tonystarks:

the reason why joss whedon’s inaccurate characterization and poor writing with clint barton in avengers pisses me off so much is because whedon misses the entire point of clint that makes him such a longstanding and well loved member of the marvel comic universe. clint is talented, enormously so. he’s the best archer in the world, excellent at hand to hand combat, he’s intelligent, and on and on that puts this little mortal man on the same level to be on a team with a super soldier, a god, a total screaming genius with a superscience suit, the most capable assassin and spy ever trained, and a hyperstrong rage monster.

but the thing is, even with all that, clint is the most unfailingly human member of the team. clint hides his intelligence, he gets himself into fights where he’s outnumbered and then gets hit in the head, he tells terrible jokes or makes puns in the middle of a fight, he gets cut up and beat up and ends most fights covered in bandages or in the hospital. he’s disabled, he has hearing aids. he isn’t this Badass Action Hero w/ Included Bow. he’s talented and capable, but he trips, he gets punched, he gets cut, he gets shot, he runs out of arrows, he gets knocked down. he isn’t motivated by revenge or a need to prove himself or a sense of duty or an overdeveloped sense of right and wrong. he’s motivated by the fact that he wants to help, because he can, because he used to lead a shitty life, because he should.

clint barton is just as much average joe as he is an avenger. he’s a disaster and a hero. clint barton’s not the cookie cutter male action hero that joss whedon painted him as in avengers. he’s not a silent broody badass, stalwart hero archetype, solid shield agent.he’s so much more. he’s a fuck up. he’s trying.

he’s hawkeye.