Barton sometimes uses a Wristbow, which he can wear on either arm. Barton is also capable of throwing any projectile with the same unerring accuracy, both in direct aim and complicated rebounds or interactions, as seen with him scoring a bullseye with three darts simultaneously thrown in a far distance without effort, and perfectly throwing Captain America's shield with similar precision. Barton also used shuriken when going under a samurai-inspired guise, taking down enemies at long range with perfect accuracy. During his retirement, he often played golf where he claimed to hit a hole-in-one every single time, proving that he is also able to make perfect shots with projectiles that don't require throwing or shooting. He claimed, and later proved, to have been able to split up one of his own wood arrows that he released from the middle by releasing a second arrow, even Kate Bishop failed to do so. He also claimed he could use a Christmas decoration to knock somebody unconscious from twenty feet away or accomplish the same feat with a quarter or a nickel. He demonstrated this by flicking the Christmas decoration at a TV's power button with extreme accuracy to switch it off without even looking at the target.
: "I was a weapon. I was aimed by the right people at the right targets."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
* Master Martial Artist: Barton is an extremely skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, having trained extensively in various forms of martial arts as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., making him one of the most powerful and best fighters on the planet. His fighting style appears to be composed of Eskrima, Muay Thai, Karate, Judo, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Shurikenjutsu. When brainwashed by Loki, he could fight the extremely skilled Black Widow to a standstill, only losing when the latter resorted to guerrilla tactics to best him in combat. He could swiftly incapacitate Wanda Maximoff in close quarters, successfully avoiding her mind manipulation powers. In the Avengers Civil War, he later fought evenly against Black Widow again and was able to swiftly pin her down, but it should be noted that Maximoff interrupted their duel and called Barton out on pulling his punches. He also managed to temporarily hold his own against the considerably stronger Black Panther during the airport fight. Barton also managed to bring down many Chitauri troops and Ultron Sentries while fighting alongside the other Avengers, using his bow and arrows as melee weapons for close quarters. After the Snap, Barton began using a sword, which he integrated seamlessly into his fighting style, and considerably improving his efficiency in close range combat, and demonstrated prowess enough to kill Outriders with it. Even after he retired for more than a year, his combat skill does not seem to have any regression. He was able to swiftly take down several members of the Tracksuit Mafia while rescuing Kate Bishop, using his scarf as an improvised weapon. He was even able to go toe-to-toe against Maya Lopez even though he was caught off guard by her. He later fought Maya and Yelena along with Kate Bishop's help.
* Staff Mastery: Barton is extremely skilled at using a staff or a baton in combat, and also using his bow as a melee weapon in the manner of an improvised staff or transforming it into an actual bo staff. He was able to hold himself against Black Panther in the Avengers Civil War which he has great skill in wielding it, although he was ultimately being defeated. He also used a collapsible baton against Vision, but his weapon was broken against the synthezoid's exterior.
* Sword Mastery: Barton is extremely skilled at using a sword in combat and demonstrated an enormous level of skill with a sword when he went under a samurai-inspired guise. Barton was able to easily gain the upper hand during his fight against Akihiko and kill him without any difficulty. He was also able to use his sword to slice through several Outriders who were rapidly approaching him with ease in conjunction with his Wristbow. With the New York City Live Action Role Players, Barton easily stayed "alive" against several roleplayers to reach Grills, whom he dueled and notably blocked the latter's sword from behind without even looking.
* Knife Mastery: Barton is highly skilled at using a knife in combat, being able to fight equally against the extremely skilled Black Widow with his custom dagger. According to his S.H.I.E.L.D. file, he is also trained in throwing knives. Barton can use similar weapons, such as improvising knives with arrows as stabbing weapons, as well as his collapsible shuriken.
* Master Acrobat: Barton is a highly skilled acrobat, gymnast, and aerialist, capable of complex acrobatic maneuvers. Barton was able to react and successfully evade Loki's attacks by jumping out of the way before it hit him. He could also fire a grappling hook arrow and swing through a window, deftly flip off the roof of a car and over an Ultron Sentry and fire an arrow while jumping backward. During the airport battle, Barton evaded a blast from War Machine mid-air after jumping and rolling onto storage crates. When the Avengers Compound was attacked, Barton was able to fight off all of the Outriders while scaling upwards, jumping off the walls and even turning and slicing one in half while in mid-air.
: "My job is to be, number one, a ghost."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
* Master Spy: Barton is one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest spies, being highly skilled in espionage, intelligence gathering, stealth, infiltration, and sabotage. Nick Fury had him test the Helicarrier's security by breaking inside and accessing the Avengers Initiative database. Under Loki's control, he was able to stealthily eliminate the security guards. When his best friend was captured by Ultron, he used his training in espionage to locate her distress signal over the radio. He also easily infiltrated the Avengers Compound to rescue Wanda. As a civilian, Barton easily disguised himself as a firefighter to search for his old suit in Kate Bishop's apartment.
: "A man whose talent appears to be-""Killing."
: ―World Security Council Member and Nick Fury[src]
* Master Assassin: Barton is one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest assassins, having once been assigned to kill Black Widow, a notorious master assassin in her own right, and was assigned to be a special agent in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation of the item that was found in New Mexico, having been able to neutralize Thor in the event that Phil Coulson had ordered it. Barton was also able to fight off other assassins such as Marcus Scarlotti, who made a name for himself just by coming close to killing him. While under Loki's mind control, Barton stealthily eliminated the armed security guarding the museum in Stuttgart holding Iridium. Barton also swiftly killed many Chitauri, HYDRA operatives, Ulysses Klaue's mercenaries, Ultron Sentries, and Outriders. After his family's death, Barton dedicated himself to using his ability to murder any criminals that survived the Snap. Barton was able to eliminate a whole gang of Mexican Cartel gangsters without them even being able to pull out their guns in retaliation, a feat which Romanoff initially believed to be the work of an entire rival gang. He was even able to take down numerous enemies who were all firing at him when he targeted the Yakuza, showing his skill in weapons other than archery, such as throwing stars and swords. Barton's killing instinct frightened James Rhodes to the point where he reconsidered trying to find him. Ultimately, he proved his worth alongside the Avengers one last time by effectively killing several Outriders after Thanos demolished the Avengers Compound.
: "The Radisson doesn't have three levels of lead-lined flooring between S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Cube.""I see why Fury chose you to guard it."
: ―Clint Barton and Loki[src]
* Gifted Intellect: Nick Fury has referred to Barton as one of the sharpest men he knows during his debriefing of the Tesseract. Barton is highly intelligent, at least on par with Romanoff and Rogers, but not quite as scientifically inclined as Stark or Banner. Regardless, his wife understood the importance of his role on the Avengers, whom he described as "[his] mess." With his ability to blend in with his environment, his stoic professionalism, and ability to see and assess from afar, Barton is often valued by his superiors for his ability to keep an eye on people and assess situations. For this, he was able to figure out that the Tesseract could be activated from another location, as well as know the weaknesses of the Avengers and how to exploit it when under Loki's influence. He was also able to stay alert and level-headed during the Battle at the Salvage Yard and not succumb to the effects of Wanda Maximoff, unlike the other Avengers, who were easily subdued due to their more reckless approach. Barton sees the potential in individuals, as he spared Black Widow and had her defect to S.H.I.E.L.D. and inspired Maximoff to join the Avengers.
: "Kate, you always want to prioritize a quick exit over a quick entrance so when things go sideways, and they usually do, you have an exit strategy."
: ―Clint Barton to Kate Bishop[src]
* Expert Tactician: Barton was recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D. and had often been put in charge of high-level operations due to his leadership abilities, strategic prowess and has been trained in military tactics. Barton was able to command a team of operatives under the unwitting control of Loki to heist a vault in Germany, steal several other raw materials and infiltrate the Helicarrier with esteemed success, often using diversions to accomplish his goals. During the Battle of New York, Stark asked Barton for tactical input on evading Chitauri Chariots. Victoria Hand has even stated that Barton does not usually require an extraction plan on his S.H.I.E.L.D. missions due to his competence and ability to formulate his own escape plans. When tasked with rescuing Wanda Maximoff from the Avengers Compound, Barton formulated a well-orchestrated plan to distract Vision, break into the facility, trap Vision and rescue Maximoff. Barton even had countermeasures in place when the plan didn't go accordingly, which was to get Maximoff to defeat Vision with her abilities. Clint is very smart with how to use his trick arrows, knowing when it is the best time to use these arrows. He plans out his trick arrow attacks ahead of time, making sure to grab his plunger arrow right before jumping off the bridge and sticking it to the top of a train to get away from the Tracksuit Mafia. He had the idea of using the Bishop Holiday Party as a cover to take down the Tracksuit Mafia.
: "We need a ton of gear. Like a whole batch of way-too-dangerous trick arrows.""You can make more?"
: ―Clint Barton and Kate Bishop[src]
* Expert Engineer: Barton is skilled with microelectronics, being able to make his own trick arrows with technology from Stark Industries' and Pym Technologies, the complexity of which are not dissimilar to Stark's own designs.
* Expert Thief: Barton is a skilled thief, being able to steal a firefighter's suit from a fire truck without anyone knowing and steal back his sword from Jack Duquesne using his coat as a cover. From a young age, he and his mother worked as a duo of pickpockets, as he once easily stole a man's watch in 1984. He is also able to hotwire a car during the escape from the Tracksuit Mafia's compound. He also broke into Kazi Kazimierczak's car and being able to find and confiscate all the weapons in his car, including his pistol, knife and box cutter under the seat.
: "Can you fly one of those jets?""I can."
: ―Steve Rogers and Clint Barton[src]
* Expert Pilot: Barton is an accomplished pilot, able to fly a Quinjet even when a fierce battle was going on and even receiving cargo into the Quinjet while piloting it in mid-air. Barton was also the one usually piloting the Avengers Quinjet before he left the team.
* Multilingualism: Barton is fluent in his native English, as well as Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and German. His fluency in Japanese is such that he could converse with Akihiko on a native level. He also knows Morse code, as he tracked Romanoff's signal in Sokovia, and he learned some American Sign Language after he became partially deaf from his years of dangerous activities.
== Equipment ==
=== Uniforms ===
: "You got a suit?""Yeah.""Then suit up."
: ―Captain America and Hawkeye[src]
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Uniform: Hawkeye's first uniform, worn when he was working with S.H.I.E.L.D., consisted of a black short-sleeved shirt with two breast pockets and pants with knee guards. It also has a thigh holster on his left leg. When using his bow, he wore a glove on his left hand and an arm guard on his right forearm. Hawkeye wore this while under the control of Loki when he attacked the Helicarrier.
* Tactical Uniform: The second uniform was worn during missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. as a part of STRIKE Team: Delta. It is a black sleeveless suit with a maroon arrow pattern and a zip down the front. It also has a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the right breast. It has a finger glove on his left hand and an arm guard on his right forearm. He would keep this suit during his time as an Avenger but with no S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.
* Masked Uniform: The third uniform was worn when Barton was assigned by Nick Fury to break into the Helicarrier and access the Avengers Initiative database in order to test its security. He sported a fully black uniform with a black mask and green goggles to cover his identity. To maintain maneuverability, the uniform only has a Wristbow attached to his right arm.
* Winter Uniform: The fourth uniform was the same as his tactical one but with a coat over it with the same black and maroon pattern. The coat has a zip that goes from the top to the middle, with a long skirt in the front. This was worn during missions in cold weather due to his Tactical Uniform having no sleeves. Hawkeye used this uniform during the War on HYDRA, due to the location of the bases being in cold environments. Hawkeye later wore the uniform again during the Battle of Sokovia but took off the jacket when the city was raised into the atmosphere.
* Stealth Uniform: The fifth uniform was a different design from his previous ones. It is black with a purple tinge. There is a sleeve on his right arm with a glove, while only a finger glove and arm guard on his left arm. It also has a thigh holster on his left leg. Hawkeye used this suit when breaking into the Avengers Compound, utilizing it's more subtle, darker look to go in unnoticed. He then kept this uniform during the Avengers Civil War.
* Ronin's Suit: The sixth uniform resembled that of a samurai, with a primarily black suit with gold outlines throughout it. It features a black mask with a gap over the eyes, a hood, and armor on the arms and legs which protect him from blades. There is a belt that contains his shurikens, as well as a back holster for his sword.
* Avengers Uniform: The seventh uniform was worn when Barton reunited with the Avengers for the Time Heist, which was an altered version of the Ronin's Suit with a slimmer style without the gold armor, mask and hood. Barton kept his sword and projectiles, but also returned to his Hawkeye moniker with a new bow and quiver and a finger glove and Wristbow on his left hand.
* Advanced Tech Suit: This suit was designed in order to time travel through the Quantum Realm safely. It is a white, red and black suit that materializes around the wearer's regular clothes, managing to be summoned when time travel is required again, and disappear when no longer in use. It has size-shifting adaptability down to subatomic levels and a wrist gadget that allows for displacement through time and space.
* Hawkeye Suit: The eighth suit was worn when Barton partnered with Kate Bishop, who tasked Missy with creating them new suits in order to improve Barton's brand as a superhero. It is black with purple sleeves and an arrow symbol on the chest and has a glove for the left hand. It is also much lighter and more comfortable than Barton's previous uniforms, being able to be worn under a suit with no problems.
=== Weapons ===
: "What do you do with this giant bow problem?""I have a collapsible one."
: ―Kate Bishop and Clint Barton[src]
* Recurve Bows: Hawkeye is seen with two separate recurve bows: the first is seen while he is under Loki's mind control and in the direct aftermath at the Battle of New York. It is a heavily customized Hoyt Buffalo in 'blackout' colors and is capable of folding on itself for easier transport and concealment by way of added hinges located by the tiller adjustment bolts. It also has multiple buttons on the bow's grip which are capable of selecting specific arrowheads stored in its mechanical quiver. A laser sight to assist in targeting can also be found on the riser. The second recurve bow Hawkeye uses is the Hoyt Gamemaster II, seen in his hands during the Avengers' attack on the HYDRA Research Base and War against Ultron. Like the Hoyt Buffalo he used before, the customized Gamemaster II has several selector buttons on the grip so Hawkeye can choose the arrowhead he needs. The bow has the capability to transform into a bo staff which can be used for close quarters combat. The bow was destroyed by Black Panther during the Clash of the Avengers. Once he rejoined the Avengers for the Time Heist, he was equipped with a new bow.
* Specialized Quiver: Hawkeye's quiver was supplied with a multitude of different arrowheads in the bottom. By dialing up an armament setting from control on his bow, Hawkeye could cause the quiver to affix these special arrowheads. This effectively increased the capabilities from conventional arrows to explosive arrows, a grapple line, and more.
* Trick Arrows: Hawkeye has a number of trick arrows, utilized to perform specific tasks.
* Compound Bow: When Thor broke the perimeter S.H.I.E.L.D. had set up around Mjølnir, Hawkeye was one of the agents who responded to Phil Coulson's order to neutralize him. Although Coulson requested that a firearm is used for the job, Hawkeye chose the Mathews Apex 7 compound bow instead. Hawkeye aimed at Thor from an aerial position in a crane but ultimately did not fire.
* Wristbow: Hawkeye used once the Wristbow as his weapon during a security exercise to test the security systems of the Helicarrier, where he was disguised as a mercenary who had to battle Natasha Romanoff. Hawkeye used a newer model of the Wristbow during his time after the Snap that contained several smaller arrows that he could fire with ease if he wasn't using his bow.
* Heckler & Koch P30: Hawkeye carries a Heckler & Koch P30 as his main sidearm, holstered on his left leg during any of his missions. He used it to fire at Loki when he arrived at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, but his rounds had no effect on his Frost Giant durability and Asgardian armor. He attempted to use it on him again but was quickly intercepted. After being brainwashed by the God of Mischief, he used it to fire at Nick Fury and at Maria Hill's car while he escaped from the facility with Loki.
* Beretta Cheetah: Barton resorted to using one of these guns to confront Pietro Maximoff at Avengers Tower, shooting it to the glass floor below Maximoff and making him fall to the floor below.
* Heckler & Koch VP9: Barton carried a new pistol during the Rescue of Wanda Maximoff and the Clash of the Avengers, but he kept it holstered not to harm his former allies.
* Smith & Wesson SW99: Barton confiscated Kazi's sidearm from the latter's car and disposed of it.
* Rifle: In 1984, Barton and his mother attempted to rob a convenience store. When his mother and the owner struggled over the rifle behind the counter, it fell on the ground and Barton picked it up. His mother told him to "wing," the owner, but Barton shot through the window instead, intentionally missing because he did not want to hurt him.
: "I need eyes up high, with a gun."
: ―Phil Coulson[src]
* Remington 700PSS: Hawkeye initially reached for his Remington 700PSS sniper rifle when ordered by Phil Coulson to target Thor, although he ultimately chose to use his Mathews Apex 7 compound bow.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Arsenal: Hawkeye had access to a room of weapons at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site. Other than his sniper rifle, he had a Beretta 92FS, a Walther CP99, a Colt M1911A1 with a tactical flashlight, an FN P90, an M16A4 fitted with a C-More red dot sight and KAC railed handguard, and a short-barreled SIG-Sauer SG552 with pronged flash hider, standard diopter sights and the stock folded.
* Blades: Hawkeye often carries a blade with him, holstered on his right leg during missions. Hawkeye possessed a dagger made by knife manufacturer Busse, and was made specifically for Hawkeye, with an arrow and bullseye symbol designed on it. Hawkeye used this blade while fighting with Black Widow on board the Helicarrier during his mission to rescue Loki while brainwashed. Hawkeye also had a throwing knife holstered during the Avengers Civil War, although he never used it. He also used a different dagger while operating as Ronin and later during the Time Heist and Battle of Earth. He confiscated Kazi's knife and box cutter from his car.
* Captain America's Shield: When the Avengers was initially attacked by Ultron at the Avengers Tower, Barton assisted in the battle by locating Steve Rogers' shield and throwing it at him, so Rogers could then finally destroy the last remaining Ultron Sentry.
* Arrow Case: Hawkeye uses an arrow cartridge capable of holding nine collapsible arrows. He stores a case on the outside of each leg, which easily comes off and quickly expands the nine arrows.
* Baton: Barton carried a collapsible metal baton hidden under his quiver. He tried to use it to attack Vision, but it shattered in half against the android's Vibranium skin once he had increased his density.
* Retractable Sword: Going under a different guise after the Snap, Barton started using a different an assortment of weaponry, similar to that of a samurai, including wielding a retractable sword when going around killing criminals who survived. Barton continued to wield the sword when he was reunited with the Avengers, fighting against Thanos and his army. In the aftermath of the Battle of Earth, Barton left the sword on the battlefield. Later he reclaimed it from Jack Duquesne.
* Shuriken: Going under a different guise after the Snap, Barton started using a different an assortment of weaponry, similar to that of a samurai, including shuriken when going around killing criminals who survived. Barton used this weapon to throw at enemies that were not at close range.
* Foam Sword: While begrudgingly attending a LARPing event to retrieve the Ronin Suit, Barton used a foam sword as part of his roleplay and during his "fight" with Grills.
* Kate Bishop's Bow and Quiver: After assessing that the risk was too high for his work partner, Kate Bishop, Barton took away her bow and quiver, to stop her from following him.
=== Other Equipment ===
* Ankle Monitor: Due to Barton violating the Sokovia Accords, he had an ankle monitor while being placed under house arrest at his homestead by the FBI.
* Hearing Aid: After the countless battles and explosions Barton participated in, he is partially deaf. Fortunately, Hawkeye is only hard of hearing in his right ear, allowing him to use a hearing aid on that ear which can fully restore his hearing.
=== Vehicles ===
* Quinjet: Hawkeye has used a Quinjet for transportation to travel around the world and take out threats during active missions as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and as a member of the Avengers. When Loki attacked New York, Hawkeye told Captain America that he could pilot a Quinjet and flew him and Black Widow to the battle, where he assisted taking out multiple Chitauri Chariots until it was shot down by Loki. When the Avengers were assaulting HYDRA bases, Hawkeye flew them into battle and later to the Salvage Yard to apprehend Ultron. Hawkeye flew the Quinjet to his farmhouse and later piloted it to assist during the Battle of Seoul, successfully obtaining the Regeneration Cradle when it became airborne. Hawkeye would then fly all the Avengers to Sokovia to put an end to Ultron's plans. When his family was returned from the Blip, Hawkeye took a Quinjet to fly back to his home to be reunited with them.
: "We need these vehicles."
: ―Clint Barton to Maria Hill[src]
* Jeep: During the Destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., Loki stole the Tesseract and brainwashed Hawkeye and Erik Selvig into serving him. The three of them fled the scene in a Jeep they stole with Loki sitting in the back. During the Attack on the HYDRA Research Base, Barton and Black Widow used a Jeep to fight the HYDRA soldiers and move around faster. When all the Avengers regrouped to attack the HYDRA soldiers, Black Widow crashed the jeep as she and Hawkeye jumped out to continue fighting on foot.
: "You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?""Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll do my best."
: ―Rocket Raccoon and Clint Barton[src]
* Benatar: During the Time Heist, Hawkeye and Black Widow were assigned to go to Vormir, so Hawkeye was given the Benatar, which was shrunken down, to use to get to the planet. Once Nebula separated the Space Pod from the ship on Morag in 2014, Hawkeye and Black Widow entered the ship and headed to Vormir, where Nebula had set in the coordinates, leaving them to just fly the ship to the planet. When the mission was complete, Hawkeye returned the ship to the present day.
== Facilities ==
: "Safehouse?""Let's hope."
: ―Tony Stark and Clint Barton[src]
* Clint Barton's Homestead: When Barton joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury ensured his family's existence would be a secret, set up a farm for them to live. After being defeated by Wanda Maximoff, Barton brought the Avengers to his home so they could recover. When Nick Fury arrived and motivated the Avengers, Barton made a promise to his wife that he would retire from the Avengers. Barton kept his promise and proceeded to spend time with his family, including his newborn child Nathaniel Barton. After the Avengers Civil War, when Barton escaped from the Raft, instead of being a fugitive, Barton decided to make an agreement with Thaddeus Ross so he would go under house arrest for two years.
: "Where am I going?""New Mexico."
: ―Clint Barton and Nick Fury[src]
* S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site: Barton was called in to New Mexico to provide some extra security at an 0-8-4 when taking his first vacation since joining S.H.I.E.L.D.. While there, an intruder attempted to make his way to the 0-8-4, Barton was instructed to take a vantage point above. Barton, wielding his bow, proceeded to obtain a position above, waiting for the order to take the shot. Barton, along with the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, departed from New Mexico after the 0-8-4 had been removed by the previous intruder.
: "Not only are you guarding the most important object in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s possession, but I also want you keeping tabs on Dr. Selvig for me."
: ―Nick Fury to Clint Barton[src]
* Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility: Barton was called by Nick Fury to guard the Tesseract at their main facility of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. When the Tesseract began to act up, Fury arrived at the facility, where Barton gave his report, including the theory that the Tesseract could be activated from a secondary location. His theory was proven to be right when Loki arrived and attacked the facility. The facility began to collapse on itself, and Barton was enthralled by Loki. Barton, under Loki's control, assisted him in escaping with the Tesseract.
: "No wonder you chose this... this tomb to work in!"
: ―Erik Selvig to Clint Barton[src]
* Loki's Hideout: Under Loki's control, Barton provided him with a facility that wouldn't be able to be uncovered by S.H.I.E.L.D.. As Erik Selvig used the facility to work on a device to stabilize the portal, Barton, who had recruited enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D., proceeded to search for various raw materials to build the device. At the facility, Barton informed Loki of everything he needed to know about the Avengers.
* Avengers Tower: After the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark decided to fund the Avengers, redesigning Stark Tower as a new headquarter for the team. After being injured during an attack on HYDRA, the team returned to the tower, where Barton was tended to by Helen Cho using the Regeneration Cradle. Afterward, the Avengers held a party at the tower which fell under attack by a newly created Ultron. The Avengers then proceeded to search for Ultron in the tower, going through their files until they came across Ulysses Klaue.
* Avengers Compound: In 2016, Barton went to the Facility to pick up Wanda Maximoff. In 2023, Barton was brought by Natasha Romanoff to the Facility where he reunited with the other Avengers. He and the others then planned the Time Heist. Afterwards, they mourned Romanoff's loss, watched the initiation of the Blip, survived the attack by an alternate Thanos, and participated in the battle.
* Moira Brandon's Apartment: Barton used Kate Bishop's Moira Brandon's apartment as a safehouse during his time in New York City tracking the Tracksuit Mafia. He spent time planning missions in the apartment and got upset when he learned that Bishop had invited the NYC LARPers to the apartment. He and Bishop enjoyed celebrating Christmas together in the apartment and bonded over Natasha Romanoff's death.
* Grills' Apartment: Barton stayed at Grills' home in New York City after temporarily ending his partnership with Bishop.
=== Prisons ===
: "Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony.""Yeah, but not some Supermax floating ocean pokey, you know. This place is for maniacs, it's a place for-""Criminals."
: ―Clint Barton and Tony Stark[src]
* Raft: Having been defeated by Iron Man's team, Barton, along with Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff and Scott Lang were taken to the Raft. When Tony Stark visited the incarcerated heroes, he and Stark had a heated discussion about the Sokovia Accords. Barton, along with the rest of his allies, was freed by Steve Rogers.
* KB Toys Store: After Barton intentionally let himself get captured by the Tracksuit Mafia in order to meet their boss, he was held prisoner at their hideout, located in an abandoned toys store. However, Barton managed to free himself of his restraints twice and escaped.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Edith Barton - Mother
* Laura Barton - Wife and Former Colleague
* Cooper Barton - Son
* Lila Barton - Daughter
* Nathaniel Barton - Son
=== Allies ===
* S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Temporary Enemies
** Phil Coulson † - Former Colleague
** Victoria Hand † - Former Colleague
** Bobbi Morse - Former Colleague
** Tyler - Former Colleague
* Convenience Store Clerk
* Erik Selvig
* NASA
* Avengers - Former Teammates and Friends
** Steve Rogers/Captain America † - Former Leader
** Tony Stark/Iron Man † - Temporary Enemy
** Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow † - Best Friend, Partner and Temporary Enemy
** Thor
** Bruce Banner/Hulk
** Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver - Former Enemy and Savior
** Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch † - Former Enemy and Close Friend
** Vision † - Temporary Enemy
** James Rhodes/War Machine - Temporary Enemy
** Sam Wilson/Falcon
** Scott Lang/Ant-Man
** Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Former Enemy
** Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
* Nick Fury's Crew
** Nick Fury - Former Superior
** Maria Hill † - Former Superior
** Cameron Klein
* Helen Cho
* Costel
* Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
* Guardians of the Galaxy
** Peter Quill/Star-Lord
** Rocket Raccoon - Former Teammate
** Nebula - Former Teammate
** Drax the Destroyer
** Mantis
** Groot
* Johann Schmidt/Red Skull
* Gamora
* Masters of the Mystic Arts
** Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
** Wong
* Golden Tribe
** T'Challa/Black Panther † - Former Enemy
** Shuri
* Dora Milaje
** Okoye
* Jabari Tribe
** M'Baku
* Wakandan Royal Guard
* Border Tribe
* Brunhilde/Valkyrie
* Warsong
* Korg
* Miek
* Einherjar
* Ravagers
** Kraglin Obfonteri
* Howard the Duck
* Hope van Dyne/Wasp
* Stark Industries
** Pepper Potts/Rescue
** Happy Hogan
* Thaddeus Ross - Temporary Enemy
* Kate Bishop - Fan, Partner and Close Friend
* Lucky the Pizza Dog
* NYC LARPers
** Missy
** Grills - Friend
** Orville
** Wendy Conrad
* Moira Brandon
* Jack Duquesne
* Yelena Belova - Former Attempted Killer
* Rocky
* Maya Lopez/Echo - Former Enemy and Former Attempted Killer	
=== Enemies ===
* Marcus Scarlotti - Attempted Killer
* Red Room
** Dreykov † - Attempted Victim
* Antonia Dreykov - Attempted Victim
* Destroyer †
* Loki - Former Enthraller
* Schäfer Sicherheitsdienst
** Heinrich Schäfer †
* Chitauri
** Leviathans
** Chitauri Gorillas
* HYDRA
** Alexander Pierce † - Former Superior
** Wolfgang von Strucker/Baron Strucker †
** List †
** Jensen
** Jasper Sitwell † - Former Colleague
** Brock Rumlow † - Former Colleague
** Jack Rollins - Former Colleague
* Ultron † - Attempted Killer
** Ultron Sentries
* Ulysses Klaue †
* Klaue's Mercenary
* Wilson Fisk/Kingpin - Target
* Tracksuit Mafia - Targets
** William Lopez † - Victim
** Kazi Kazimierczak
** Ivan Banionis
** Tomas
** Enrique
** Dmitri
* Mexican Cartel - Targets
* Yakuza - Targets
** Akihiko † - Victim
* Thanos †
* Outriders
* Black Order
** Ebony Maw †
** Cull Obsidian †
** Proxima Midnight †
** Corvus Glaive †
* Sakaarans
* Eleanor Bishop
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Hawkeye is the ex-husband of Bobbi Morse and married a woman named Laura in the Ultimate comics. Between the end of Civil War, Barton took the identity of Ronin, while letting Kate Bishop keep the Hawkeye alias in his honor.
* In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff wore a necklace with an arrow pendant as a symbol of her friendship with Barton.
* In Captain America: Civil War, the scene where Barton fires a trick arrow with Ant-Man on the arrowhead is based on the cover of Avengers Vol 1 #223.
* Barton is a fan of Pat Benatar's Hit Me with Your Best Shot.
* In Captain America: Civil War, when Barton quips,"I knew I should have stretched" when fighting Vision, that is a reference to a running joke called the 'Renner Stretch' that started when Jeremy Renner would stretch whenever he got nervous.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* Hawkeye is the only Avenger from the first film that did not appear in a Phase Two movie prior to Avengers: Age of Ultron, or Avengers: Infinity War; however, he was mentioned in the latter.
* Jeremy Renner is left-handed, but since the character is ambidextrous he is shown shooting from his right hand in Thor and his left hand in The Avengers. However, he usually uses his left hand to pull back on the arrow.
* Hawkeye was originally going to appear in Captain America: The Winter Soldier before his appearance was scrapped by directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
* Jeremy Renner was uncredited for his appearance in Thor and for his voice acting in Black Widow.
* Jensen Ackles was approached for the role of Hawkeye in The Avengers, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with Supernatural.
* Alex Chansky, Adam Brashaw, Kyle Mclean, Mark R. Miscione, Richard Burden and Joseph Roark were stunt doubles for Jeremy Renner in the role of Hawkeye.
* Aaron Worthington was a stand-in and a double for Jeremy Renner in the role of Hawkeye.
* Hawkeye is the only Avenger from the first film that has not received his own solo movie. The movie was planned but never reached development.
** However, he received a TV series, being the only Avenger from the first film to get one.
* Joss Whedon had a detailed backstory for Hawkeye written up for The Avengers, but was unable to even reference any of it, due to time constraints. During the early planning stages, Barton was envisioned to be depicted as a circus performer, trained by criminals, who manipulate him into fighting the team, essentially a modernized version of his 616 comic book counterpart.
* Hawkeye was previously planned to debut in Iron Man 2.
* In the original script for Captain America: Civil War, Hawkeye was going to appear much earlier in the story, assisting the transport of Bucky Barnes to Berlin. In this sequence, he had dialogue with Barnes about being brainwashed, telling Barnes the story of when he was brainwashed by Loki in The Avengers.
* This version of Hawkeye is mentioned in the 20th Century Fox production Deadpool 2.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Hawkeye.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Hawkeye.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 The Avengers
# ↑ Jump up to:2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Hawkeye: 1.01: Never Meet Your Heroes
# ↑ Jump up to:3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Captain America: Civil War
# ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Hawkeye - Deleted Scene
# ↑ S.H.I.E.L.D. ID Cards
# ↑ What If...?: 1.08: What If... Ultron Won?
# ↑ Jump up to:7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 Avengers: Endgame
# ↑ Jump up to:8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 Avengers: Age of Ultron
# ↑ Jump up to:9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Hawkeye: 1.03: Echoes
# ↑ Jump up to:10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Hawkeye: 1.06: So This Is Christmas?
# ↑ Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 2.06: A Fractured House
# ↑ Black Widow Deleted Scene
# ↑ Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey
# ↑ Black Widow
# ↑ Jump up to:15.0 15.1 15.2 The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
# ↑ Thor
# ↑ Jump up to:17.0 17.1 The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative
# ↑ The Avengers Post-credits Scene
# ↑ Iron Man 3 Prelude
# ↑ Jump up to:20.0 20.1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier
# ↑ Avengers: Operation HYDRA
# ↑ Jump up to:22.0 22.1 Avengers: Age of Ultron Deleted Scene
# ↑ Avengers: Infinity War Prelude
# ↑ Avengers: Infinity War
# ↑ Jump up to:25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 Hawkeye: 1.02: Hide and Seek
# ↑ Jump up to:26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 Hawkeye: 1.05: Ronin
# ↑ Jump up to:27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 Hawkeye: 1.04: Partners, Am I Right?
# ↑ Translates from Japanese to: "Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!"
# ↑ Translates from Japanese to: "You survived... Half the planet didn't. They got Thanos. You get me..."
# ↑ Jump up to:30.0 30.1 Avengers: Endgame - Deleted Scene
# ↑ Look Out for the Little Guy!
# ↑ ‘Ms. Marvel': Every Single Hidden Reference at AvengerCon
# ↑ Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary
# ↑ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.17: The Hub
# ↑ Kate Bishop's SABER File
# ↑ OP's pick - Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week - 4
# ↑ Black Widow, S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawkeye, And Dr. Strange Movies Planned Post-'Avengers,' Says Kevin Feige
== External Links ==
* Hawkeye on Marvel Database
* Ronin on Marvel Database
* Hawkeye on Wikipedia
* Ronin on Wikipedia
* Clint Barton on Wikipedia
* Hawkeye on Marvel Website