The following article contains spoilers for What If…?.
For almost a decade Hawkeye has been the butt of the joke in the Avengers lineup, at least as far as the real world is concerned; meanwhile, Black Widow’s hypersexualization became one of the character's signature traits in the MCU back when she was introduced in Iron Man 2. And yet, it seems like What If…?’s latest episode truly helps the two friends live up to their full potential.
Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton are among the few remarkable individuals recruited by Nick Fury in the MCU that lack any sort of real superpowers, hence why it’s no surprise that Marvel Studios never really placed its bets from the start on the duo since they didn't have the grandiose appeal of an Iron Man, Hulk, or Captain America. Let’s not forget that when the MCU initiative kicked off in 2008 Marvel Studios lacked access to its traditionally more popular characters, as the film rights to Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four had been picked apart by larger studios.
What this means is that the way the MCU was developed, Black Widow and Hawkeye were even served a better destiny than what they would have gotten had Kevin Feige and the studio been able to use the likes of Spider-Man. However, as the Avengers found their footing as modern pop culture’s most profitable property, creative liberties that weren’t present before allowed writers to dive in further to explore characters that had been neglected, and whose content and stories were now suddenly more than welcome.
In just a few minutes, What If…?’s eighth episode seized this opportunity perhaps even better than any MCU movie that came before it, as Black Widow and Hawkeye are treated to one of the show’s best opening sequences. Natasha may be looking just like she did in Age of Ultron, but this version of Barton is the grungier mohawk-rocking sharpshooter that appears in Endgame now even packing a metal arm much in the style of the beloved and undoubtedly awesome Winter Soldier.
The Age of Ultron comics depicted a similar scenario for Black Widow, but her partner in that story was the upcoming Moon Knight, so obviously, her best friend was the go-to option in the MCU. As the unlikely survivors of Ultron's world-ending catastrophe, the duo is seen at their best, even if that sadly means that this version of Hawkeye is one that has lost his family and thus, as What If…? shows, also part of the will to continue fighting since he has no qualms in giving up his life to save Natasha’s. It’s basically a fast-forward button for character progression.
Indeed, originally it was only by the time Captain America: Civil War came around, that Black Widow and Hawkeye were cool all of the sudden, they were fighting on the rebellious anti-government side led by Steve Rogers, meaning they ended up being fugitive good guys, a cause that easily won the hearts of many. Of course, that wasn’t born out of thin air, in part Black Widow and Hawkeye became more complete and interesting characters because of the way the two’s friendship slowly progressed as they were an essential part of each other’s personal path to becoming Avengers.
Suffice to say, while Hawkeye was probably quite lame up to Civil War, and Black Widow had to settle for the attention scraps that came with being the sole female Avenger, that trend started to shift, although -unfortunately- it all came a bit too late. Barton and Romanoff's story arc ended up becoming one of the most meaningful relationships in the Infinity Saga, to the point where fans were left wanting to see more of the two after Natasha took the leap in Vormir.
In Black Widow and Hawkeye, regardless of both being money-making business ventures from Disney, lies proof of this desire to explore these characters even more. Sadly, the pandemic, possibly coupled with the fact that Black Widow was always seen as a B-list Avenger meant that Scarlett Johansson’s solo movie was shunned to a dual release strategy that ended up having very real legal ramifications for both her and Disney.
If Black Widow was a cash grab attempt from the studio for a character that had already been killed off, it was a rather poor one, yet Barton still has a bright future ahead of him in his upcoming series. Not only will Hawkeye be centered around Phase Four events, but the series will also take a proper look at Barton’s time as Ronin when he was struggling to cope with the loss of his family and ultimately what led to him being a much more interesting character as time progressed.
Natasha Romanoff's time may be over, but Hawkeye gives Barton the perfect opportunity for the archer’s MCU swan song, especially if the series ends up introducing fan-favorite characters like the Kingpin. Add all that on top of Hawkeye being blamed by Contessa Valentina for Natasha’s death, and there’s still a lot of Barton left to cut through for Yelena Belova.
As a bonus, Hawkeye will apparently continue with Marvel Studios’ current trope of framing content in specific genres or scenarios, so it also seems quite proper that the Avengers’ family man gets a Christmas-themed series in winter to tell his solo story.
The Black Widow movie was accused of being too little too late for the character, nevertheless, What If…? gave fans an animated glimpse of Natasha fully equipped with the Red Guardian’s shield, a weapon fit for the type of Avenger she always was. Hopefully, Hawkeye can turn Jeremy Renner into much more than just a guy who can shoot arrows.