Clint Barton at a glance
Clint Barton is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with perfect aim, a bow and a quiver full of trick arrows. He has no armor, no serum and no magic, which makes him the most ordinary member of the original Avengers. That is the point of the character: he is the guy who knows he is outgunned and does the job anyway.
He also has a history with Natasha Romanoff that goes back to their S.H.I.E.L.D. days. The films hint at a mission in Budapest and a debt between them, and that friendship turns into one of the most important bonds in the Infinity Saga.
Every Hawkeye movie and series in order
- Thor (2011): a short cameo as a S.H.I.E.L.D. sniper watching Thor in New Mexico.
- The Avengers (2012): his first major role.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015): the film finally shows who he is off duty.
- Captain America: Civil War (2016): he comes out of retirement to pick a side.
- Black Widow (2021): a brief voice cameo tied to Natasha's past.
- Avengers: Endgame (2019): one of the film's central figures.
- What If...? (2021): an alternate-universe animated appearance.
- Hawkeye (2021): his own series, set at Christmas in New York.
Big moments for the Avengers' archer
In The Avengers, Clint spends much of the story under Loki's control, which gives him a personal reason to want the fight finished. Age of Ultron brings the biggest surprise of his early arc: a farmhouse, a wife and kids that almost nobody on the team knew about. It reframes him as the one Avenger with a normal life to go home to.
Captain America: Civil War pulls him back in on Steve Rogers's side, at a real cost. Endgame then gives him a darker storyline shaped by grief, along with one of the saga's most painful scenes. The series picks up after all of that, as Clint just wants to get home for the holidays and instead finds himself mentoring a young archer named Kate Bishop, who idolizes him.
Clint's closest allies
Natasha Romanoff is the person who matters most to him outside his family. Steve Rogers is the leader he trusts enough to follow into trouble, even against the law. Tony Stark and Thor are teammates rather than close friends, but Clint fights beside both of them from the very first Avengers film onward.
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye
Jeremy Renner plays Clint with a tired, wry calm, like a man who has been doing a dangerous job for too long and has made peace with it. The series lets him be funnier and more vulnerable, including Clint's hearing loss, which the show handles with care. Outside the MCU, Renner is known for The Hurt Locker, The Town, his role as agent William Brandt in the Mission: Impossible films and the series Mayor of Kingstown.
The order to watch Hawkeye's story
Release order is the way to go. The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Civil War and Endgame are all essential, and they carry his main arc. Thor is optional for Clint, since his part is only a cameo, though the film is recommended for the wider saga. Finish with the Hawkeye series, which works best once you have seen Endgame and is perfect for a December rewatch.