Summary
- Hawkeye's defeat of Wanda Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron showcases his underestimated power level.
- While other Avengers have failed to defeat Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye successfully got the drop on her, highlighting his swift thinking and well-placed tactics.
- Hawkeye's levelheadedness and ability to overcome personal hurdles during Avengers: Age of Ultron make him the most proficient Avenger at that time, deserving his place among Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Debate over which MCU Avengers' power levels. Even Hawkeye himself acknowledges his atypical involvement in supernatural events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, stating "Look, the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense."
However - as Twitter Lunwi pointed out - it was also in Avengers: Age of Ultron that Clint Barton's supposedly meager power levels allowed him to become the only Marvel hero in the MCU timeline to defeat Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch. Nuances aside, the point is hard to argue against, given that Barton's swift thinking and well-placed taser arrow succeeded where no others could. The argument does, however, ignore a few minor details that fly in the face of the assertion that Hawkeye is the MCU's strongest Avenger - although he is certainly underestimated.
Hawkeye Isn't The Strongest Avenger - But He's Way Stronger Than Many Fans Think
As detractors from the original statement suggested, the mantle of "Scarlet Witch" hadn't been adopted by Maximoff at this point, which is significant insofar as she was at her weakest. Facing Maximoff during the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron is incomparable to facing present-day Scarlet Witch by every metric. It's also arguable that both Thanos and even War Machine have both similarly incapacitated Wanda in Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War, respectively, making Barton one of three Marvel characters to have done so, and one of two that have no superpowers.
However, Barton did emerge as the only Avenger to be able to subdue Wanda Maximoff during that particular sequence, and while he wasn't facing Scarlet Witch, that still certainly counts for something. Even Thor, who is theorized to be the only Avenger capable of defeating Scarlet Witch today, failed where Hawkeye succeeded. Barton was able to get the drop on Wanda while the other Avengers could not, which is a testament to his very real power level in the MCU. The likes of Hawkeye and Black Widow deserve their fair share of kudos for even keeping up with super soldiers, gamma-irradiated giants and a literal god.
It is better to suggest that during the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, when many of the core Avengers were overcoming some significant personal hurdles, Hawkeye and his levelheadedness emerged as the most proficient Avenger at that time. He had already suffered mind control in The Avengers, so might have been a little better prepared to fight against it this time. Either way, while almost certainly not the strongest MCU Avenger, Hawkeye at the very least deserves his spot amid the ranks of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Source: Lunwi
