Most Memorable Hawkeye Quotes In The MCU
This article contains spoilers for "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Endgame," and the "Hawkeye" TV series.
Hawkeye doesn't really have a catchphrase. Think about it: pretty much all the other Avengers do. The Hulk's iconic line is, "I'm always angry." Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) always says, "I got red in my ledger." (She also loves to strike dramatic poses too, according to her sister.) Iron Man's (Robert Downey Jr.) quote — "I am Iron Man" — seems kind of obvious at first, until you realize it's a comeback to the favorite catchphrase of Thanos (Josh Brolin): "I am inevitable." And Captain America (Chris Evans), of course, can do this all day, which makes a perfect chorus line for a certain musical. But Hawkeye? He's got nothing. Maybe Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) was right when she told Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) that he had a serious branding problem.
Even though Hawkeye doesn't have his own signature quote, he's still got plenty of awesome lines, any of which could be a deserving catchphrase in their own right. Here are all the most memorable one-liners that Hawkeye has dropped in the MCU.
Honey? I'm home
When Hawkeye says in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" that he knows of a "safe house," we bet most folks were picturing an underground bunker or something. Nobody was expecting Clint to introduce the Avengers to his hitherto unknown family.
So viewers are in for quite a shock when Clint announces, "Honey? I'm home." He then introduces the Avengers to his wife Laura (Linda Cardellini), whom he has kept secret from everybody except Black Widow and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). At first Tony assumes Laura has got to be "an agent of some kind," but that theory falls apart whenever Clint's kids come running in.
Not only does this scene remind us that Hawkeye is just a regular guy; it also brings out the humanity in all the other characters. We get to see Thor (Chris Hemsworth) stepping on a kid's Legos, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) shaving, and Tony and Cap competing to see who can chop the most firewood. But most of all, we are forced to reconsider everything we think we know about Black Widow when she bends down and asks Lila (played by the twins Imogen and Isabella Poynton) to give "Auntie Nat" a hug.
I'm not smashing a '72 Challenger
The car chase in Episode 3 of "Hawkeye" begins on a hilarious note: Kate Bishop runs toward the '72 Challenger, hoping they can use it as their getaway car. Hawkeye's response: "I'm not smashing a '72 Challenger." Clint respects this classic car too much to hotwire it. This joke might be poking fun at the way that the heroes always get to drive a sleek, expensive vehicle in a car chase. Plus, it also suggests that Hawkeye has seen too much destruction in the wake of previous battles (Marvel certainly loves smashing cars). Most likely, he was hoping that, just this once, he could leave a perfectly good car still intact when the dust settles.
For most of the chase sequence, it seems like Clint's wish may come true. Yes, Echo (Alaqua Cox) and Tomas (Piotr Adamczyk) climb into the Challenger and give chase, but the vintage car miraculously manages to avoid any damage. While one Trust a Bro van explodes, and another vehicle gets a windshield full of bubbling purple slime, the worst that happens to Echo's car is that it gets hit with a plunger arrow. It's like Marvel is teasing us with the hope that maybe the Challenger will be spared. Alas, it was not to be. Kate fires a smoking arrow into the dashboard, causing Echo to lose control and ram the vehicle into the concrete divider. "And the Challenger gets totaled anyway," Clint grumbles.
No one eats in a dining room
There's a quote from Hawkeye in the climax of "Age of Ultron" that's an excellent example of the offbeat character interactions that the "Avengers" movies do so well. After Nick Fury shows up with his helicarrier and most of the Sokovians have been evacuated, Clint and Natasha are hopeful — hopeful enough that they can afford to make small talk while they're retreating.
"I know what I need to do," announces Clint, with all the conviction of a hero about to announce a revelation about the villain's only weakness. Instead, he launches into a non sequitur about how he plans to remodel his dining room. The topic comes completely out of the blue, and it seems facetious — inappropriate, even — for them to talk about home renovations while they're fighting for their lives. But that's exactly why it's one of the most memorable quotes from "Age of Ultron."
Steering casually around the burning cars (hey, we told you Marvel loves to blow up cars), Clint explains how he'll convert the dining room into a workspace for his wife. Natasha approves. "You guys always eat in the kitchen, anyway," she says. "No one eats in a dining room," Clint replies.
You always had to win, didn't you?
Before heading off to settle his unfinished business with Echo, Clint pays a quick visit to the Avengers memorial in New York City. It's the closest he can get to actually talking to Natasha. Hawkeye calls her the bravest and most loyal Avenger, though he also calls her stubborn — all accurate assessments. "You always had to win, didn't you?" says Hawkeye. "And for a stupid orange rock." Yes, Clint just used those words to refer to an Infinity Stone.
This moment is nowhere near as raw or emotional as Clint's reaction to Natasha's death in "Avengers: Endgame." But that's not the point. The "Hawkeye" series is meant to show the aftermath and the lingering repercussions of the fight against Thanos. This time, Clint is speaking from a place of acceptance, because by now he has (mostly) moved on. He knows that if he can't change the past (because time travel is the sort of trick that will only work once), he needs to at least make the most of the future Nat has given him.
Can I speak to your manager?
The second episode of "Hawkeye" is a gold mine of clever banter, especially in the part where Clint is kidnapped by the incompetent Tracksuit Mafia. The show writers encouraged Piotr Adamczyk and Jeremy Renner to improv, which led to some hilarious results. Clint makes a remark about the Tracksuit Mafia's creepy warehouse, and Piotr's character gets genuinely upset that Hawkeye is criticizing their hideout. (Maintaining an evil hideout is harder than it looks.) Later, Hawkeye tries to convince the Tracksuits that "I'm not who you think I am," before being forced to admit, "Well, I guess I am who you think I am."
But the funniest quote in the entire scene is when Clint says, "Can I speak to your manager?" To everyone's disbelief, Clint insists that Tomas is only "the shift manager" and says that trying to reason with these guys is "like talking to furniture." Then Clint breaks free from his bonds effortlessly. He looks rather bored throughout the entire exchange, which is a stroke of comedic genius. Normally, when the hero wakes up with a bag over his head, it's not a good idea for him to insult his captors and demand to be taken to their leader. Can you imagine if Tony Stark had done that when the Ten Rings held him hostage? But this is the Tracksuit Mafia we're talking about here, so viewers know Clint will turn out okay.
I'm starting to think we mean different people here, Natasha
Come on, you knew the final exchange between Clint and Natasha would show up on this list somewhere. How could it not? The fight between Hawkeye and Black Widow on the cliff on Vormir is one of the most emotionally intense fight scenes in the MCU, because viewers know that whoever wins is going to die, and whoever loses will need to somehow carry on without their friend. Naturally, the scene has some amazing dialogue to match.
After learning that they will only get the Soul Stone if one of them makes the ultimate sacrifice, Hawkeye says, "Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be." With a distant look in her eyes, Natasha says, "I guess we do." They squeeze each other's hands, both knowing this will be their final goodbye, but each assuming the other will be the one to walk away alive.
Clint says suddenly, "I'm starting to think we mean different people here, Natasha." This quote is simultaneously funny (because it cleverly underscores this dramatic moment with a hint of playfulness) and tragic (because that's when it dawns on viewers that Clint and Natasha are going to fight each other, and no matter which one wins, it isn't going to be pretty.)
Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for
After the huge skirmish at the airport in "Captain America: Civil War," Tony goes to talk with the four heroes from Team Cap who were sent to the Raft, a maximum-security prison. Tony's interactions with each of these characters are great. We love that it only takes a single glimpse of Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) in a straitjacket for Tony to realize the full weight of what he's done. However, his dialogue with Hawkeye is probably the most impactful, because Tony used to be very close to Clint, but now they're standing on opposite sides of the prison bars.
Clint's words to Tony are bitter and surprisingly witty. He mockingly calls Tony "the Futurist," which could be a reference to an album by the same name released by Robert Downey Jr., according to Screenrant. Later, he starts pulling the old "La la la, can't hear you!" trick. Jeremy Renner does a great job balancing the snarky bluster with the emotional vulnerability underneath. Our favorite barb from Clint in this scene comes right after Tony says he never would've guessed the authorities would lock up Clint in the Raft. "This place is for maniacs," he says. "This is a place for ..." And Hawkeye finishes Tony's sentence with the words that he knows Tony was thinking: "Criminals, Tony. Think that's the word you're looking for."
Daddy's gotta go, okay?
During the third episode of "Hawkeye," Clint gets a call from his son Nathaniel (Cade Woodward) at the worst possible moment: after his hearing aid has just been smashed in a battle. Kate can't help but overhear this rather private moment between Clint and his son. She realizes that Clint can't make out what Nathaniel is saying, so she helps Clint by writing down Nathaniel's words. Not wanting to upset his son, Hawkeye neglects to mention that he can't hear Nathaniel, instead saying that he only seems distracted because of a "bad connection."
When Marvel was filming this scene, Jeremy Renner insisted on doing a little method acting. That is, Renner wasn't listening to Nathaniel's voice in real-life, the director Bertie explained in an interview with The Playlist Podcast. To make his performance more authentic, Renner wanted to make sure that he would only know what his character knew. Throughout the phone call, Clint keeps trying to guess what Nathaniel is saying. Every time he is off the mark (like when he assumes his wife is calling and says, "Hey, babe"), Hawkeye grows more embarrassed and Nathaniel only grows sadder.
There's a lot of touching dialogue in this scene. But perhaps Hawkeye's most memorable quote is when he says, "Daddy's gotta go, okay?" You can tell he misses Nathaniel, and he is painfully aware that his hasty goodbye will only confirm Nathaniel's fear that his father won't be home in time for Christmas.
More cookie, please
The episode "Hide and Seek" from the "Hawkeye" TV series foreshadows that Clint knows some American Sign Language — elementary-school level ASL, at least. This proves true in the episode "Echoes," where Clint discovers that his captor, Echo, is deaf. There is a brief moment of understanding between the woman who has been deaf ever since she was a child and the superhero who has partially lost his hearing after one too many explosions. Noticing Hawkeye's hearing aid, Echo frees his hands so he can sign. Clint explains in ASL that he's hard of hearing, but when Echo replies in ASL, Clint realizes that he's not fluent enough in sign language to follow her. Rather than simply saying "I don't understand," Clint falls back on one of the few phrases he does know how to sign: "More cookie, please. Thank you."
This hilarious line has nothing to do with the conversation, but it certainly sends the message. Wearing an expression of disgust (and perhaps disappointment, since she was probably hoping to find a kindred soul), Echo instructs Kazi (Fra Fee) to tie Hawkeye back up again. So much for trying to appeal to his captors. Presumably, Echo doesn't give him any cookies after that.
I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan
In "Avengers: Age of Ultron," Wanda shows a knack for worming her way into other characters' minds and showing them their deepest fears. Tony sees a vision that convinces him it will be his fault if Earth gets destroyed. Meanwhile, Thor is reminded that he destroys everything he touches, Steve Rogers must accept that he has no family left to go home to, and Black Widow must relive her most traumatic memories of being trained to become a killing machine. We don't know what Wanda shows Bruce, but whatever it is, it's enough to make him Hulk out. Clint is the only Avenger who is spared. Of course, Hawkeye has been through more than his share of mind manipulation in the first "Avengers" movie...
When Wanda tries to pull the same trick on Clint, he whirls around and gives her an electric shock with one of his trick arrows. He's even quick enough to shoot a comeback. "I've done the whole mind control thing," he says. "Not a fan." But then Hawkeye is overpowered by somebody even quicker (hint: "quick" is in his name), and he gets thrown to the ground. As Wanda and her brother (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) retreat, Clint shouts, "Yeah, you better run!" This he says while he's slumped on the ground, barely able to raise his head. That's a classic Hawkeye moment: he acts tough, even when it is painfully clear that he is a mere mortal.
I was a weapon. I was aimed by the right people at the right targets
The Christmas party scene from the fourth episode of "Hawkeye" starts out with some lighthearted banter. (Kate can't seem to grasp that any possible benefit of boomerang arrows would be nullified if she would just need to dodge them whenever they came flying back at her.) But as the night stretches on, Kate's dialogue with Clint takes a more solemn turn. For the first time, Kate begins to consider that maybe her idol isn't as perfect as he seems. In fact, she even guesses that Hawkeye is Ronin without him even needing to tell her, which is a nice touch.
That's when Clint drops a quote that makes us look at "Earth's mightiest heroes" in a whole new light. When Kate calls him a hero, Clint begs to differ. "I was a weapon," he says. "I was aimed by the right people at the right targets," he adds, but he implies that this wasn't true of his Ronin days. "My job has always been to hurt people."
It's a really fascinating proposition. This isn't the first time in the MCU the Avengers have been likened to weapons; Secretary Ross (William Hurt) compared Thor and the Hulk to "megaton nukes" in "Civil War." But it's quite possibly one of Marvel's deepest examinations of what it means to be a hero. Hawkeye is suggesting that he and the other Avengers don't automatically deserve a free pass on their past crimes just because they're "heroes."
Don't give me hope
Not all of Hawkeye's greatest lines are clever banter or thought-provoking monologues. Sometimes, all it takes are a few simple words. There's hardly any dialogue in this scene from "Avengers: Endgame," yet it contains one of the most powerful Hawkeye quotes in the entire MCU.
After the Blip tears his family away, Clint becomes the masked vigilante Ronin. Natasha approaches him with an umbrella, but Clint makes no move to get out of the rain. Despite the droplets running down his face, it seems he is beyond caring. Natasha starts to explain that they might have a shot at bringing Clint's family back, but Hawkeye cuts her off. "Don't give me hope," he says.
It's like a gut punch to viewers. Who wouldn't want hope? Or rather, how did Hawkeye end up so utterly broken that he couldn't handle any more hope? His words are startling, yet they make perfect sense for somebody who has experienced so much grief. Because if he gets his hopes up, only to watch them plummet again, it will be like losing his family all over again. For Clint, it's easier and safer to resign himself to his fate, much like Tony, Thor, and all the other defeated Avengers who almost didn't take the second chance they were given. This Hawkeye quote gives us the shivers every time, though Natasha's reply ("I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner") is equally satisfying.
And I fought Thanos ...
Some fans might argue that the lowest point in Hawkeye's career was actually not the five agonizing years he spent alone after the Blip, but instead the embarrassment he needed to endure with the Live-Action Role-Players (LARPers), which gave rise to one of Hawkeye's most memorable quotes in the MCU.
When Clint dawns his "armaments" and wades through the sea of LARPers, you can tell he is wondering how he has sunk low enough to trade his bow and arrows for a foam sword. His objective: take back the Ronin suit that the LARPer named Grills (Clayton English) borrowed to use for his cosplay. But things get more complicated when Grills will only agree to give up the suit if Hawkeye will fight him to the "death." Showing an unexpected vein of sincerity in an otherwise humorous scene, Grills says, "You're a superhero in real life. This is as close as I'm ever gonna get to being one."
Clint mutters, "And I fought Thanos ..." But he humors Grills. The battle that follows isn't exactly legendary. Hawkeye ends up begging Grills to just "kill" him and get it over with. Grills, of course, says he will fondly remember this fight as "the best day of his life," but Clint feels differently. If it's any consolation, Clint didn't need to wear the Viking helmet with the attached wig that looked like it could've been taken from a cheap Thor costume. Even Hawkeye has a limit.