Hawkeye Episode 5 Asks 6 Questions About Clint’s MCU Ending

Warning! SPOILERS for Hawkeye episode 5

The Hawkeye season finale is around the corner, but episode 5 of the Disney+ TV series has asked several questions about the future of Clint Barton and how his time with the MCU might end. Hawkeye was one of the founding members of the Avengers and Jeremy Renner’s portrayal of him is one of the longest-running heroes in the MCU. It is possible that Hawkeye might be Clint Barton’s swan song, or it might just be the start of a different path for the character altogether.

In the Black Widow post-credits scene, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gives Black Widow‘s Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) her next target: Clint Barton. She suggests to Yelena that it is Clint’s fault that Natasha Romanoff is dead and shows her a picture of him in his Ronin costume. In Hawkeye episode 5, “Ronin,” Yelena confirms in her conversation with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) that her mission is to kill Clint Barton and later reveals that she has been hired by Kate’s mother, Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga), and Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Before 2021, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff were the only members of the original Avengers to not have their own standalone projects. Black Widow changed that for Natasha and was Scarlett Johansson’s final outing as the character. With Clint receiving his own TV show in Hawkeye and his life being threatened from multiple angles, there are a lot of questions raised about whether Jeremy Renner has a future in the MCU, and how much of a central role Clint might continue to play if he survives. Here’s every question that Hawkeye episode 5 raises about Clint’s MCU future and possible ending.

Why Does Eleanor Bishop Want Clint Barton Dead?

At the end of Hawkeye episode 5, Yelena tells Kate Bishop that it was Kate’s mother, Eleanor, who hired her to kill Clint Barton. Eleanor has made no secret of being wary about Clint working with Kate. She has primarily suggested that the cause for her concern is that Clint might get Kate Bishop hurt and that he is introducing her daughter to a dangerous world, a concern that appears vindicated by Kate appearing in front of her wounded at the beginning of Hawkeye episode 5. However, simply not wanting Kate to be introduced to the world of the MCU’s superheroes by the Avenger she has idolized for most of her life seems like a weak motive for the extreme choice of hiring someone to kill the Avenger. It is unlikely that Eleanor’s first choice would have ever been to try and kill her daughter’s hero. More likely, she is simply the tool of Kingpin and it is Wilson Fisk that has asked her to hire Yelena, rather than her simply hiring a Black Widow on her own motivation. This is supported in the final moments of Hawkeye episode 5 when Yelena is shown talking to Kingpin.

Why Does Kingpin Want Clint Barton Dead?

If Eleanor Bishop doesn’t have a strong motive to want Clint Barton dead, then Kingpin must. Hawkeye episode 5 reveals that when Clint, as Ronin, killed Echo’s father he was operating on a tip that came from one of Kingpin’s men. Wilson Fisk clearly wanted one of his underlings out of the way for some reason and saw the Ronin as a tool that he could use. With Ronin back on the scene after an extended absence, Kingpin has every reason to be concerned and want him dealt with. While Clint clearly wants to stay clear of Kingpin, Fisk might worry that Ronin will one day want to take him out directly or, as Hawkeye episode 5 demonstrated, Clint Barton might share some on Kingpin’s old secrets and damage his operation in other ways.

What Does The Watch Mean For The Barton Family?

One item has hung over the entire plot of the Hawkeye TV series with as much weight as the Ronin costume and sword. In episode 1, the Tracksuit Mafia steals a mysterious watch that was recovered from the Avengers compound. Clint Barton discovers that Echo has the watch and also has noted the names of Clint’s whole family. Clint tells his wife, Laura (Linda Cardellini), that they have the watch from Hawkeye episode 1 and it is clear that it is a point of concern for the family, as Laura assures Clint that they are far enough away, but he doesn’t seem sure. There are many theories about whose watch this is and what information would be stored inside it. However, perhaps the most compelling is that it belonged to Laura Barton and reveals that she is the MCU’s version of Mockingbird, a superhero in the Marvel Comics that Hawkeye had a relationship with. If this is the case, then Clint Barton’s future might see him fighting alongside his family or, if the TV series takes a darker turn, then Laura might return as Mockingbird to avenge him.

Will Yelena Kill Clint Barton?

Ever since Fontaine gave Yelena Belova Hawkeye as a target it has seemed possible that Yelena might be the ultimate cause of Clint Barton’s MCU ending. It is definitely in the cards that Yelena might kill Clint believing that he caused Natasha’s death, with the truth of the situation only being revealed after it is too late. However, there are several reasons why Yelena might not ultimately kill Clint Barton, and those were emphasized by Hawkeye episode 5.

First, a piece of meta reasoning suggests that Clint Barton will not die in Hawkeye because it is a Christmas story with the finale releasing just two days before Christmas Day. Disney and Marvel might choose an emotional exit for the hero, but killing a huge long-standing character in the middle of the holidays would certainly be a bold choice. Within the story, there are also reasons to think that Clint Barton will survive Hawkeye, or at least not die at Yelena’s hands.

In Hawkeye episode 5, Yelena and Kate have a conversation in her apartment and the interplay between the two looks like it might be designed to set up a future partnership, potentially as part of a Thunderbolts team, that mirrors the original Black Widow/Hawkeye dynamic. This would be somewhat complicated if Yelena was responsible for the death of Kate’s celebrity mentor. Additionally, in this conversation, Kate tries to assure Yelena that Clint is a good person and Yelena later tips Kate off about who hired her. Presumably, Yelena had not known who had hired her before tailing Eleanor as the contract had come through Fontaine. However, Kate was able to plant enough doubt about the story that she had been told about Clint that Yelena began to question her mission and the motives of those who hired her. This means that Yelena might also be questioning how true the story she has heard about Clint and Natasha was and will likely lead to her getting the real version of events from Clint. Finally, the series has put a lot of weight on the idea that Natasha’s choice was designed to let Clint live his life and be there for his family. If Yelena kills him and takes that away, she will be directly damaging the final wishes of her sister and damaging Natasha’s MCU legacy.

Will Clint Barton Retire?

While it might seem unlikely that Hawkeye will see Clint Barton die, the Disney+ TV series still might be the MCU ending for Clint. Clint Barton has tried to retire before in the MCU and been dragged back in, and the Hawkeye TV series has worked hard to show Clint at the end of his rope. Clint has been struggling with his celebrity status, something that Kate seems more invested in than Clint does. He has been slowed by the physical damage and pain from his past adventures, notably needing a hearing aid and taking longer to recover after battles with the liberal application of ice packs. Not to mention that Clint is still haunted by the trauma of the events of Avengers: Endgame and his time as Ronin.

All of this representation in Hawkeye doubles down on the parallel representation of Clint Barton in What If…? episode 8, “What If… Ultron Won?” In the episode, Hawkeye is tired of running and being a superhero and it eventually leads to him giving his life because he has nothing left to live for. In the main body of the MCU timeline, Clint Barton still has plenty to live for, but he is tired of running. A natural end to Hawkeye would be for Clint Barton to retire from being a superhero and to pass his mantle on to Kate Bishop, a character with plenty of room to grow and who is eager to take up the celebrity status of an Avenger.

Will Jeremey Renner Return In The MCU?

If Clint Barton survives Hawkeye and is allowed to retire, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye seems likely to return in the MCU’s future in a much-reduced capacity. Kate Bishop is set to become a more major character and Clint Barton looks to be playing an important role in her growth. If he is still alive, Clint Barton will likely serve a fatherly mentorship role for Kate from a distance and maintain a presence in the MCU. Similarly, if Laura Barton is revealed as Mockingbird, she may need to return as a superhero to solve problems that she has been hiding from. While Clint might retire because of his injuries, in this situation he would still be able to have a presence in the MCU in a similar role to that currently held by Linda Cardellini, as Jeremy Renner could portray Clint Barton as the new stay at home dad while Laura is out saving the world.

Hawkeyereleases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

About The Author

Faefyx Collington
(489 Articles Published)

Faefyx Collington (They/Them) is a senior features writer for Screen Rant. They’re a British writer of both fiction and non-fiction, focussing on science fiction, fantasy, and mystery for the former and on culture, gender, and current affairs for the latter.
Never content to settle to one thing, Faefyx is also a co-host and producer of the podcast and video series “Unramblings,” and can occasionally be found making music around the internet as well.
Having acquired degrees on both sides of the Atlantic, Fyx has settled (for the moment) in the southern United States where they live with their spouse and an entirely appropriate number of cats.

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