Hawkeye: A Quick Recap Of The Master Archer's MCU Backstory

And then there was one. With Black Widow's release, Clint Barton/Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner) is the only founding member of the Avengers yet to get a solo project (if you count Edward Norton's take on Bruce Banner in 2008's The Incredible Hulk.)

But that will change come Wednesday, Nov. 24 with Disney+'s Hawkeye, a six-part, holiday-themed series that follows the master archer, would-be protégé Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and Lucky the Pizza Dog as they confront track-suited enemies from Clint's checkered past as the anti-hero Ronin, which was teased during the events of Avengers: Endgame.

Along the way, Clint will meet Kate's mother Eleanor (Vera Farmiga), run into the Native American and deaf hero Echo (Alaqua Cox) and maybe even learn the true meaning of Christmas.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. A lot has happened since audiences first met Clint in the pouring rain of 2011's Thor, and trying to remember it all is harder than fighting an intergalactic alien with six all-powerful stones with just a bow and arrow. So ahead of Hawkeye's premiere, we offer this quick recap of all of the archer's adventures thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

(NOTE: This refresher does not include updates on the multiversal versions of Hawkeye that appeared in Season 1 of What If...?, as Disney+'s Hawkeye will only follow the hero who exists in the Sacred Timeline.)

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Hawkeye's debut in the MCU comes in the form of an uncredited cameo in director Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Seeking his magical hammer Mjölnir, the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself in a facility run by the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. As he plows through agents to reach the hammer, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) calls in Clint to observe Thor and, if necessary, take him out. Hawkeye finds a perch and, bow drawn, watches Thor fail to lift the hammer. The Asgardian collapses in his failure and, no longer deemed a threat, Clint retreats into the dark, pouring rain.

Clint's real debut comes in director Joss Whedon's team-up film, The Avengers. However, it takes some time for him to join the gang, as he is quickly brainwashed by Loki (Tom Hiddleston) at the start of the film. He leads the God of Mischief's attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier but is defeated (watch above) and set free by fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and work wife Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Clint and the rest of the Avengers later defeat Loki in the Battle of New York and celebrate their victory with a quick bite at Shawarma Palace.

A full-fledged member of the Avengers, Clint travels with the team to Sokovia to take down the last agents of Hydra. However, after Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) accidentally creates the killer A.I. Ultron (voiced by James Spader), the team is forced to flee to Hawkeye's farmhouse, where it is revealed that he has a wife (played by Linda Cardellini) and kids (watch above).

The team later makes a final stand against Ultron, this time joined by superhuman twins Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Clint and Wanda form a strong bond during the battle, with Hawkeye giving what is perhaps the MCU's best pump-up speech to the young hero. The connection between the two is deepened further after Pietro gives his life to save Clint, allowing him to return to his family and retire from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. Hawkeye honors Pietro's sacrifice by naming his third child after him.

The debate over the Sokovia Accords, which would require the Avengers to register with the United Nations, splits the heroes. Hawkeye comes out of retirement and sides with Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) against the Accords and is forced to fight his friends — including Black Widow. (Watch a Hawkeye highlight reel above.) Captain America's team is eventually defeated and jailed on The Raft, but they are later freed by Cap.

After watching his wife and children be snapped out of existence by Thanos, Hawkeye spends the next five years as the Katana-wielding and rageful assassin Ronin, killing any criminals who survived the Snap. Black Widow recruits him to help the Avengers go back in time to collect past versions of the Infinity Stones to reverse Thanos' Snap. He and Natasha are sent to collect the Soul Stone, which requires a sacrifice of a loved one. To Clint's horror, Natasha ends up sacrificing herself, allowing her partner to retrieve the Infinity Stone. (Watch scene above.)

Back in present-day Earth, Clint joins the rest of the Avengers in their final stand against Thanos and his army, eventually defeating the Mad Titan and returning to his family.

Hawkeye's presence is felt in Natasha's prequel film, despite not quite appearing in it. The events of the Budapest mission he and Natasha reference throughout the movies are finally disclosed and, in a post-credits scene (watch above), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) offers new Black Widow Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) an assignment/target: Clint, "the man responsible for your sister's death."  With Pugh reprising her role as Yelena in Disney+'s Hawkeye, that sets up a clash between assassin and archer.