Marvel's dive into Disney+ has made a splash with WandaVision, and now fans are chomping at the bit for the next shows. One of those eagerly awaited shows stars Hawkeye (both the Clint Barton and the Kate Bishop one.) With fans wondering just what stories the show is going to use as inspiration, anticipation for the show is higher than expected (as the MCU version of Hawkeye was often derided by fans for being just a guy with a bow and arrow.)
In the comics, Hawkeye has been a part of a lot of memorable stories and is quite different from the MCU version of the character, which may confuse fans who go looking into the character's comic appearances.
10 While He's Been Married, He's Never Had Any Kids
The MCU version of Hawkeye is mostly based on the defunct Ultimate Universe version of the character, who was married with children. The main version of Hawkeye (the one who fans are most likely to read about) has been married in the past but never had any children. His marriage, to fellow Avenger Mockingbird, eventually ended as well.
For fans looking for a married Hawkeye with kids, this is going to be a bit of a change, as his family was a big source of stories for him in the MCU.
9 He Died In The Snap
The circumstances and effects of the Snap in the movies and the comics are quite different. In the movies, the heroes were working to stop Thanos from acquiring the Infinity Stones and some of them even knew about why he was doing it. In the comics, Thanos snapped before anyone even knew he had the Infinity Gauntlet and besides making people disappear, it also caused natural disasters all over the universe.
Many of the Earth's heroes were killed in both Snaps and in the comics, Hawkeye was one of them. He was talking to Captain America at the time, who was quite surprised when his old friend disappeared before his eyes.
8 His Reason For Becoming Ronin Was Very Different In The Comics
While he was never called Ronin in Avengers: Endgame, the sword using Hawkeye killing the bad guys that Black Widow hunted down was very much inspired by Hawkeye's time as Ronin in the comics. Hawkeye turned into a killer in the movies because he believed it was his job to kill bad people left alive by the Snap.
In the comics, Hawkeye wasn't the first Ronin and became Ronin for a completely different reason. After he returned to life in the post-Civil War Marvel Universe, he allowed Kate Bishop to keep the Hawkeye name and became Ronin because he felt like a masterless samurai with Captain America gone. It also allowed him to show that he was more than just a guy with a bow and arrow and was one of the best fighters around.
7 He Started Out As A Villain
In the MCU, Hawkeye first appeared in Thor as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent watching Mjolnir. Later, in The Avengers, it was revealed that Hawkeye and Black Widow had worked together in the past- which is comic accurate. Except they weren't agents of SHIELD when they first worked together in the comics, but villains going up against Iron Man.
At the time, Black Widow was working for the Soviets and using Hawkeye as cannon fodder. He would end up reforming when Captain America invited him to the Avengers, where he would prove to be one of the team's most invaluable members, even if he was kind of mouthy.
6 He Wasn't Always An Avenger
In the MCU, Clint Barton spent all of his time as Hawkeye as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an Avenger. While there weren't really any other games in town for him, Hawkeye in the comics wasn't just an Avenger. In fact, he ended up joining up with the Thunderbolts, a group who had once all been members of the Avengers' arch enemies, the Masters of Evil.
Hawkeye's time with the team took them even farther from their old lives as villains and proved just how great a hero and leader Hawkeye could be. While he would eventually return to the Avengers, his time with the Thunderbolts was a very cool part of his superhero career.
5 While He Wasn't A Founding Avenger, He Did Found An Avengers Team
In the MCU, Hawkeye was one of the founding Avengers as he was there when the team first came together. This isn't the case in the comics, as the founding Avengers were Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, and Wasp. He was a member of the team's first membership drive, though, organized by Captain America after the rest of the team left.
While he wasn't a founding member of the main team, he would be a founding member of the second Avengers team: the West Coast Avengers. He would even lead the team, giving orders to the likes of Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Wonder Man.
4 He Had Superpowers
There was a time when Hawkeye felt that just being the bow and arrow guy wasn't enough so he went to Hank Pym and asked for his help. Pym gave him some Pym particles, ones that would allow him to grow bigger. Taking on the name Goliath, he would use his size-changing powers and the extra strength they gave him to really rain down on the enemies of the Avengers.
Eventually, he would stop using the Pym particles and go back to being Hawkeye (which anyone seeing his Goliath costume would agree is a pretty good thing.) While it wasn't his worst costume, it wasn't very good either.
3 He Uses Way More Trick Arrows In The Comics
In the MCU, Hawkeye mostly uses regular old-fashioned bladed arrows. Occasionally, he'd use explosive tipped arrows but that was pretty much it as far as trick arrows went. In the comics, Hawkeye's arsenal of arrows was much broader and he had a variety of trick arrows he used.
While he didn't have as many ridiculous arrows as Green Arrow did, he had sonic arrows, acid tipped arrows, boomerang arrows, suction cup arrows, bola arrows, and electro-arrows. In recent years, he mostly just uses bladed arrows, but he still has some of the trick ones just in case he needs them.
2 He Almost Became Iron Man's Captain America Post-Civil War
Hawkeye was killed by Scarlet Witch. While she would eventually bring him back to life, he wouldn't go back to the Avengers right away. He showed back up post-Civil War and Iron Man found him just about immediately. Iron Man made him an unprecedented offer- he wanted Hawkeye to become the new Captain America.
Hawkeye proved able to use Cap's shield almost as well as Steve Rogers and Hawkeye almost took up Iron Man on his offer but was quickly turned off by how gung ho Iron Man was about trying to arrest Kate Bishop and the Young Avengers. This would drive Hawkeye into the arms of the anti-Registration heroes and he would become Ronin.
1 He's Really, Really Funny
The MCU Hawkeye isn't as funny as other members of the Avengers but every now and again, he's been known to drop some pretty good jokes. This is very, very different from the Hawkeye in the comics. Hawkeye in the comics is really, really funny and one of the most quotable members of the team.
It's very strange that the MCU Hawkeye is as dour as he is in the films, because comic Hawkeye's sense of humor and mile a minute delivery would fit perfectly in the MCU.