Clint Barton is one of Marvel’s longest surviving heroes, having been around since Phase 1 of the franchise, and he’s escaped death numerous times already. With his only real power being his superhuman ability to hit a target, it’s come as quite a surprise to many MCU fans that he’s managed to make it this far.
The original Avengers have been dropping like flies since the game-changing Infinity Saga, some with way more power than Clint, so a lot of fans are predicting thatHawkeyewill be the archer’s final curtain call. It’s obvious that the odds are currently stacked against him in the series, and thatKate Bishopwill undoubtedly be the one to take up the Hawkeye mantle, but killing Clint off entirely wouldn’t make sense for a number of reasons.
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He Would’ve Died on Vormir
For starters, if Clint was going to meet the same fate as the rest of his team,he would’ve died on Vormir. Natasha gave her life in place of his, because she wanted him to return to his family and get the chance at redemption he needed. After taking on the Ronin mantle, Clint was (and still is) in dire need of vindication and Natasha wouldn’t have sacrificed herself to save him if she didn’t want him to return to his family.
Clint is still in the process of completing his redemption arc, but a portion of that storyline will most likely happen off-screen, when Clint finally gets to retire peacefully with his wife and children. If Clint were to die inHawkeye, Natasha’s sacrifice would be in vain and killing him off, rather than allowing him to be with his family the way Natasha wanted him to, would render her own redemption arc useless.
Additionally, a lot of fans were angered by the plethora ofInfinity Stones the TVA had on hand inLoki, because they felt like that was a slap in the face to both Natasha and Tony, who died to retrieve them. The TVA could have very easily given the Avengers some extra stones, rather than sit back and watch them kill themselves off, so taking another jab at the deceased heroes by killing off Clint would be a huge blow to her character’s ending.
Let’s not forget that Natasha isn’t the only person to die for Clint, the first being Pietro inAvengers: Age of Ultron.If not one, but two heroes, believed that Clint was worth saving, killing him now simply wouldn’t make sense.
Yelena Needs Him
As fans have seen throughout the series thus far, Clint has quite the knack for taking misguided youths under his wing. His commitment to protecting his own children and Kate make that quite obvious, and having just lost the only real family she’s ever known, Clint just might be exactly what Yelena needs right now.
She’s clearly misguided in her motives for wanting him dead,having been influenced by Valentia Allegra de Fontaine, who convinced the Widow that Clint murdered her sister in cold blood. Although it’ll surely take a lot to get through to her, Clint is suffering just as badly in the aftermath of Natasha’s death, making him the only person who can trulyunderstand Yelena’s grief. If he manages to get through to her before the end of the series, Clint’s fatherly instincts and shared pain over the loss of his best friend would make him the perfect ally for the new Black Widow.
His Character Development Just Started
Clint often skirted by as a background character in previous films, taking a backseat role in the presence of Marvel’s other great heroes. The rest of the team deemed him worthy of life, but a lot ofMCU fanswere confused as to why. In past movies, Clint’s biggest personality traits were being witty and offering moments of comedic relief amidst all the action, making him likable, but not truly noteworthy.
Hawkeyeis finally giving Clint his due by diving deeper into his character, showing fans what type of person he truly is and shedding some light as to why the rest of the Avengers held him in such high esteem. Having a show all to himself finally peels back the sarcastic layers and exposes more of the man hidden underneath, and his emotional trauma afterthe events ofEndgamecertainly create a new layer of depth to him that viewers haven’t seen before.
Having only just begun to develop Clint as a more well-rounded character, killing him off so soon after would be a waste of potential. Kate is still in the early stages of her hero training, so although she’ll certainly bethe next Hawkeye, it’s safe to assume she’ll need the guidance and expertise of the original to take her into the next part of her journey.
