The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding rapidly now Disney+ is part of the equation, which means it’s getting harder to keep track of all the different characters and stories. One such story we have to look forward to is Disney+’s Hawkeye series.
Jeremy Renner has starred in his fair share of Marvel films as Clint Barton, but Hawkeye will be his first solo series and it picks up after the events of Avenger: Endgame.
If you’re not familiar with all of Hawkeye’s adventures, here’s a quick guide to everything you should know prior to watching Hawkeye.
What should you know before watching Marvel’s Hawkeye?
Hawkeye is an original Avenger
While Hawkeye will be the first solo project featuring Clint Barton, the character is still one of the founding members of the Avengers.
His introduction came in 2012’s The Avengers where he fought with the team to save New York from Loki and the Chitauri. The battle left much of the city destroyed, but the Avengers still saved many lives.
This means Hawkeye has been fighting with the Avengers for years, and by the time we pick up with him in Hawkeye he’s looking to retire and settle down with his family.
Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff’s History
When we were introduced to Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, we didn’t know the extent of their history together. Both worked as agents of SHIELD and over the years formed a close friendship.
Nat knew about Clint’s secret family and Clint helped Natasha in her final act of defection to SHIELD in the infamous Budapest mission.
The duo’s friendship came to a tragic end when they sought out the soul stone in Avengers: Endgame and one of them needed to give up their life in order to retrieve the stone. Despite Clint’s efforts, Natasha sacrificed herself for the stone, and while the Avengers succeeded in bringing everyone back from Thanos’ snap, Nat’s death was irreversible.
The ramifications of this sacrifice will likely play a part in Hawkeye. As we saw in Black Widow’s post-credits sequence, Natasha’s adopted sister, Yelena Belova, blames Hawkeye for her death. Florence Pugh is expected to return as Yelena in this series, so expect a fiery confrontation between the two.
Meet Hawkeye’s family
Unlike many of the Avengers, Clint Barton managed to pull double duty as a father whilst also being a famous superhero.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, we learned that Barton had been keeping his family under the radar for their safety. Barton has a wife, Laura, and three children: Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel.
Barton’s role as a family man is a big part of his character and he’s always putting their safety first, even if it means he has to take a break from avenging.
Clint Barton became a vigilante known as Ronin
The family aspect of Barton’s life is a big part of the reason he adopted a new persona known as Ronin.
After Thanos snapped half the population away, Barton’s entire family disappeared out of existence for five years. To deal with his grief, he became a ruthless hooded vigilante who murdered criminals with his katana.
While Barton eventually returned to being Hawkeye and helped the Avengers return the world to normal in Endgame, his time as Ronin clearly left an impact.
The Hawkeye series is inspired by the comics
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken plenty of liberties with its comic book source material, but some iconic runs have been adapted faithfully on screen.
Disney+’s Hawkeye series will be heavily inspired by Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye comics from 2012. This is important for a number of reasons, but mainly because it digs into Barton’s relationship with his protégé, Kate Bishop.
If you’ve seen any promotion for Hawkeye, you’ll know that Hailee Steinfeld is taking on the Kate Bishop role in Hawkeye and she potentially has a big future ahead of her in the MCU.
Bishop was originally introduced in Marvel comics as a member of the Young Avengers. Depending on how Hawkeye goes, we could be seeing her in a live-action Young Avengers project someday, so keep an eye on her!
Who is Echo?
Alaqua Cox is another newcomer to the MCU and she’s playing a very important character in Hawkeye. Maya Lopez aka Echo is a Native American and deaf hero in Marvel comics
In the comics, Echo has a lot of interactions with Matt Murdock (Daredevil). Her family was killed by notorious Daredevil villain Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, who then raised her as his own according to her father’s dying wish. Her powers are similar to that of Taskmaster in that she can imitate opponent’s fighting styles.
Another interesting point about Echo from the comics is that she was the original wielder of the Ronin persona and spent time as part of the Avengers. Although from everything we’ve seen of her in Hawkeye so far, she may start off as an antagonist.
How much of Echo’s comic history makes it into Disney+’s Hawkeye is a mystery, but she’s definitely one to watch with her own Marvel Disney+ series confirmed.
Bonus: There’s a dog
If you needed any more reasons to watch Hawkeye, look no further than Lucky the Pizza Dog.
Hawkeye premieres on Disney+ on November 24 – Merry Christmas, Marvel fans!
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