Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.** is a 2013 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the twenty-third film in the universe. The film stars James Marsden, Adrianne Palicki, Tom Ellis, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Morena Baccarin, Jennifer Beals, and Samuel L. Jackson and was released worldwide on May 10, 2013. The film ran 104 minutes and grossed $744.2 million on a $200 million budget.

## Plot

A few months after the Superhero Registration Act was signed, Clint Barton/Hawkeye leads his own team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, consisting of Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird, Lance Hunter, and CIA informant Everett K. Ross. However, Clint has begun doubting how the Act is forcing them to stand down on attacks unless the UN approves them. In Ontario, Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D., renamed S.T.R.I.K.E. (Special Tactical Reserve for Internation Key Emergencies), works to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s technology so they can spot whenever an attack happens and send the Secret Avengers to them. However, suddenly all screen in the world switch over, showing Red Skull. The terrorist reveals he has started Hydra from the bottom and plans to disable all the world's major weapons. Victoria Hand, one of the Board Directors of S.H.I.E.L.D. realizes they will need S.T.R.I.K.E.'s help in order to stop Skull, due to Fury having more data and knowledge about Hydra than anyone else in the world.

Clint, Bobbi, Hunter, and Ross contact Sharon Carter, an agent of S.T.R.I.K.E., who, along with Fury and several other agents, meet Clint and his team in the middle of a forest. After Fury refuses to help his former friends, a fight breaks out in which Sharon single handedly defeats Clint's team. Hand arrives with an air strike in which Fury, Sharon, and their agents barely escape. Clint convinces Hand that S.T.R.I.K.E. will never help them. Red Skull orders an attack on the Pentagon, in which several classified prisoners that S.H.I.E.L.D. caught escape. Clint and his team manage to recapture most of the escapees but some and Red Skull still escape. Fury manages to crack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s code and discovers that Skull is about to attack South Korea. Sharon and a team of agents fly there.

Clint's team is also sent there and meet up with Sharon's team. Sharon prepares to fight them again, though Bobbi gets her to stand down and help them. The two teams stop Skull from completely obliterating the city. The UN decides not to send the Mighty Avengers after the attack, angering Hawkeye and Mockingbird. The missile drops anyway and Sharon calls in the Quinjet. Fury flies the jet and catches the missile just 100 feet above the ground. Skull is stopped and arrested, though Hydra appoints a new head. Clint and Bobbi decide to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. to join S.T.R.I.K.E., due to the UN not sending the Avengers after the attack. Sharon thanks the two just as Hand sends a team after S.T.R.I.K.E., Hunter and Ross having sold their friends out. S.T.R.I.K.E. manages to evacuate, though Sharon, Clint, and Bobbi stay behind with a Quinjet to try to reason with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hand, Hunter, Ross, and the squad arrive and try to arrest the three defectors. However, Hand refuses to listen to their arguments so Clint and Bobbi get into the Quinjet while Sharon fights off the agents. Clint tries to get Sharon to board, however, she is caught up. Just as Sharon is about to jump on board, Hunter shoots her in the leg and the Quinjet takes off, leaving Sharon behind. Sharon goes peacefully but warns them that S.T.R.I.K.E. will come for her. In a mid-credits scene, Clint and Bobbi arrive at the new S.T.R.I.K.E. facility and tell Fury and the others what happened to Sharon. Steve Rogers/Captain America learns of this and calls out the rest of the Avengers for a rescue mission. In a post-credits scene, Janet van Dyne and Carol Danvers of the Mighty Avengers decide to explore the latter's past.

## Cast

* James Marsden as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
* Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird
* Tom Ellis as Lance Hunter
* Matt Damon as Everett K. Ross
* Mark Wahlberg as Red Skull
* Morena Baccarin as Sharon Carter
* Jennifer Beals as Victoria Hand
* Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

## Production

A solo film centered on Hawkeye was proposed to Marvel in early 2009 after his appearance in *Iron Man: Rise of the Patriots*. However, they decided to shelf the film until further notice. After fans took a liking to the character especially after his appearance in , the film was put into development. James Marsden officially signed onto the film in April 2010. Jac Shaeffer was hired to co-write the film alongside director James Gunn. A release date of May 10, 2013 was announced in July 2010. The film's title *Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.* was announced in November. Matt Damon and Morena Baccarin were announced to be reprising their roles as Everett K. Ross and Sharon Carter from earlier installments in February 2011. Samuel L. Jackson was confirmed to appear as Nick Fury in May. Jennifer Beals, Adrianne Palicki, and Tom Ellis were cast in July as Victoria Hand, Bobbi Morse, and Lance Hunter. In September, Mark Wahlberg signed on to portray Red Skull to continue his three-film contract he signed during *Captain America*. Filming began in April 2012 and concluded on August 3. The plot of the film was revealed in November as dealing with the aftermath of *Captain America: Civil War*.

## Reception

### **Box office**

*Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.* earned $269.5 million in the United States and Canada and $475.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $744.2 million.

### **Critical reception**

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 79% approval rating based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Boasting a talented cast and stellar effects, *Hawkeye and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*shows that Marvel can have just as much fun with comedies as it can with any other movie genre." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 65 based on 41 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film a grade A.