Disney+ had a busy 2021 with most of their eventful programming stemming from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Shows like WandaVision, Loki, and What If...? expanded the playing field for what the MCU can accomplish, offering episodic superhero content with compelling storytelling and impactful consequences. Another offering from Marvel Studios, Hawkeye, brought plenty of surprises of its own after its debut in November.
The show is underwhelming in some ways but introduces pivotal Marvel figures like Kate Bishop and Wilson Fisk to the mainline MCU. Hawkeye adds further depth to the titular character's story by revealing the secret history of his wife Laura Barton, played by Linda Cardellini. Unveiled as Agent 19 – the MCU's interpretation of Mockingbird – Laura Barton inherits some engaging history from her comic counterpart, Bobbi Morse. Rivaling the history of her husband, Bobbi has a sketchy past involving nefarious government ops, all while placating a chip on her shoulder.
10 Mockingbird Faked An Engagement On S.H.I.E.L.D Orders
Bobbi Morse is a brilliant student who attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and earned a Ph.D. under biochemist Wilma Calvin. The latter serves on a scientific endeavor dubbed Project: Gladiator, which seeks to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that gave the world Captain America. Funding this project is S.H.I.E.L.D, which trains Morse and designates her Agent 19. Her time on the project is depicted in Roy Thomas and John Buscema's Astonishing Tales #12-13 where she carries on a relationship with Dr. Paul Allen, whom S.H.I.E.L.D suspects of being an agent of AIM. Following through with her directive, Morse goes so far as becoming engaged to Allen over the course of the charade. Ultimately, her faux-engagement ends when Allen is killed by a monster (partially of Morse's making).
9 Mockingbird Took Part In The Project That Created Man-Thing
Morse's colleagues in Gladiator include Dr. Ted Sallis, who is betrayed by his neglected wife Ellen in league with AIM. This leads to Sallis injecting himself with a version of the Super Soldier Serum from Gladiator while crashing into a swamp, combining to bear the lagoon creature Man-Thing.
Morse, following the exposure of her engagement, winds up a captive of Dr. Allen in the swamp. Thomas and Buscema's Astonishing Tales #12-13 recount this tale and possibly hint at the future of the supernatural side of the MCU. Given both Morbius and Blade are arriving on screen soon, Agent 19's history with Man-Thing is only natural to adapt.
8 Mockingbird Briefly Called Herself "Huntress"
Perhaps disillusioned with the methods of her former employer, Morse leaves S.H.I.E.L.D and assumes a new costumed identity. Working as the Huntress, Morse is tasked by a senator with investigating reports of corruption in another part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mike Friedrich and George Evans' Marvel Super Action #1 tell the story in black and white, evoking classic thrillers such as the works of Hitchcock. This is the only appearance of Morse's new identity: possibly due to the increasing popularity of Helena Bertinelli, who is a DC Comics hero that also goes by the moniker of Huntress. Morse returns to S.H.I.E.L.D and resumes her regular duties.
7 Mockingbird's Name Comes From Her Penchant For Taunting Her Opponents
Mockingbird is a character destined for stardom in the MCU given the franchise's tendency to quip. The entire idea behind Morse's moniker is that she enjoys mocking her opponents whilst battling them.
This is initially established in Steven Grant and Jim Janes' Marvel Team-Up #95 and is reinforced by every subsequent appearance of the character. Fittingly, she's paired with Spider-Man in #95 on a S.H.I.E.L.D mission to eradicate corruption in its ranks. Spidey is also known for his tendency to gibe amidst a fight and will crop up in Morse's life later on.
6 Mockingbird Eloped With Hawkeye After They Teamed-Up
A love born out of a traumatic mission, Bobbi Morse and Clint Barton are a genuine Marvel power couple who echo great comic romances such as Cyclops and Jean Grey. The two are initially forced to fight each other by the villainous Crossfire but manage to defeat the villain, albeit with permanent hearing damage for Barton. The shared experience, as well as their natural chemistry, fuels the couple's decision to elope not long after in Mark Gruenwald's Hawkeye #4. They retire to the Pocono Mountains in New York, having earned a break from the grind of superheroics. This possibly occurred in the MCU's timeline given the secretive nature of Barton's home life glimpsed in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Hawkeye.
5 Mockingbird Was Assaulted By The Phantom Rider
Hawkeye was soon tasked with assembling a new group of Avengers to operate on the West Coast, and his first choice for the team is Bobbi. In hindsight, Barton may regret his decision as it led to a horrible violation of his wife by Lincoln Slade, otherwise called the Phantom Rider. Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom's West Coast Avengers #18-23 sees the titular team scattered by Kang the Conqueror across time.
Arriving in the Old West, they join the Rider's gang in battling some criminals but soon find their ally is preying on Bobbi. Before the team can depart for Egypt together, Rider kidnaps Mockingbird and subdues her with a love potion. Bobbi is then subjected to mental manipulation to encourage the love of her captor as the team races to find a way back to the Old West from Egypt. Given Rider and Bobbi's intimacy during these events, coupled with her inability to consent, this adds up to a pretty atrocious act by Slade.
4 Mockingbird Has A History With Killing
A central part of the vigilante story is the dilemma of justice and how this differs from vengeance. Batman and Superman of DC are widely respected for their supposed "no-kill" rules, but there are considerably more nuanced characters that examine this question with more realistic results. Mockingbird is one such hero. Similar in vein to Wolverine, she wrestles with her rage and sometimes has to be stopped from ending her victims. Bobbi repays the horror of the Phantom Rider's actions in West Coast Avengers #23 by simply watching him lose his grip and fall from a huge cliff. Later, her old enemy AIM brainwashes her into nearly murdering Taskmaster in Nick Spencer, Ales Kot, and Butch Guice's Secret Avengers #13. In a fight with Yelena Belova only a couple of issues later, Mockingbird utilizes holo-camouflage to give her likeness to Belova, thereby confusing AIM agents into shooting the latter. This propensity for violence should make for a fascinating discussion among MCU adherents.
3 Mockingbird Was Replaced With A Skrull
Mockingbird's replacement by the Skrull impostor H'rpra is infamous in Marvel Comics history for its wide-ranging implications. H'rpra would eventually be killed by Mephisto but would participate as a member of the West Coast Avengers shortly before their disbanding in Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and David Ross' Avengers West Coast #102. All the while, the real Bobbi Morse is held captive on a Skrull planet – specifically in a replica of the WCA compound – and is being manipulated into giving up valuable assets and information. Secret Invasion reveals yet another Skrull impostor of Bobbi, but this one is executed quickly by her bitter husband Clint, now going by Ronin.
2 Mockingbird Formed The World Counterterrorism Agency
The absence of his wife drives Clint Barton to the extremes of his moral compass, similar to the character's depiction in Avengers: Endgame. Things aren't peachy between them for some time following Bobbi's return from Skrull captivity; it takes a couple of missions as members of the New Avengers before the couple begins to reconcile.
Things culminate in Jim McCann and David Lopez's New Avengers: The Reunion #4 when Morse founds the World Counterterrorism Agency. Ronin joins her on her mission and the two bond over the course of the operation. The agency's genesis is in response to the Secret Invasion and acts as a potential replacement for S.H.I.E.L.D.
1 Mockingbird Dated Spider-Man
Mockingbird's aforementioned chemistry with Spider-Man is something recognized by the writers at Marvel, too. By the time of Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man #789, Peter Parker suffers the fall of Parker Industries and struggles to regain his footing. Enter Bobbi Morse, who lets him share her apartment, and the two begin dating. Spider-Man even assists Mockingbird with an investigation she's conducting regarding a powerful A.I. Given the age difference between the MCU's Agent 19 and Tom Holland's web-slinger, it's unlikely this partnership (or relationship) will come to fruition on the big screen. However, a future team-up with Hawkeye and Spider-Man may grant some opportunity to at least acknowledge Morse's influence during a horrible time in Parker's life.