Besides the allusion to Budapest in Marvel's The Avenger, which teeters on the decade-old border, there isn't much else known about Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton's origins in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Jeremy Renner's solo series will bring him back as the sharpshooter himself, but Hawkeye still remains to be one of the vaguest characters entangled in Marvel's roster, despite working as a major team player in four major movies. Unlike Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), whose story will be told assumedly on November 6, the archer's narrative sits in the dark.
There is hope that the Hawkeye series on Disney+ will give a deeper look at the titular character's roots, and how he came to be Earth's Mightiest Marksman. After being a long-time supporting character, Renner's take on Barton will be given air time through Marvel's Phase 4, on the condition of sharing the spotlight.
A new MCU hero will emerge from the pages and onto the small screens. Kate Bishop, a young heroine synonymous with Hawkeye, shares the alias. According to the comics, Bishop took over as markswoman after Barton's death. Following his resurrection, she then began acting as a protege.
The show's intentions have been made explicit, as it aims to shed light on both Hawkeyes, but will not scant on Barton's blurry background. Bishop may be entering the scene, but that will not contrast from Marvel and Disney's intial mission: offering up a clear and much-needed Clint Bartin origin story. Maybe, just maybe, they'll remember that he's a deaf man.
With a potential backstory in the works, this could further expand the universe through new characters, and of course, new villains. Swordsman, a villain that appeared in The Avengers (1965), plays a critical role in Barton and his brother, Barney's, youth. Clint was taken under Swordsman's wing, and the mentorship could be accredited for his skills as he joined the carnival circuit. However, Barney was not a desirable student. After Swordsmans was exposed for his thievery, Clint's betrayal to the villain was swayed after offered a position as an accomplice. The partnership between Clint and Swordsman was short-lived, and after learning how to be an accomplished archer, he fled His brother was strongly in opposition to the antagonist, choosing an alternative life path as an FBI agent.
Fans, who were confused about how Hawkeye had taken up archery skills from sword-fighter, received their answers in the '80s. It was not Swordsman that had passed along his knowledge to Barton, but his partner, Trick Shot. Marvel Comics had strung the three characters together well enough to make the triad relevant to Hawkeye's modern-day missions.
Barton, both in comics and in film, hail from Iowa. This is a new piece of information offered to fans through cinematic means in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), though the collective whole of how he came to still remains to be a mystery. Though the plot of the show is yet to be unveiled completely, it can be predicted that Bishop will press about her mentor's past, transitioning into a true blue hero's story. There are a few forecasted means of going about it: MCU flashbacks, the comic-carnival route, or possibly bringing Trick Shot, Swordsman, and Barney into the MCU.
There hasn't been a solid arc determined upon yet to be further explored, but Barton's becoming will be integral to Bishop's taking of the mantle. Barton may face one, or both, of his past mentors. He may have to face off with his brother, who clings on to the past. Whatever the means, Barton stepping back in time to revisit his past, and his metamorphosis into Earth's Mightiest Marksman, hits the bulls-eye on what Hawkeye is about.