Marvel Comics introduced the newest character to take on the Hawkeye mantle, with Charli Ramsey being the company's first nonbinary legacy hero.
While Charli is not the first nonbinary Marvel character by any means, they are the first to don the mantle of an established hero — in their case, Clint Barton (and Kate Bishop, a legacy hero who uses the Hawkeye name concurrently with Clint).
They join the ranks of other legacy heroes like Sam Wilson (Captain America), Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel), Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Laura Kinney (Wolverine), Jane Foster (Thor), and, of course, Kate Bishop (Hawkeye).
Who Is the New Hawkeye?
Introduced in Ultimates #5, Charli Ramsey is Hawkeye on Earth-6160 (the universe of Marvel's new Ultimate line, created in 2023). Charli is nonbinary - identifying as Two-Spirit - and also comes from the Oglala Band of the Native American Lakota Nation tribe.
The new Ultimate Universe is a world with no superheroes (as designed by The Maker, the original Ultimate Universe's Reed Richards). For instance, The Maker ensured Peter Parker was never bitten by a radioactive spider, and Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne work as exterminators.
Tony Stark and his allies are working toward restoring what has been changed on Earth-6160 by recruiting would-be heroes and setting them on the superhero path. As part of this effort, Tony Stark tried to recruit Earth-6160's Clint Barton, giving him archery equipment and a video message, but Clint declined.
Eventually, though, Charli, who despises Roxxon Energy Partners and its treatment of Native Americans, comes across the gear and message. They interpret it as being meant for them, and so took the discarded archery equipment and adopted the name Hawkeye.
Hawkeye met Captain America when the latter came to retrieve the discarded equipment, and after a slightly rocky start, the two heroes eventually worked together against Roxxon's Cleaning Crew.
Creator Explains New Hawkeye's Nonbinary Identity
Charli Ramsey was created by writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri.
On X (formerly Twitter), Camp described the new hero as "cool, different, and yet undeniably Hawkeye:"
"Issue 5 of Ultimates is out today! First appearance of our Hawkeye; we worked hard to make them cool, different, and yet undeniably 'Hawkeye.'"
Responding to "a lot of questions about Charli's gender," Camp explained that when he was learning about "water protectors/Standing Rock," he kept coming across how important "queer and 'two-spirit' organizers" were "to the movement:"
"There have been a lot of questions about Charli's gender and I'm wary to talk about this stuff outside the book itself. It feels a bit like cheating. But I know it means a lot to people, so I wanted to make a comment."
"When I did my research into the water protectors/Standing Rock, something that was emphasized again and again was the importance of queer and 'two-spirit' organizers to the movement. I wanted to put that into the book."
Camp continued, saying he "didn't want to make a big deal of" Charli's they/them pronouns for two reasons: this piece of their identity is "not in the book itself" yet, and Camp does not "think Charli would make a big deal out of it in that context."
He said it will show up more clearly in the story "when it's natural to the narrative:"
"So, yes, Charli's pronouns are they/them. I didn't want to make a big deal of it, because it's not in the book itself, and because I don't think Charli would make a big deal out of it in that context. But we'll make this explicit when it's natural to the narrative."
Ultimates #5 is available for purchase in comic book shops.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
