14 Interesting Hawkeye Fan Theories That Are Actually Plausible

From Redditor u/MrMortsnarg:

How big of a coincidence it was that Clint and Natasha were the two people to get the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone requires someone to sacrifice the one they love most, in this case Clint reluctantly sacrificing Natasha. I wouldn't call those two going there a coincidence. Nebula was the only remaining Avenger that knew how to get the Soul Stone. In the 5 year gap, we see that her and Rocket were in regular contact with Natasha; while Natasha was still trying to find Clint. My theory, which admittedly isn't very groundbreaking, is that Nebula suggested that Clint and Natasha fetch the Soul Stone, since she witnessed how close they were. They are two of the perfect candidates to retrieve it.

Lots of people have brought up that Nebula didn't know how to retrieve the Soul Stone. This is admittedly an assumption on my part that she did. In my defense though, she processes Gamora's death as "He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone. She didn't." I read that line as Nebula realizing the sacrifice that had to be made. Tony heard it too. "Whatever it takes"

From Redditor u/IronedSandwich:

People noticed quite quickly in this film (and its sequel) that Hawkeye is the weak link. He is by far the weakest member of the Avengers, in both physical strength and special abilities. Nick Fury seems to have Mrs Frederick powers in the MCU, because sometimes he'll just... show up. Like in Age of Ultron at Barton's house. Also, of the three SHIELD members of the Avengers (the rest don't go on missions, instead having stories of their own) Hawkeye has been one for the longest: he recruited Black Widow, Cap was only recruited about a week before Avengers. At the start of Avengers 1, nobody sees him as a superhero, just a very high-ranking agent.

My theory is that Hawkeye is Nick Fury's right-hand-man and he assigned Hawkeye to the Avengers so he could keep Fury posted on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, if they try anything SHIELD wouldn't want or slip off the grid. (he couldn't say anything about the scepter in Ultron because he was in hospital and unaware of what Iron Man was doing upstairs) Here's a line of Hawkeye's in Age of Ultron: "Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files; I’d like to keep it that way." Nick Fury approached Hawkeye in his early agent days, and they hit it off well! Hawkeye is the most sane avenger. Think about it. Iron Man is a carefree megalomaniac, Captain America is out-of-place and a bit of an extremist, the Hulk is scared of his other self, Black Widow is a killing machine, Vision is a being with unlimited knowledge above humans, Scarlet Witch has lost her family and was a bit of a loony in the first place. These are not people you want to put together in a room without someone to keep them under control.

From Quora user Owen Chapman:

At the end of Endgame, the Avengers win, and most of them live to fight another day. Hawkeye is among those who survived the battle at the Avengers Compound, so he is definitely still alive in the MCU after Endgame. Clint Barton, however, is not the same person we knew as Hawkeye in the early MCU movies (ranging from the first Thor to Captain America: Civil War). He was profoundly changed by the loss of his family after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, and went on a grief-fueled rampage through the ranks of the predators of the world (criminals). He feels as though he has lost himself, and as we find out on Vormir during his conversation with Black Widow, he doesn’t feel as though he deserves to live any longer without his family.

His family (and everyone else who was snapped away) returns, and you can see flashes of the old Hawkeye surface as his phone rings from his wife calling him. He looks happier than he had been in the 5 years since they disappeared. In my opinion, Hawkeye will do what he did at the end of Civil War and just sit everything out so that he could be with his family, only returning to the fight if things get bad enough.

[Read the full theory here]

From Redditor u/SorryBoysImLez:

TL;DR: Nat enjoys getting into sticky situations/fighting, it's all the same, just another day for her. Clint is the opposite, clearly acknowledging when one situation is obviously worse/more life-threatening than a previous because he just wants to see his family again.

Pretty sure it's a throwaway line to show their differing personalities.Natasha, being the "thrill seeker" killer type (or used to be) who enjoys that kind of work remembers Budapest fondly, assuming it was some kind of mission/war zone since she referred to it during a time they were in the middle of a war with the Chituari. I.E: It's all just war/fighting to her.

Clint, being more of a family man who only is part of SHIELD/Avengers as a job, remembers it badly but not as bad as the Chituari war (since I doubt they'd of been fighting a militia of aliens from space led by a Norse demi-God.) Made even more evident when he says to Wanda in AoU "Ok, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there cause it's my job".

From Redditor u/GoesOff_On_Tangent:

The REAL reason Hawkeye and Ant-Man aren't in Infinity War is simple. It has nothing to do with storytelling or the snap, but just the fact that Infinity War will happen pretty quickly and that Scott and Hawkeye are too far away to get there in time.

[Read the full theory here]

u/TheLethalCarrot:

He has this from taking a plea deal at the end of Captain America: Civil War alongside Ant-Man for siding with Cap and breaking the Sokovia Accords.

• Bruce Banner: We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?
• Natasha Romanoff: After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families, they're on house arrest.

They just literally couldn't leave to get there, that's why they're not in the fight.

From Redditor u/adjust_the_sails:

I know why Tony died and never went to the Soul Stone “place”. I think I have a good theory as to why Tony died and The Hulk’s arm was seriously injured when using the Power Gauntlet. The Soul Stone required a sacrifice. Thanos made that sacrifice and therefore was given the Soul Stone. This was a crucial part of the process of acquiring all the stones because the Stone now attached itself to him. When Thanos did the initial snap, he was physically fine. He went to the Soul Stone "place/room" and met with with young Gamora. He wasn’t injured till he destroyed the stones because they didn’t actually want to be destroyed. He only survived because of how strong he was.

Cut to Hulk using the stone. Why was it so different that it caused his arm to be burned/mangled and he never went to the Soul Stone place/room? He was never the one that was authorized to use it. That’s why he never woke up in the Soul Stone “room”. His command was granted, but if not for being Hulk, one of the most powerful beings in the Universe, he would have just died. Which is exactly what happened to Tony. He snapped, his brain fried, and he dies.

So I went and looked at the end of Infinity War and saw that the gauntlet is damaged as is Thanos, but nothing like it is at the beginning of Infinity War. I proffer that since in the MCU, as stated by Thor in his first movie, that magic and science are one and the same that there was some technical issue with the gauntlet that caused it to blow after the first snap. Then when Thanos did his second, with no one to fix the gauntlet, the surge got worse and nearly killed him. Now go to Endgame; after Hulk does his snap his arm is damaged but the gauntlet (if memory serves) is fine. Which to me indicates that it had to do with the user and not the device. Tony makes good tech, so I'm sure he'd figure out how to channel the power safely. Just needs the right user. The truth is, the only person that should/could have snapped safely was Hawkeye. He made the sacrifice for the Soul Stone. He was the only “approved user” and the only one that would have survived safely both snaps.