Now that Loki has released its final episode of the season, the stakes are higher than ever before. Loki introduced the most powerful antagonist the franchise has ever seen, unleashed thousands of branched timelines, and set up Phase 4 heroes for the biggest battle of their lives. With powers that exceed those of Thanos when he was in possession of all six Infinity Stones, the god-like Kang the Conqueror and his variants will be nearly impossible to beat. Loki brings the Marvel Universe to cosmic levels and its success has raised the bar greatly for future projects. So how will shows like Hawkeye fit into this multiversal chaos?
As most Marvel fans know, Clint Barton will be the star of his own series on Disney Plus and the Black Widow post-credits scene revealed that he’ll have some run-ins with Natasha’s younger sister, Yelena. Hawkeye doesn’t deal with a lot of time-related issues and he was absent during Avengers: Infinity War. His story is extremely Earthbound and focuses on the more traditional superhero narrative.
Clint was eventually exposed to time travel during Avengers: Endgame when he and Natasha were sent to Vormir to find the Soul Stone, so it’s always possible for Marvel to up the ante and take his character to new heights. Going to space was quite the jump for Hawkeye, as it’s extremely uncharted territory for him in the MCU. Most of Hawkeye’s heroic adventures have taken place on Earth, which is far cry from everything that went down during Loki.
Hawkeye does have some connections to the Skrulls in Marvel Comics, so perhaps his series will tap into the relationship he had with their people and bring parts of that story to life on screen. The Skrulls are going to play a major part in the upcoming Secret Invasion series coming to Disney Plus, so it would make sense for Marvel to build bridges between both of these shows. However, Black Widow already confirmed that Hawkeye is going to face off against Yelena, who is working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. There has been no mention of him coming into contact with the Skrulls or making an appearance in Secret Invasion as of right now.
If anything, Clint will have deeper connections to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is another MCU series that doesn’t quite fit in amongst the multiverse-focused Phase 4 projects released thus far. Valentina also made a guest appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when she tried to recruit John Walker and she is using Yelena to put a target on Clint’s back. It appears that Clint, Yelena, Valentina, Sam and Bucky are all on a journey that is very distanced from the events of Loki, or even WandaVision and upcoming films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Clint’s exposure to time travel and Thanos’s universal manipulations pale in comparison to the revelations in episode 6 of Loki, so it’s hard to imagine how the Hawkeye series will live up to fan expectations. Loki and WandaVision completely reshaped the MCU by introducing new characters with otherworldly abilities and the potential to control time and space. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, though extremely grounded in reality, touched on some serious real-life issues that impact a lot of Marvel fans in the real world. Hawkeye won’t be able to live up to its predecessors if Marvel doesn’t bring Clint’s story somewhere far beyond the regular human experience.
Even Clint’s choice of weapon is rather mundane when stacking up against characters like Wanda and Loki, who can wield magic or manipulate reality. He has no supersoldier serum, like Bucky, or mechanical wings, like Sam. Clint is just a regular guy with a complicated past, a family, and a knack for always hitting his target.
Loki was so successful that Disney Plus has decided to move all original series to Wednesdays, the same day that new installments of Loki started streaming on the platform. Loki gained more viewers during its premier than both WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and continued to rock the Marvel Universe with each new episode. After such a great run, Hawkeye will have to include some ground-breaking content to compete with the grandiose masterpiece that is Loki. Loki is also the only MCU series on Disney Plus to have earned a second season, meaning Hawkeye has even bigger shoes to fill.
There’s still hope for Hawkeye, though, now that the time war has officially begun. It’s hard to imagine what's to come since an infinite number of doors have been thrown wide open, thanks to the multiverse. If Hawkeye takes advantage of these possibilities, Marvel could finally figure out Clint's major purpose in MCU.