Thor bless us, every one. We may have gotten a major Marvel spoiler just in time for the holiday season. Clark Gregg possibly teased that Hawkeye will be on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. via a Facebook post from his official page. Clint Barton has been mysteriously absent from the Marvel properties ever since he played footsie with Natasha Romanov at the schwarma joint at the end of Avengers. He has been referenced, but unseen. Story-wise, it would make sense to have him on the show. Hawkeye is, after all, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Fans of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye comic series would love to see more of that Clint Barton on screen. We need to know his status after the Hydra takeover. Is he laying low? Has he joined back up in some pocket of the world? Is he working undercover with Hydra?
We know that the show will be laying the framework for Age of Ultron. There are many ways they can achieve this, and having an Avenger appear is probably the most efficient. Sorry, fans of Loki and/or Tom Hiddleston. Before Coulson had a team, he worked pretty closely with Clint Barton. It would be nice to be able to delve into their working relationship and history on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, I would enjoy seeing him interact with the team. He's as stoic as May, as rebellious as Skye, and six inches shorter than Mac.
Maybe Clark Gregg just misses his Avengers. Here's what Gregg posted:
It doesn't look good for Agent Coulson! Though, to his credit, Clint Barton does not officially know that Coulson is alive. Which is a problem, as he is directing S.H.I.E.L.D. — Barton also shouldn't know that Nick Fury is alive. You can see why having such a prominent S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent on the show is such a necessity. There are a lot of logistics that need to be worked out before the next Avengers movie. What if Hawkeye and Black Widow spend the entirety of Age of Ultron knowing that Coulson is alive but never acknowledging it. Wouldn't that be hilarious? As for the ABC series, here are some ways they could bring Hawkeye on without raising too many bows and arrows.
Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch
Many of us have long maintained that somebody needs to give Barton an update on what's happened in the past three Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Where was he when Iron Man took on "the Mandarin," or when the world went loopy during Thor 2? Where was he when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell in Winter Soldier? Did anybody call him? What was he doing? He was probably chilling on his ranch. That's right. Hawkeye lives on a farm, presumably in Iowa where the character grew up in the comics. My favorite way to bring Renner on this show would be to have the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. visit his home for a briefing. If you've ever seen Firefly, you know Team Whedon loves a Western. How fun would it be to see FitzSimmons try their hand at farm life?
Bobbi Morse
In the comics, Clint Barton and Mockingbird were briefly married, instead of Bobbi and Lance Hunter. A few weeks ago, Mac and Bobbi briefly discussed an "other thing" that they decided not to tell Lance about, ever. What if Clint was "the other thing" — are they together now, or was there a thing?
What about Black Widow?! Don't think I didn't notice the arrow necklace she was wearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That was about Hawkeye, not Katniss Everdeen. We need some answers, and I refuse to wait until Age of Ultron to get them.
Images: Giphy (2); christophrnolan /Tumblr
