18 Deadliest Hawkeye Villains (Ranked)

While he may be an ordinary person with no superpowers, Hawkeye has always been a mainstay in the comics because he can do things that some of the Avengers members cannot do. As a master assassin and an expert marksman, Hawkeye’s experience and skills have always been useful. But this has also gotten him on the wrong end of rivalries with villains.

Hawkeye has his fair share of villains in the comics because he has foiled the plans of many different criminals and evil-doers worldwide. While he has a lot of villains in his gallery of rogues, some stand out more. So, with that, let’s look at the deadliest Hawkeye villains of all time.

18. Oddball

The name says it all because Elton Healey really is an oddball. He started as a street performer who mastered the art of juggling. However, he became a great street fighter and was able to become the villain named Oddball by combining his juggling with his fighting skills.

Oddball eventually became one of the group members known as Bombshell, which lured Hawkeye into a fight under the orders of Crossfire (more on him later). Hawkeye defeated Bombshell. However, Oddball eventually became part of a group called Death-Throws, which is a group that focuses on throwing things.

17. A.I.M.

A.I.M. stands for Advanced Idea Mechanics and was originally a branch of HYDRA. However, the group became its own independent organization. This group is composed of different criminal masterminds and rivals the West Coast Avengers, one of the groups Hawkeye belongs to. Since then, they have become villains to Hawkeye.

The dangerous part about A.I.M. is that this is a group with many different resources on top of the combat skills and knowledge that the members have. In fact, the group has even recruited some of the most dangerous villains in Marvel to combat Hawkeye and the Avengers, although A.I.M. was never on par with superhuman threats.

16. Bombshell

Bombshell was once Wendy Conrad, who used to work as a master juggler. However, she was also a master of explosives, allowing her to use her skills to become a villain named Bombshell. At one point, Bombshell was part of the same group that Oddball was part of when Crossfire recruited them to take care of Hawkeye.

While Hawkeye can defeat Bombshell and her group, she is able to escape and become part of Death-Throws, which is the same criminal organization that Oddball joined. This group became known for how dangerous they are when it comes to throwing things, with Bombshell specializing in throwing explosives.

15. Whirlwind

Originally, Whirlwind was a villain to Ant-Man but eventually became a villain to the entire Avengers group. He is a mutant with the ability to move at superhuman speeds, and that was why he became the Human Top during his early life as a villain.

Eventually, he rebranded himself as Whirlwind and became one of the members of the second Masters of Evil. This allowed him to have continuing conflicts with Hawkeye and the other members of the Avengers.

14. Griffin

Johnny Horton was a villain who ended up facing the Avengers and Hawkeye many times throughout his career as a villain. He is a unique villain named Griffin and was once a low-level gang member who eventually became part of the Secret Empire after realizing that he wanted to move up in the standings of villains.

Griffin became who he was when he allowed himself to get experimented on using different animal parts that made him look like a Griffin. As a villain, he went on to become one of the pests of the West Coast Avengers, including Hawkeye.

13. Hangman

There have been a lot of different magical villains who ended up becoming problems to Hawkeye during his run with the West Coast Avengers. Jason Roland, a struggling actor, was one of them. Roland decided to make a deal with a demon to become a better and more popular actor, and this demon turned him into a monster known as the Hangman.

Hangman consistently fought with the West Coast Avengers as he became a huge problem to the group because of his superhuman strength and durability, being able to match Wonder Man’s strength. So, while Hangman may not be a Hawkeye villain, he was often a thorn in the side of the marksman.

12. Swordsman

We met Swordsman in the ‘Hawkeye’ MCU series as a supporting character who we thought was a villain but ended up becoming an ally. But in the comics, he was almost always a villain to Hawkeye. Swordsman is a man named Jacques Duquesne, a rebel who fought French rule in his small Southeast Asian country.

Swordsman, of course, was the one who was responsible for training Hawkeye and teaching him how to use blades. But it was when Hawkeye turned his mentor over to the police after seeing him stealing that turned them into enemies. Nevertheless, Swordsman became a good guy and a member of the Avengers later in his life.

11. The Ringmaster

The Ringmaster was one of the most prominent people in Hawkeye’s past when the hero used to be a criminal. Of course, the Ringmaster led the Circus of Crime and was one of the deadliest leaders in Hawkeye’s rogues gallery because he had an entire circus at his command.

One of the things that made the Ringmaster so deadly was the fact that he could hypnotize people and use his skills to convince people to do his bidding. At one point, he was even able to control the minds of Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, even though they eventually found a way to reject his offer.

10. The Clown

Of course, we are not yet done with the theme of different Hawkeye rogues who have connections to the circus. That’s because the Clown was one of the enemies Hawkeye encountered in his career as a hero, as this murderous villain enjoyed killing people.

Hawkeye encountered the Clown after he became a target of crime bosses and different criminal organizations. During his time as a villain, the Clown was known to kill people for enjoyment before Hawkeye defeated him.

9. The Hood

At one point, the Hood became so big as a crime lord that he was almost as big and as notorious as the Kingpin of Crime. However, the Hood fell short of his goal of becoming as big as Wilson Fisk when the big man returned to power. Nevertheless, the Hood was still a powerful crime lord who ended up getting entangled with Hawkeye.

The thing about the Hood was that he had different abilities and resources at his disposal. In fact, Hawkeye couldn’t even defeat him under normal circumstances. The hero had to become a mob boss himself to weaken the Hood by taking away his resources. And that was how Hawkeye was able to defeat him in the comics.

8. Barney Barton

The original Trickshot was named Buck Chisholm, and this guy was once a big rival to Hawkeye. That’s because we know that Buck was the one who trained Clint in the world of archery, and he became Clint’s enemy when Hawkeye chose his own brother over him. But it turned out that Clint’s own brother Barney, who Baron Zemo revived, became the second Trickshot.

In that regard, Barney Barton became a rival to his own brother after learning the art of archery from none other than the original Trickshot. Of course, Barney did help his brother by donating bone marrow to cure Clint’s blindness, but he only did so to ensure they got a fair fight. Trickshot eventually joined the Dark Avengers under the leadership of Norman Osborn.

7. Ultron

We all know that Ultron was always a major enemy in the world of Marvel Comics, as this powerful robot ended up becoming a threat to the Avengers. As such, it is the fact that Ultron was a constant enemy to the Avengers that also turned him into an enemy of Hawkeye.

Ultron, of course, was the main villain of the second Avengers MCU movie, wherein we saw him becoming a threat to Hawkeye and the other members of the Avengers. The truth, of course, is that Ultron was always a bit too powerful for Hawkeye to handle. However, Hawkeye has proven himself capable enough to defeat some of Ultron’s lesser versions.

6. Crossfire

Crossfire has always been one of the greatest villains in Hawkeye’s career as a hero, as this character is also a great marksman in his own right. It might be true that Crossfire isn’t as powerful as any other villain, but we know that he has superb skill in advanced weaponry.

As a former CIA agent, Crossfire is both skilled and strong. He has always been a threat to Clint due to his cybernetic implants. And it was through his cybernetic enhancements that he was able to become a threat to Hawkeye as he was able to match his marksmanship.

5. Thanos

Again, we are not yet done with major Marvel villains because Thanos has always been known as one of the greatest threats to the universe. He has almost always been the greatest threat to the Avengers, and that’s why Thanos is also a Hawkeye villain.

Of course, Thanos was always almost impossible for any Avenger to handle on their own, and this is why Hawkeye and the other Avengers often have to work together to try to defeat the incredibly strong Mad Titan.

4. Baron Helmut Zemo

Helmut Zemo is the son of the original Baron Zemo and is a believer in his father’s teachings. The passing of his father allowed Helmut to step into his father’s footsteps as he used his family’s wealth and scientific expertise to become the new Baron Zemo villain.

Of course, Zemo has been a villain to the Avengers and Captain America. But he has also been a villain to Hawkeye. The Thunderbolts were a creation of Zemo’s, but he soon lost this team to Hawkeye. And that was how Zemo eventually became one of Hawkeye’s greatest rivals.

3. Black Widow

One of the things that we know is that Black Widow and Hawkeye have always been very close friends. However, in an alternate version of the Marvel universe, they were actually rivals because Natasha decided to work as a double agent. She killed countless people and even Hawkeye’s family in the Ultimate universe.

The corrupt nature of Black Widow in this universe ultimately turned her into one of Hawkeye’s greatest rivals and enemies. As such, it became clear that the Ultimate version of Black Widow was a villain to the heroic Hawkeye, even though we know that they are close friends in the regular Earth-616 universe.

2. Taskmaster

While Taskmaster in the MCU is different from the one in the comics, one of the things that we know about this villain is that he has always been one of the most dangerous operatives in Marvel because he is capable of replicating the fighting style of any fighter. Of course, he was also able to replicate Hawkeye’s own style.

As a deadly villain, Taskmaster has pushed Hawkeye to the limit because he could replicate Hawkeye’s archery skills and even Black Widow’s fighting abilities. This has allowed him to become a deadly Marvel villain even though he doesn’t have real superpowers.

1. Bullseye

He may be known as the greatest rival of Daredevil, but we also know that Bullseye has become one of the greatest enemies of none other than Hawkeye as well. And that’s because they are two of the greatest marksmen in the world of Marvel.

The reason why Bullseye became a rival to Hawkeye was the fact that he disguised himself as Hawkeye while working for the Dark Avengers. He tarnished the heroic Hawkeye’s image, which turned Bullseye into a rival to the master archer.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!