We’ve been spoiled for choice this year with both Marvel movies and TV shows. Following the Disney+ debut of the MCU with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If…? and Loki, we’re now up to the fifth Marvel TV show of the year – Hawkeye.
Unlike Eternals or Shang-Chi, Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is one of the original Avengers and one we’re all quite familiar with now. That means he also has quite the back catalogue of MCU projects to go through if you want to get in a rewatch before the Disney+ show starts.
Here are the Marvel movies you should watch before taking aim at Hawkeye.
Which Marvel movies do you need to watch before Hawkeye?
The Avengers
While Clint Barton first showed up as a cameo appearance in Thor, our first proper introduction to the character was in The Avengers.
Here we learned that Barton was another agent working for Nick Fury under SHIELD and he had quite a close friendship with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow.
Hawkeye also established himself as one of the original six Avengers members in the battle for New York and, despite having no superpowers of his own, his prowess with a bow and arrow made him an asset to the team.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
We next saw Hawkeye in a Marvel movie in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and this one is particularly important to watch prior to Hawkeye.
In Age of Ultron, we learned that Clint Barton has a family that he’s been keeping a secret from his teammates to ensure their safety. The Avengers take refuge at the Barton household and we meet his pregnant wife Laura and his children Lila and Cooper.
It’s our first glimpse at the Barton family unit which is going to play a big part in the Disney+ series.
Watch Avengers: Age of Ultron here.
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War brings most of the Avengers back for a battle that breaks the team.
A schism in the Avengers forces them all to choose sides over whether they should sign the Sokovia Accords – which would force the team under government control. Hawkeye takes Captain America’s side – who is against signing the document – which puts him against a number of his friends and teammates, including Black Widow.
Watch Captain America: Civil War here.
Avengers: Endgame
Avengers: Endgame is probably the most pivotal movie in the MCU to date and it brings all our heroes together. For Hawkeye in particular it’s a big one because we see him walk a darker path after the events of Thanos’ snap in Infinity War.
Basically, after the snap disintegrated his entire family, Clint Barton channelled his grief into a new vigilante persona, Ronin. As Ronin he went on a violent rampage, killing mob bosses and criminals with his new Katana sword.
Black Widow brought him back into the fold where he assisted the Avengers with the time heist and picked up the bow and arrow once again.
The last we saw of Clint Barton in the MCU he was reunited with his family and regrouped with the rest of the Avengers at (spoilers) funeral.
Black Widow
We all knew that Black Widow and Hawkeye had a history of working together for SHIELD, but we finally learned more about their past in Black Widow.
Black Widow is worth a watch before Hawkeye for two reasons. First, we learn what the famous Budapest mission was all about. Second, we’re introduced to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova.
The post-credits scene from Black Widow is pivotal as it sets up Yelena’s return in Hawkeye. Florence Pugh is confirmed to be returning as Yelena in the show, although it doesn’t look like she’ll be a friendly face.
Another huge part of Hawkeye is the introduction of Kate Bishop (played by Hailee Steinfeld). She hasn’t appeared in the MCU before but the character does have a huge history in Marvel Comics if you want to read up on her before the series debuts.
Hawkeye releases its first two episodes on Disney+ on November 24, giving you a couple of weeks to smash through these Marvel movies.
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