Clint Barton

"I see better from a distance."

―Clint Barton ^[src]

Clint Barton, code name Hawkeye, is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and founding member of the Avengers. First introduced in Thor, Barton has no real superpowers but is the world's greatest marksman armed with a recurve bow.

Biography[]

Thor[]

"You better call it Coulson, cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

―Clint Barton ^[src]

Clinton Barton was serving in a military branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. when freakish atmospheric events, followed by the discovery of Mjolnir in an impact crater, he was deployed to New Mexico as part of a security force to protect the object. Soon after his deployment, Thor broke into the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound and fought his way to the mysterious hammer. Barton responded to the alarms by collecting a compound bow and claiming a high vantage point suspended from a crane. Despite making several radio transmissions warning that the intruder was reaching the hammer, Barton was never given a shoot order, forcing him to let his target go.

Fury Big Week[]

Fury contacted Barton, upsetting him due to the fact that it was the first day of his first vacation. However, once Fury told Barton that he was asigning him to a possible alien crash site in New Mexico, he decided to go. On his way to New Mexico, Barton passed by the Roxxon Gas Station where Coulson passed by earlier. Clint arrives to the site where Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are. He asked Coulson if he caught an alien, but Coulson corrects him stating it was an alien object. After Thor breaks into the base, Barton spots Jane Foster running away. Barton informs Coulson about this after Thor is arrested.

After the Destroyer was subdued by Thor, Barton contacted Coulson about it. Later Coulson and Barton had the armor taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. airbase in Roswell, New Mexico.

A year later,ury drives Barton to the Mojave desert for watch over Selvig and the Tesseract.

The Avengers[]

With his mission completed in New Mexico, Barton gets assigned to guard the Tesseract at a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility. When it began emitting increased levels of gamma radiation the entire facility was placed on high alert and most staff were evacuated, while Barton and a few others remained as rearguard for as long as they could. The emissions proved to be a precursor to the unexpected appearance of Loki, who had used it to reach Earth extradimensionally. Barton and the other guards were quickly overpowered and Barton was promptly enslaved into Loki's service. For a time, Barton served Loki as a guard, enforcer, and assassin, completely without volition. When Loki was incarcerated in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Barton led a commando raid against the vessel to extricate him, as well as to directly add to the chaos that Loki was seeding within his enemies. The attack drew him into direct conflict with Black Widow, his staunchest ally, who bested him in close quarters and scored a blow to his head that helped to dislodge Loki's hold over him. Upon recovering from the ordeal, Barton vowed to put Loki down, going so far as to propose an arrow to the Asgardian's eye socket. To that end he willingly grabbed his equipment and offered to pilot Captain America and Black Widow to Loki's location, which had been determined as New York City. Once there, the trio formed up with Thor Odinson, Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk), and Tony Stark (Iron Man), to fight Loki together.

The group quickly found themselves embroiled in a battle for New York City against a huge invasion force of Chitauri, whom Loki had summoned using the Tesseract. Barton, now using his codename "Hawkeye", initially fought the alien warriors on the streets before switching to a higher vantage point atop a high-rise building to snipe at the alien air support. At one point he even took a shot at Loki, and although the aim was true, Loki simply snatched the arrow from the air before it struck. Hawkeye had planned in advance however, and had rigged the arrow with an explosive head that knocked Loki's transport out of the sky.

When the battle was over Hawkeye and the others parted company. He and Agent Romanoff returned to the service of S.H.I.E.L.D. until the next time the world would call on the Avengers.

Character traits[]

A man of few words, Barton had always been the silent one. He is often "up in his nest", which means that he prefers to be alone. When he was brainwashed by Loki, he didn't hesitate to attack his fellow teammates, such as Black Widow.

In battle, he seems to be confident on his abilities. He even went as far as not to look at his target. He also stated that it would be his pleasure to fight with the Avengers.

Abilities[]

As Hawkeye, he possesses no superhuman powers. Clinton Barton is a skilled marksman with an exceptional ability in archery.He possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intense regular exercise and is considered athletic. He also possesses a custom-made bow, a modernized quick-release quiver, and a number of specialty arrows. Hawkeye is able to fire six arrows faster than the average human can fire six bullets and is known to be a master archer with extraordinarily fast reflexes, exceptional dexterity, and near-perfect aim. He is also an excellent all-around marksman well versed in conventional firearms, and possibly has an uncanny knack for using miscellaneous hand-held objects as projectile weapons. Hawkeye is a veteran espionage operative, a formidable physical combatant, and an experienced fighter pilot, as evident in the Avengers, as he was able to pilot a Quinjet with ease along side Romanoff .

Master Archer: Barton has trained himself to become a master archer specializing in the use of regular bows, longbows, compound bows, and crossbows with near-perfect accuracy. He is capable of firing multiple arrows at a single target in a few seconds, hitting multiple targets in a few quick strokes, and directly hit small targets in the greatest of distances. He has been known to hit an apple in the center of it. As Hawkeye, he practiced a minimum of two hours per day to keep his skills honed.
Expert Marksman: He possesses very keen eyesight, and his accuracy is virtually unerring; he was trained in his youth by Trick Shot with throwing blades, balls, bolas, and boomerangs. He now has near-perfect precision with any aimed or thrown weapon. He can hurl objects with extreme speed and accuracy, both in direct aim and complicated interactions. He was able to shoot down a Chitauri ship without even looking at it.
Expert Acrobat: Barton possesses exceptional human strength, endurance, and stamina. He is athletic, with very good reflexes and agility. This, combined with training as an aerialist and acrobat, makes him capable of complex acrobatic maneuvers.
Expert Fighter: Barton is an excellent combatant, having been trained in various forms quite possibly being in the military. He was able to fight Natasha to a standstill although she eventually bested him in combat. He was capable of overthrowing many of the Chitauri soldiers, alongside the Black Widow, on the ground zero during the battle in New York with utilization of his recurve bow as well as his trick arrows.

Expert Strategist: Barton has been trained in military tactics under the training and service of possible military branches before operating with S.H.I.E.L.D. In The Avengers he commanded a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, under the unwitting control of Loki just as the same as he was, for heisting a vault in Germany and infiltrating the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier with esteemed success. Each of these actions required a diversion.

Equipment[]

Hawkeye's Quiver : Hawkeye's quiver is supplied with a multitude of different arrow heads in the bottom. By dialling up an armament setting from a control on his bow, Hawkeye can cause the quiver to affix these special arrowheads. This effectively increases the capabilities from conventional arrows, to explosive arrows, a grapple line, and more.

Weapons[]

Hawkeye's Bow : The bow is capable of folding on itself(most likely for either easier transport, concealing it, or both) & has a selector and transmitter that allows Hawkeye to control his mechanical quiver. It also has a laser sight.

Relationships[]

Friends and Allies

Nick Fury - S.H.I.E.L.D. director and commander.
Black Widow- S.H.I.E.L.D. ally/Avengers teammate, and best friend.
Phil Coulson - S.H.I.E.L.D. superior.
Maria Hill - Fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
Steve Rogers/Captain America - Avengers team leader and partner.
Thor - Avengers teammate.

Behind the scenes[]

When Barton cameos in Thor, he is shown as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent not a costumed hero.
Jeremy Renner's appearance was uncredited in Thor.
Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye will not wear his purple costume.

Trivia[]

It has been confirmed that Hawkeye and Black Widow have been teammates for a long time before the events of The Avengers. Black Widow informs Loki that their association is based on a deal and is not sentimental.
In Thor, Barton pulls bowstring with his right hand. In The Avengers he pulls it with his left hand.
In Promotion photos of The Avengers, Barton wore sunglasses with his uniform; in the film he didn't wear those sunglasses with his uniform.
When developing Hawkeye as a central superhero character, Joss Whedon quickly made the decision to leave out the masked, purple, chainmail-based spandex from the comics, believing it looked silly in the Marvel comics and would not suit the tone and realism of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The decision was made to make his costume resemble the version of the character in The Ultimates, whose costume featured no mask and an arrow down the chest as his symbol.
According to his S.H.I.E.L.D. file he shares the same birthday as his actor; January 7, 1971
During the final battle sequence of The Avengers, Iron Man calls Barton "Legolas", referencing the character from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings fantasy novel series, who is similarly an expert marksman with a bow.
Clint's screen time in The Avengers is 12:44.