A new clip from Marvel’s Hawkeye has landed and it reveals that Clint Barton is the least popular Avenger. No, really. Ever since The Avengers, the expert archer has been the underdog of the team, with a reputation for generally being the least-liked of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Well, hopefully the incoming Disney Plus TV series will change that, but first, it appears to be referencing Clint’s real-world reputation in a sly way.
This 34-second clip sees Jeremy Renner’s Barton and Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop walking through NYC when a kid shouts out that he’s seen a superhero. Clint turns around expecting to greet the boy when it turns out he’s actually talking about some street performers in cosplay.
Though there’s an Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain America, there’s no Hawkeye among them. There is an archer, but as Clint points out, it’s The Hunger Games‘ Katniss Everdeen. Like Kate says, it looks like Barton has a branding problem.
This clip is an effective promo for the series as it also neatly sums up its premise. When Kate mentions Clint’s branding problem, he counters that his problem is her as Kate’s decision to don his Ronin costume has led to her being targeted by assassins. Clint goes on to say that he’s determined to solve this problem today so that he can spend Christmas with his wife and kids. But something tells us things aren’t going to go that smoothly.
What with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and to a lesser extent WandaVision, the Disney Plus shows seem to have a particular interest in exploring how the world at large views these heroes, which is something the movies are generally uninterested in. In Hawkeye, it looks like it’ll make clear that Clint’s popularity just isn’t as high as the rest of the Avengers. But maybe that’s a promise that he’ll do something to earn the public’s love by the end of the show.
Hawkeye premieres with its first two episodes next Wednesday, November 24 on Disney Plus.
