Where Was Hawkeye During ‘Infinity War’? Explained

Hawkeye was a part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization even before the Avengers Initiative came to life. We got used to seeing him whenever there was a need for the Avengers to defend the Earth because he was there when every major crisis struck to put his skills and talents to good use. However, that wasn’t the case in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ – Clint was nowhere to be seen when Thanos attacked. But why was that? Where was Hawkeye during ‘Infinity War’?

During the ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ events, Hawkeye was under house arrest for violating the Sokovia Accords. He was there also when Thanos snapped his fingers and helplessly watched as his family disappeared. Those events will later turn him into a vigilante and a killer roaming the world like Ronin.

Even though Clint was absent during the first clash with Thanos, the consequences of that attack had a huge impact on him. Following the events in ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ Clint was forced into house arrest, and we’ll talk about that in more detail below. So, keep reading to find out more.

Hawkey decided against Socovia Accords, which ultimately led him to house arrest

After Avengers defeated Ultron, who demolished Sokovia and almost destroyed the whole world, the world’s governments decided that something needed to be done and that superheroes couldn’t act unsupervised in the future. This all led to the creation of the Sokovia Accords. The idea behind the Accords was that all the enhanced individuals, not just the Avengers, would be placed under the control of a governing body – the United Nations panel, and in that way, could be held accountable for their actions.

When the Accords were presented to the Avengers, a dispute emerged, and two sides were formed, one side – pro-Accords led by Tony Stark, and the other – against Accords led by Captain America.

Hawkeye sided with Captain America, which meant that he opposes the law and rules even then, and it will only get worse from there. His siding with Cap also meant him being on opposing sides with his best friend, a long-time colleague, Black Widow, something that would usually never happen.

Nevertheless, when the UN facility suffered a terrorist attack, a grand clash between two Avenger sides emerged, leaving Tony and Steve Rodgers on bad terms, Rhodey severely injured, and those who opposed signing the Accords ended up in Raft prison. Of course, it was all short-lived because Captain America decided to break free there.

Clint and Scott Lang refused the idea of living in exile, so they accepted the deal presented and accepted being under house arrest because it meant they got to be with their families. After that, Ant-Man gets into some new troubles, which leads him into the quantum realm, and we see Clint five years later, in the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ But what was he up to for all those years, and he did not appear in ‘Infinity War?’

The reason for Hawkey’s absence in ‘Infinity War’ is briefly mentioned in the movie

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ gathered Avengers back together after their falling out over the Accords. When they teamed up, Nat briefly stated that Hawkeye and Scott had taken the deal after the Accords and were on house arrest. One could argue that a threat as big as Thanos was reason well enough to break out that house arrest, but it is all debatable. Clint was at home with his family, unaware of all the universe’s dangers. But he eventually found out, and like many others, he learned the hard way.

After not appearing in ‘Infinity War’ Hawkey got a fair share of screen time in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ At the movie’s beginning, he can be seen enjoying his time with his family, but then Thanos’s ‘snap’ happens, and his family disappears. Nothing was ever the same for Clint after, and he turned his life around, becoming a ruthless killer and assassin known as Ronin.

He spent years punishing criminals around the world in hopes that would somehow ease his pain of losing a family. Eventually, Natasha tracked him down in Japan and informed him there was a chance to bring everyone back. It was a chance Clint always hoped would come but was afraid of all the pain if it was a false hope.

Hawkeye eventually joined Natasha and the other Avengers on their quest to find all the Infinity Stones and was willing to sacrifice his life instead of Black Widow – he even considered that he deserved to die because of everything he did. Even after the events of ‘Endgame’ were over and everyone returned home, we could see in ‘Hawkeye’ TV show that he still felt deep shame because of everything he did as Ronin.

As for why he didn’t show up in ‘Infinity War,’ Jeremy Renner, an actor that portrays Hawkeye, said to Variety that he is not upset about not being included in the movie and that those are decisions that the Russo brothers made. However, Renner considered that Hawkey’s not in the movie was due to the storyline. Because of everything that happened before the events in ‘Infinity War,’ and that makes sense.

What do you think why Hawkeye is not in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’? Share your thoughts in the comments below!