Hawkeye is the Best Avenger.

Hawkeye seems to get a ton of hate on social media, but he has always been my favourite Avenger.

To figure out why is not difficult, we just need to do a rollcall of the original 6 Avengers:

• A Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist
• A genetically enhanced super soldier.
• A god.
• A genius scientist with “breathtaking anger management issues”.
• And two assassins. One a former brainwashed Russian, and the other, a guy with a bent stick and string, that throws other sticks.

That might make it sound like I don’t like the guy, but I do. Mostly because of all the people on that list I can identify with him the most. Sure, if I’m day dreaming and wishing I was one of the people on that list, he is probably not the guy I would choose, but when it comes to the guy I am closest to actually being, its him, and that is why he appeals to me.

Hawkeye became my favourite in Avengers: Age of Ultron. During the climactic battle, you saw him admit the absurdity of the situation when trying to motivate Wanda, and actually show pain a few times. He’s the only Avenger with a family which gives him a unique set of problems within the Avengers, and in the grand scheme of things, I feel he is the most realistic. His skill set feels like it is more about training, and intelligence, than any sort of gift that he was born with, or that was given to him.

He really came into his own in his own series. Bringing his hearing impairment to the forefront humanized him even more. The scene where he and Kate Bishop were talking to his son on the phone absolutely broke my heart in a way that I could identify with far more than any other situation I could think of in the MCU.

Unlike the other Avengers his time as a hero is taking a toll that you can see on screen, but he still continues to fight. His character has an underdog quality that appeals to me, and with the recent accident and injuries to Jeremy Renner even the ACTOR has us cheering him on.

My only worry is that the injuries Jeremy Renner sustained in real life, will make him incapable of taking on the roll of Hawkeye again. My hope/wish is that if his injuries do prevent him from returning they can work the injuries into the plot of the show, allow him to officially pass on the mantle of Hawkeye, and happily retire with his family.

I think both Jeremy Renner and Clint Barton deserve that.