Hawkeye is already a better Spider-Man than the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of the webslinger. Hawkeye, the latest Disney+ series set within the MCU, turns the spotlight onto Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, an archer who partners with the Avenger after donning the Ronin costume and getting into a host of trouble. But while Spider-Man has a lot going for him, Hawkeye has beat him to the one thing his films should have had all along.
First introduced in 2011’s Thor, Hawkeye has long been one of the MCU’s most grounded heroes. He’s a family man, first and foremost, and — while he’s fought the likes of the Chitauri and Thanos — he tends to keep private. Hawkeye sees Clint and Kate battling local New York City mafia rather than something more grand and world-threatening in scale. Clint is shown alongside his kids attending a Broadway musical about the Avengers and, later, trying to win back his Ronin suit by fake-battling a LARPer. More than anything, Hawkeye employs New York in a way that is a central part of the series, with the action and the characters all embedded within it while utilizing it to its fullest capacity. Tackling neighborhood crime is something that feels natural to him and to Kate, who has lived in the city her whole life.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man has always been “your friendly neighborhood” superhero, but the MCU’s iteration of the webslinger has often removed him from the New York setting altogether. Peter Parker has been drawn into fighting bigger-scale threats, including Thanos and Mysterio. To that end, Spider-Man's adventures have taken him to space and to European countries; it’s gotten to the point that Spider-Man is not really one of the New York’s citizens at all because his storylines see him facing his foes elsewhere. This aspect of MCU’s Spidey arc means he’s more of a global superhero rather than a local one, much to the detriment of his comics history, which sees him being active in the city he calls home more often than not.
Typically, Peter is the underdog who comes from a working class family and is at home with the people he protects. However, the MCU turns the table on his character to give Clint that title. It’s become most apparent with Hawkeye, which showcases Clint as a local as much as he is a superhero — something he doesn’t really feel comfortable with whenever he’s recognized. Hawkeye doesn’t go too big, focusing on street-level crime and problems in New York that are directly linked to the titular hero and his past. As it stands, most of Spider-Man’s stories have more of a connection to Iron Man than to Peter himself, which removes him from much of the local issues and villains plaguing his city.
With Clint and Kate fighting local gangs like the Tracksuit Mafia and being suspicious of New York elite like Jack Duquesne, Kate’s mother’s fiancé, Hawkeye is perhaps one of the most grounded superhero projects in the MCU. Hawkeye being one with and embracing New York in all its facets as he addresses past actions done to a local crime syndicate speaks volumes. With Spider-Man: No Way Home destined to usher in the multiverse, there’s no competition regarding who really is the (sometimes friendly) neighborhood superhero anymore.
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