The Real Reason Marvel Fans Prefer Hawkeye Over Black Widow
In 2021, we were given Disney+ shows that furthered stories for Marvel Cinematic Universe characters that we had already come to know and love, like "WandaVision," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and "Loki." It also introduced us to fresh faces with "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "Eternals." Needless to say, it's a great time to be a Marvel fan, and it's been a great time to be a Marvel fan for a while now.
Two characters from the original 2012 "Avengers" lineup, Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), even got what served as a sort of conclusion to their character arcs in the MCU. For Natasha, it was July's "Black Widow," which explored her time between the events of "Captain America: Civil War" and "Avengers: Infinity War." We saw more of Natasha's tragic past and her adopted Russian spy family, witnessed her destroy the Red Room, and most importantly, watched her reconnect with her estranged sister Yelena (Florence Pugh).
Clint's continued story, taking place after the events of "Avengers: Endgame" and Natasha's sacrifice, was more complicated. He accidentally got himself wrapped up in the Kingpin's (Vincent D'Onofrio) activities due to young archer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) donning the Ronin costume. Kate and Clint developed a meaningful relationship, and her talented skills as an archer along with her desire to be a hero served as an opportunity for Clint to pass the torch to a new Hawkeye.
Here's why fans are favoring "Hawkeye" over "Black Widow" despite their effort to provide a meaningful conclusion to each character's story.
Fans feel Hawkeye said goodbye to Natasha better than her own movie
Although "Black Widow" gave us such a beautiful look into Natasha's strained relationship with her foster sister, along with information as to exactly what happened with her leading up to the battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin), many fans feel that the film didn't have enough of a proper send-off for her character. According to a recent thread on Reddit, multiple fans are echoing that "Hawkeye" was able to capture the gravity of Natasha's death way better than "Avengers: Endgame" and "Black Widow" were able to.
User u/orderofasterales initiated the conversation by explaining that they were devastated like most fans with Natasha's sacrifice in "Avengers: Endgame," so the "Black Widow ” film was something they were looking forward to as a proper goodbye for the character. Although, they continued that it didn't really "hit the notes that it needed to." With "Hawkeye," there is much more exploration into the grief of losing Natasha from those who love her, like Clint and Yelena.
Some fans like u/MelancholicMeadow20 felt the same, noting that "Black Widow" felt as though it was more of a movie to introduce characters like Yelena Belova and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) rather than to actually say goodbye to Natasha. A number of fans continued to echo this idea, including u/39thUsernameAttempt who said that if you watch "Black Widow" in the context of it being a Yelena origin story, it's a much better experience.
Hawkeye was ultimately about Natasha
Part of exploring any character's death is focusing on the grief of their loved ones afterward and how they are ultimately able to make peace with it. We were able to see Peter Parker (Tom Holland) do this with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in "Spider-Man: Far From Home," but that post-credits scene in "Black Widow" with Yelena at Natasha's grave is short, and Clint's heartfelt scene with Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) at the end of "Avengers: Endgame" certainly wasn't longer.
With "Hawkeye," the very first episode already shows Clint dealing with the grief of losing Natasha while he and his kids watch the "Rodgers" musical. Throughout the rest of the episodes, we witness Clint's internal battle as he tries to put the Ronin suit behind him because Natasha was the one who pulled him back from that edge. When Yelena returns, it's clear that her struggle is arguably worse, as she is unable to accept that her sister died willingly and looks for someone to blame, someone to kill for it — Clint. Amidst the entire Kate and Kingpin fiasco, "Hawkeye" is really about Natasha, especially considering that she would want Clint and Yelena to get along given that they were both likely the two people she loved most.
Although the argument as to whether "Black Widow" or "Hawkeye" served Natasha better is open for interpretation, it seems as though both were able to give her character more depth and meaning than ever before, which many fans would probably say is most important. Natasha's time has officially ended, although the future holds many possibilities for Yelena, Kate Bishop, and even Clint now in a mentor role.