WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Hawkeye Episode 3, "Echoes," which debuted Wednesday on Disney+.
Since his first full appearance in Avengers, many of questioned why Hawkeye is on the team. While Jeremy Renner's character is incredibly skilled and a capable archer, his skills have made many question if there's even room for a character with a bow and arrow. That being said, the third episode of Hawkeye justifies Clint's place on the team in fantastic fashion.
Before his series, Clint spent a lot of time shrouded in mystery. In Avengers, he was largely unknown to audiences and the team, but his skills with the bow showed viewers that he was still a force to be reckoned with. However, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film humanized him and showed that he's so distant because he has a family he wants to keep safe. From that moment on, Clint is more of a mentor to characters like Wanda Maximoff and is constantly trying to settle down on his farm. However, By Avengers: Endgame, Clint's dark side is explored when he becomes Ronin, killing criminals to make up for the loss of his family in The Blip. Finally, it isn't until Hawkeye that fans get to see why he's an Avenger in terms of capabilities.
At the beginning of the episode, Clint is captured with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) by the Tracksuit Mafia. After being interrogated by Echo (Alaqua Cox), Clint manages to escape, relying on his training to outsmart the Tracksuits. But after evading them, he meets up with Echo, who destroys his hearing aid, hindering his skills. Nevertheless, Clint keeps fighting and finds his bow and arrows.
Once he has his signature weapon, he immediately shows his talents in full, which are only glimpsed in the films. First, he traps Echo with two arrows and follows up by jumping off a ledge and freeing Kate from her bindings mid-fall. The moment shows that Clint is still calm enough to fire an arrow and hit its mark even under pressure.
He then falls in a ball pit and hides, only appearing to stab two Tracksuits' feet with his arrows. This shows that the brutality from his SHIELD and Ronin days are still within him, but he controls how he uses it.
Following his incredible dive, Clint fires off arrows at other Tracksuits with ease and even fires from behind him without looking, hitting his mark. However, the reason the scene is so impressive and defining for the character is that he did all of this without his hearing aid. The moment shows that Clint is so skilled, and his training and instincts allow him to perform seemingly superhuman feats.
As a character, Hawkeye has always been about precision and energy conservation. He doesn't have armor like Iron Man or he fights as hard as Black Widow. What he lacks, he makes up for by using his energy when it counts and hitting his mark. If he is unleashed, it's guaranteed he will eliminate his opposition quickly and without struggle. Because of one scene, fans can finally see how he's held his own with the Avengers for so long. Not to mention, his skill and fatherly traits also make him a great teacher and even better hero worthy of the title of Avenger.
Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes released every Wednesday.
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