‘Hawkeye’: Did Clint Barton Get Divorced? Why Some Fans Think So
The MCU may be lining up theatrical releases to finish off 2021, but that doesn’t mean that the magic is over for Marvel fans on Disney+. Fans recently got their first look at Jeremy Renner‘s return to the MCU in the upcoming Hawkeye series when the trailer was released, but there’s more in the preview than just Hawkeye and new protege, Kate Bishop, shooting arrows at bad guys that has people talking. As Clint Barton has been the quintessential family man in the MCU up to now, many fans immediately picked up on hints that maybe Hawkeye’s family has fallen on rough times.
Clint Barton in the MCU
Throughout his nearly a dozen MCU appearances, Clint Barton has almost always been a supporting figure. The character’s consistency and stoic resolve was often a binding agent to a team of very different superheroes. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the family values and home life that shaped Barton into the hero he was also served as a central introspective turning point for all the heroes in the story.
Clint was used throughout his appearances for emotional and moral support by the surrounding characters but was also fundamentally used in a support role by writers in stories up to this point. Hawkeye’s purpose in most stories is as a foil– just an ordinary guy with relatable reactions. His presence reinforces the identity of the (often much more flamboyant) heroes around him.
Hawkeye has often functioned as part of the setting. He can be a relatable audience insert for viewers, and as awesomely skilled as he is, he seems ordinary compared to those around him. His importance to the story is often tied directly to his importance to another character– Natasha Romanov. Now that Black Widow has left Clint’s story though, fans are eager to see where his character goes from here.
‘Hawkeye’
Literally, the first words in the trailer are Clint’s daughter saying “This is the first Christmas we’ve had together in years.” That could be referencing everyone but Barton himself being snapped out of reality for a few years, but to many, the tone of the trailer seems to go on to imply that Clint may be estranged in some way from the rest of the Bartons.
The Bartons live in a big house in the country, so fans’ eyebrows went up when the first scenes in the trailer focused on Clint and his kids in the city. Barton is even seen putting his kids in a car, ensuring him that he’ll be home soon. On several occasions, he promises in a phone call that he’ll be “home for Christmas.”
The trailer doesn’t go so far as to explicitly say that Clint and his wife have split, but many fans have read between the lines. One fan even took to Twitter to call attention to how odd it is to think of the definitive family man being separated from his family, saying “the way they are straining themselves to extricate Hawkeye from his wife & kids lmao.”
Trauma is part of drama
While it may be odd for fans to see Clint Barton– the rock that held the Avengers together– have his support network crumble from underneath him, it’s a potentially intriguing study of interpersonal relationships if that’s the way they choose to take it. For a character who has always been reliable and consistent, giving him a new dimension of personal challenges to overcome may be the most interesting story there could be to tell about the character.
While everyone hopes that Hawkeye’s out of town on business and everything’s fine, if his marriage was in fact on the rocks, that would reflect a very real situation. Barton lived for five years without his family, thinking them gone forever. During those five years, he did terrible things. Trauma is real, and recovery isn’t instantaneous. Relationships can easily grow strained in the real world, and maybe seeing a real reaction to the severe personal trauma over five years ending in the loss of his best friend is perfectly fitting for the character that has always been the most grounded and relatable.
Fans have been quick to point out that many families don’t have the idyllic lifestyle represented in Hawkeye’s family, so seeing real struggles in their relationship would be the best way to make him an even more relatable character. As the fan from Twitter goes on, “I guess you could interpret MCU Hawkeye as an unintentional commentary on American black ops guys who do god knows what overseas, and everyone back home in the suburbs is just like ‘great job!”
Until the series releases in November, Hawkeye’s marital status is speculation at best. Clint Barton was always the relatable Avenger though, so it would make sense that what he went through between Infinity War and Endgame fundamentally changed how he related to his loved ones. Hawkeye will certainly be interesting to see where it takes his character and if it brings him home– both for Christmas and for good. Fans are definitely right to point out though that it’s likely to be harder than he thought to go back home after everything he’s been through.
