Arguably the most compelling episode of Hawkeye yet, episode 3 takes an interesting turn by depicting what life is like for Clint Barton and Maya Lopez, best known as Echo, who are at odds with each other because of Ronin’s past. Offering a heartbreaking origin story for Maya, a deeper glimpse at the mental toll being Ronin has taken on Clint, and finishing off with an intense cliffhanger, episode 3 is full of action, emotion, and comedy.
Like the first two episodes, fans were given a better glimpse at easter eggs from the trailer, including the “Trust a Bro” moving company van and the reappearance of a sign advertising “Rogers the Musical.” With that being said, episode 3 contains a few more Marvel references that could mean bigger things in the future.
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Pym Arrow
In typical MCU fashion, the heroes find themselves in an intense car chase, after stirring up trouble with the Tracksuit Mafia. While battling it out on the bridge, Clint pulls out a special arrow with the word “PYM” written across it in large letters. After firing the arrow towards the sky, it grew large enough to crush an entire van like a bug.
If the name wasn’t a dead giveaway as to where Clint got it, the fact that an arrow was able to grow a million times larger than its original size can only mean one thing - the arrow was made by none other than Ant-Man’s Hank Pym. This implies a number of possibilities for the future of the Marvel Universe.
Firstly, the weapon could have been gifted to Hawkeye during the Infinity Saga, when Scott Lang joined the Avengers after escaping the quantum realm. Perhaps Clint has been holding onto it the entire time, waiting for the right moment to use it. This begs the question, why did Clint decide to hold onto these during the entirety of Endgame? Given the amount of destruction Thanos caused, it would have been the perfect opportunity for Clint to squash the Avengers’ problems (literally and figuratively) and save the world.
Second, the events of Hawkeye could be set after the unreleased Ant-Man 3 film. Hawkeye is supposed to take place about a year after the Blip, but there haven’t been too many details released about when or where Ant-Man 3 fits into the MCU timeline. Perhaps Scott, Hope, and Hank need the help of Clint to defeat whatever challenge they’re up against, which is how he acquired the arrows. A team-up between the three would certainly be an unexpected surprise, but it does align with some of the events that went down in the comics.
Finally, there’s a chance that Clint figured out how to make use of the Pym Particle and build the weapon himself. This did happen in the comics, but it’s still unclear as to how Clint obtained the particles in the MCU. Hopefully, this will be cleared up as the series progresses.
Imagine Dragons
Just like last episode, Hawkeye is establishing real-world elements of pop culture in the MCU. A member of the Tracksuit Mafia confirmed that the band Imagine Dragons is alive and kicking in the Marvel Universe, just like the cosplayers confirmed Katniss Everdeen is real for the Avengers too.
Kate even poked fun at the band, telling the Tracksuit member that he doesn’t have to suffer through seeing them in concert if his girlfriend stole the tickets for herself. This joke was made in reference to the popular opinion that the band isn’t as great as everyone once thought they were. It also continues the trend of dragon discussions in the episode, as Echo and her father talk about dragons earlier. Could this all be a sly reference to Shang-Chi? Echo’s father does say that dragons would live in a different world if they were real, as was seen in that film.
Comic Book Suit
The new MCU shows on Disney Plus have been finding creative ways to integrate the original suits worn by heroes in the comics. First, fans saw the original Scarlet Witch and Vision suits during the halloween episode of WandaVision. Next, the classic Loki variant was sporting the same outfit the God of Mischief wore throughout all his comic adventures.
It was only a matter of time before Hawkeye did the same, and episode 3 delivered when Clint and Kate went out to eat. The image Kate drew on her napkin was none other than the original Hawkeye comic suit. Sure, maybe her drawing wasn’t a picture perfect replica, but the winged eye mask and large “H” on his forehead is unmistakable for comic fans.
Black Widow “Kills” Ronin
Natasha Romanoff was brought up yet again when Clint tells the Tracksuit Mafia that Black Widow was responsible for killing Ronin. Although she didn’t technically kill him, she was the one to retrieve Clint during his murder spree in Avengers: Endgame, making it seem like Clint was referencing Natahsa’s metaphorical killing of the person Clint chose to be after losing his family after the Blip.
The Hawkeye series is already halfway over, but there’s been no sign of Yelena. With so many references to his past with Natasha, fans are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Yelena to see what her next move will be.
When Kate needs to cover Clint at the conclusion of their car chase, she has to bluff with a USB arrow. “God I hope he’s got a dongle arrow to make this useful,” Kate quips. This arrow, while never seen in any mainline MCU entries, played a big role in What If…? episode 8. Clint and Natasha use a similar arrow to upload Arnim Zola’s consciousness into one of Ultron’s robots. It’s a fun reference to the standalone(?) series, and does raise the question of how compatible this arrow would really be with most technology at this point.
New episodes of Hawkeye are currently streaming every Wednesday on Disney Plus.
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