Clinton Barton

"I see better from a distance."

- Clint Barton

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.

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

- Clint Barton Clint Barton was serving in a military branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. when freakish atmospheric events, followed by the discovery of Mjölnir 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's 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 assigning 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, Fury drives Barton to the Mojave desert for watch over Selvig and the Tesseract.

Black Widow Strikes
Barton was on S.H.I.E.L.D. screens.

The Avengers Initiative
As part of a test, Barton, in disguise, enters the Helicarrier, where he downloads a file about the members that were in consideration for the Avengers Initiative, when suddenly he's attacked by Black Widow. Barton is shot with a Ray Gun by Black Widow. When Fury shows up, Barton tells him that he should've told him that the Widow had a Ray Gun Fury tells him that it would be negative, as this test had to be as realistic as possible.

The Avengers
"You don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Take you out and stuff something else in? You know what it's like to be unmade?"

- Clint Barton 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.

Iron Man 3 Prelude
After Loki was defeated, James Rhodes arrived in New York to help out Tony. Rhodes located Stark in a Shawarma restaurant where he was introduced to Clint and the other Avengers.

Thor: The Dark World Prelude
"Look who's talking"

- Clint Barton

After Thor killed a Leviathan, Black Widow asked Captain America what he thought of Thor now, Cap stated that he "still dresses funny". Hawkeye looked at Cap and replied "look who's talking".

Avengers: Age of Ultron
""Whosoever, be he worthy, shall have the power", whatever man! It's a trick! It's a circus sideshow, and that is it! And you know it!"

- Clint Barton

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.

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. Clint 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 hit small targets in the greatest of distances. 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 rebounds/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 styles (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.
 * Compound bow (formerly): Used when in New Mexico.

Relationships

 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury - Commander.
 * Maria Hill - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally.
 * Jasper Sitwell - S.H.I.E.L.D ally.
 * Erik Selvig - Ally.
 * Phil Coulson - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally
 * The Avengers
 * Steve Rogers / Captain America - Avengers teammate and Team Leader.
 * Tony Stark / Iron Man - Avengers teammate.
 * Thor Odinson - Avengers teammate.
 * Bruce Banner / Hulk - Avengers teammate
 * Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally/Avengers teammate, and friend.
 * Quicksilver - Enemy turned Ally, Avengers teammate.
 * Scarlet Witch - Enemy turned Ally, Avengers teammate.
 * Vision - Avengers teammate.
 * Loki Laufeyson - Brainwashed master, turned Enemy.
 * Chitauri - Enemies.
 * Ultron - Enemy

Appearances/Actors

 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (3 films)


 * Thor (First appearance) - Jeremy Renner
 * The Avengers - Jeremy Renner
 * Avengers: Age of Ultron - Jeremy Renner
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 TV series)


 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * "The Hub" - (Mentioned only)
 * "A Fractured Hous" (Mentioned Only)
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (5 comics)


 * Black Widow Strikes
 * Fury's Big Week
 * The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative
 * Iron Man 3 Prelude
 * Thor: The Dark World Prelude

Quotes
Clint Barton: Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure. Clint Barton: Yeah? Get in line. Clint Barton: You and I remember Budapest very differently.
 * Steve Rogers: You think you can hold them off?
 * Thor: I have unfinished business with Loki.
 * Do you want me to take him down or would you rather send in more guys for him to beat up?
 * You better call it Coulson, cause I'm starting to root for this guy.
 * Natasha Romanoff: [watching the aliens come toward them] This is just like Budapest all over again.

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.

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.
 * Clint was originally going to appear in Captain America: The Winter Soldier before he was scrapped by the Russos.