Despite being an original Avenger and receiving a lot of screentime across the MCU, it is extremely upsetting that one of the best Hawkeye/Clint Barton storylines was told almost entirely off-screen in the franchise. Hawkeye, unfortunately, spent many years in the background. Yes, he was part of Phase 1 and the earliest version of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but he never received the same recognition or treatment as any of the other original Avengers.
After not even being featured in Avengers: Infinity War, Clint Barton was finally brought back in Avengers: Endgame, and it seemed as though things were on the right track. The movie opened with him and showed how he was affected by the Snap, and, after the time jump, revealed that he had become the Ronin.
At first, this seemed exciting. Finally, Clint's Ronin arc was being brought to the forefront, and fans would get to see one of the character's best storylines unfold in front of their eyes. However, beyond a quick scene of him using his sword, no Ronin content was mentioned or shown.
To be fair, Endgame wasn't Clint Barton's story, so it made sense that the movie would not dwell on his time as Ronin. That made it even more exciting when Marvel Studios announced a Hawkeye Disney+ show would be released. Maybe it could finally spend some time in Clint's psyche and fully showcase how and why he became the Ronin.
Hawkeye had a lot of plot elements surrounding Ronin, but it still didn't dive into that version of the character. Essentially, Hawkeye established that Clint became Ronin because he was dealing with a lot of grief and depression due to his family disappearing after Thanos' snap. As Ronin, Clint acted as a vigilante, hunting down criminals and using extreme force.
However, after rejoining the Avengers in Endgame, he seemingly left the Ronin persona behind. Beyond the explanation of what happened, Clint's time as Ronin was never thoroughly explored. Yes, Ronin became a central plot point of Hawkeye, but it was more to establish Kate Bishop and introduce Alaqua Cox's Maya Lopez and Kingpin than anything.
It is worth noting that the Ronin persona and costume also influenced Hawkeye's updated costume in his self-titled series, as his new suit featured more black than any of his previous Hawkeye outfits.
What is upsetting is that Endgame and Hawkeye did not fully showcase the horrors of Clint's time as Ronin. He essentially went rogue after his family disappeared and turned to killing those he thought didn't deserve to live. That was a major transformation for Clint as a person, and the MCU essentially just skimmed over it.
It would have been extremely interesting to see Clint's transformation into Ronin. Most likely, he would have been filled with grief and rage and would have tried to hold back from giving in to those emotions. Seeing all of that unfold would have done a great deal of justice to his character, and it would have left the audience feeling disappointed to see him take his first kill as Ronin, as that would have symbolized that he had finally crossed the line.
Think about Anakin Skywalker and the Star Wars prequels. If the Jedi version of Anakin had been established in the prequels and in The Clone Wars, and it had jumped from Jedi Anakin straight into Darth Vader behind the mask without showing Order 66, Mustafar, Anakin killing Mace Windu, etc., it would make Anakin's character arc much less effective. However, that is exactly what the MCU did with Clint and his transformation into Ronin.
What makes the MCU's treatment of Clint's Ronin story even more upsetting is that it was handled so well in the comics, allowing readers to see the steps he took to become Ronin and then to leave it behind, returning to being Hawkeye.
Clint Barton's Ronin Storyline in the Comics
The comics and the MCU are vastly different when it comes to Clint Barton becoming Ronin. The reasons each version of the character donned the blades and mask were different, their motivations while being Ronin were different, and so on.
In the comics, Clint Barton died. He was killed by Wanda Maximoff, but she felt bad, so she used her powers to resurrect him. This resulted in Clint dealing with a lot of trauma surrounding his death and being brought back, which affected him mentally.
He also discovered that, while he was away, Kate Bishop (played by Hailee Steinfeld in the MCU) had been named the new Hawkeye. So, he wasn't trying to return as Hawkeye and, quite frankly, didn't want everyone knowing that he had come back from the dead. So, he figured that he would don the Ronin costume.
As a side note, before Clint, Maya Lopez acted as Ronin and was the first to use the mantle in the comics. Like Clint, Maya was also killed and resurrected, but after she came back to life, she was brainwashed. Maya had already sent the Ronin costume to Matt Murdock, though, and asked for his help before she died. He couldn't help at the time, though, so he gave the intel to the New Avengers, as well as the Ronin costume.
So, when Clint came back and joined the New Avengers, he thought it would be perfect for him to use the Ronin costume for a while since it entirely concealed whoever was underneath. At this time, as mentioned, Clint was still dealing with quite a bit of trauma, and he was going through a dark time overall.
After the New Avengers rescued Maya and learned about the Skrulls (who were behind the whole situation involving Maya), a huge slew of events was kicked off involving the Skrulls and a Secret Invasion storyline.
Throughout all of this, Clint continued to use the Ronin costume and persona. It is worth mentioning that he was also a more extreme version of himself during this time, as he killed and was more brutal and angry than normal.
However, after those events ended, Clint left the Ronin costume and persona behind and returned to being Hawkeye alongside Kate Bishop. His personality returned to normal as well, and he went back to the Clint everyone knew and loved.
Clint's Ronin storyline was so interesting in the comics, so it was a shame that Marvel Studios did not spend more time showcasing the MCU's version of Clint as the vigilante. Many interesting moments, relationships, and personal character development opportunities could have occurred on-screen, but Marvel chose not to show them.
