Hawkeye’s Black Widow Reveal Makes Clint A Hypocrite

Warning! SPOILERS Marvel’s Hawkeye episode 4

Marvel’s Hawkeye reveals Clint Barton’s reasons for sparing Black Widow’s life when they first met, but his reasoning also makes Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) a hypocrite. While he and fellow archer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) are working a case together involving Barton’s dark past as Ronin, Hawkeye explains why the “shot he didn’t take” was his best, revealing why he chose to save the life of Natasha Romanoff when she was a target he had been ordered to eliminate. However, his decision to look beyond Natasha’s past seems to be something he can’t do for himself.

In Hawkeye episode 4, Kate brings some much-needed Christmas cheer while she and Clint Barton have some downtime in their case. Offering decorations, movies, and plenty of drinks as a consolation for Clint being away from his family during the holidays, they also bond as partners during the improvised festivities. However, things get more serious than intended when Kate asks Clint about the greatest shot he ever took. After some pressure, Clint elaborates that his greatest shot was the one he didn’t take, the arrow meant for Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow when they first met in Budapest. Having been ordered to kill Romanoff due to her status as a deadly Russian assassin, Clint tells Kate that he had a feeling Natasha wanted out. Sure enough, he was right and they would go on to be partners in S.H.I.E.L.D. and eventually Avengers.

However, while this is a dynamic and emotional reveal that shows Hawkeye’s side of the Budapest encounter that was likewise explained by Romanoff in Black Widow, it very much makes Clint Barton a hypocrite. After Kate correctly surmises that Clint was the assassin Ronin during Thanos’ Decimation, Barton goes on to say that he’s not a hero. He went back to being what he was always trained to be: a weapon with the intent to kill, seeing himself as nothing more than an arrow rather than someone who could be seen as a hero. While he could see the good in Natasha, despite her dark past, it seems as though Hawkeye can’t reconcile his own past with the fact that he’s very much a good person as well.

As Hawkeye continues, it’s likely up to Kate Bishop to help him reconcile his dark past with his present. As far as she’s concerned, Hawkeye is still a hero who has served as a major inspiration in her life (whether Clint wants to be or not). Likewise, she didn’t run away when Clint confirmed her suspicions that he was Ronin. She’s still sticking by Hawkeye and has faith in him. Even when Clint pushes her away at the end of the episode out of his fear that Kate will die fighting alongside him (as Black Widow did), it’s doubtful that that will keep Bishop away for very long.

Black Widow’s death in Avengers: Endgame has served a big role in Hawkeye thus far, and it will likely continue to do so now that Natasha’s sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) has arrived in the series to get vengeance for her death. As such, Clint will probably need Kate Bishop’s help whether he likes it or not, allowing her to continue her attempts to convince Hawkeye he’s still a hero, despite his hypocrisy. If Black Widow can be redeemed, so can Clint Barton.

Marvel’s Hawkeye releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+

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Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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