Hawkeye Origin Story

Hawkeye has been a key member of The Avengers, but unlike most superheroes, he doesn’t have inherent superpowers. He’s a skilled archer with a knack for gadgets. He’s also a bit of a brawler, but he can use his skill and wits more than his strength.

The man who would become Hawkeye was born in Iowa and orphaned as a child. He worked as a juggler in the Carson Circus of Traveling Wonders, where he became a disciple of the Swordsman, a circus performer who specialized in swordsmanship and martial arts. Barton also learned to be a master archer and developed a reputation as a sharpshooter.

As an adult, he left the circus to see the world and eventually settled in Waverly, where he began working for Cross Technological Enterprises as head of security. That’s where he met S.H.I.E.L.D agent Bobbi Morse, who would become Mockingbird. The two would go on to form the West Coast Avengers and he would even briefly lead the Thunderbolts, a team of reformed criminals that he felt he could best understand and train as they tried to find their own paths towards redemption.

While he often quarreled with Captain America, who saw him as an irascible rebel, the archer proved himself to be a valuable member of The Avengers. He’s a seasoned tactician and an accomplished leader, with a keen mind that allows him to game plan calculated courses of action and quarterback his team during combat.

He’s also an ace archer, able to shoot with such precision that he can hit a target from over a mile away. Despite his arrogance, he’s not a complete fool; he once observed during an unarmed brawl that all of his years of practice have paid off in terms of his upper body strength.

While the MCU has done a decent job of portraying some of the characters from the comics in their films and TV shows, it never really got a chance to show us Hawkeye’s side of things, which is a shame because he’s one of the more intriguing members of the roster. Fortunately, this new series is here to give us just that. Keeping in line with the tone established by previous Marvel television series, this new show stars Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye dealing with the enemies and consequences of his past life as Ronin and putting an end to his chapter. The series premieres March 18, 2020, on the CW. You can check out the trailer below. It’s definitely worth a watch.