Caution: spoilers ahead for Hawkeye episodes 1 & 2
Who can truly claim the title of best archer in the MCU after Hawkeye premiered on Disney+ - Clint Barton, or Kate Bishop? Forever the least popular Avenger, Hawkeye could previously take comfort in being the world's greatest archery expert. Few characters in the MCU are bold enough to carry a bow and arrow into battle against literal Gods, but Hawkeye's trick shots and innovative arrows ensured his position as the most accurate MCU superstar. Only Taskmaster provides limp competition to Clint's crown, but her inferior jack-of-all-trades skill set means Hawkeye makes up for his terrible branding by being the franchise's foremost Robin Hood impersonator.
Thanks to Disney+, however, Hawkeye's throne is under attack from a would-be usurper asserting her own claim to being the MCU's number one archer. Hawkeye introduces Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop - a perennial overachiever in all manner of sports and martial arts. She's a state champion at fencing, a highly-skilled fighter capable of taking down criminal gangs single-handed, and an agile gymnast that would give Spider-Man a run for his rent money. Kate also states with zero hesitation that she's the "world's greatest archer," and she bravely makes this proclamation in the presence of Clint Barton himself.
Kate admits her title is partially self-appointed, but there's some merit to it nonetheless. Steinfeld's character is enthusiastic, but not arrogant enough to tell Hawkeye she's the better archer if she didn't truly believe so. Kate also assures her idol that other people have labelled her the best too, and if we assume these mystery supporters know of the Avengers, they must reckon she could out-shoot Clint Barton. Who's really the better marksman at the Marvel Renaissance fair - Barton or Bishop?
Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop talks big in Hawkeye, but she's also capable of backing up her cocky words with impressive feats of accuracy. As a college bet, the first shot Kate makes in Hawkeye is a tennis ball arrow hitting a bell. It's a fairly straightforward setup. Once she compensates for the weather and navigates through the clock tower's stonework, the trajectory should be achievable by most Olympic-level archers. Impressive, but not on Hawkeye's level. Kate's second shot, however, gives a better demonstration of her skills. Attaching a clip to the tennis ball, Bishop launches a looping arrow that arches down into the body of the tower and grapples a rope that wouldn't be visible from her vantage point. That's much more in Clint Barton's wheelhouse - a near-impossible shot Kate Bishop herself is deeply impressed by.
Kate hits another doozy when the Tracksuit Mafia attack her apartment. With Hawkeye watching on, Kate takes aim from her staircase and looses an arrow that flies narrowly past Barton and through her building's broken window, catching a molotov cocktail in a gangster's hand and sending the bomb splat into the van behind him. The look on Hawkeye's face shows how impressed he is by the effort, genuinely not expecting his new sidekick to possess such talent at her young age. Not only is the angle devilishly tricky, but shooting an object out of another person's hand requires perfect timing to avoid hitting the villain himself, or knocking the bomb toward another building.
Kate Bishop's bell and molotov cocktail shots immediately establish her as among the MCU's archery elite - one of the best, at least. But Hawkeye's opening episodes also reveal Kate's biggest weakness. Using archery in battle isn't just about hitting the target - there needs to be an understanding of what happens to the target after it's hit. This is a concept Kate hasn't fully grasped just yet. Her clip arrow brings down an entire bell tower, and while trying to put out an apartment fire by shooting an extinguisher, Kate sends the canister bouncing around the room unpredictably. It's hard to imagine Hawkeye making the same mistakes, and after the Sokovia Accords, the last thing the Avengers need is a hero who accidentally collapses buildings with a bow and arrow.
Not only does Hawkeye show less weaknesses in his archery game compared to Kate Bishop, his catalog of MCU trick shots makes for a far more impressive watch.
While taking down Chitauri invaders in 2012's The Avengers, Hawkeye hits a moving skiff on his flank without even looking. Downing a moving ship is impressive enough, but doing so sans aiming is just showing off. Kate Bishop pulls off some neat archery in Hawkeye, but she's always concentrating intensely or taking a deep breath before firing, whereas Hawkeye's arrow antics come as second nature. Even more extravagant is Hawkeye's midair helicarrier shot, also in The Avengers. Possessed by the Mind Stone (which doesn't improve his archery, by the way), Clint looses an arrow that lands square on the side of Nick Fury's Avengers skybase, blowing the ship wide open. The compensation he makes for wind is ridiculous, making the arrow arch back on itself before finding its mark. Once inside, he then hits the helicarrier's console so accurately, the flash-drive arrow tip slots neatly into its intended port. Most folks can't even plug in a USB without fiddling around a bit.
Hawkeye enjoys plenty of sharpshooting action in Avengers: Age of Ultron (more than he did in Avengers: Infinity War, at least), but his crowning achievement is the rapid-fire shooting during the climatic Battle of Sokovia. Clint Barton pummels Ultron's army with arrows, reloading and aiming so fast even Legolas would be proud. Once again, Kate Bishop's archery hasn't been as smooth in Hawkeye thus far; she's considering each shot before she makes it, whereas Hawkeye is able to fire instinctively.
Across his entire MCU journey, Hawkeye has developed a knack for archery on the run. Whether he's leaping from a building or running through a street his friends just destroyed, Clint Barton is as accurate in motion as he is standing completely still. That's another forte separating Clint from Kate, since the first 2 episodes of Hawkeye only show Hailee Steinfeld launching from a fixed position. If she truly is the more exceptional deadeye, Kate Bishop needs to start firing on her feet.
Comparing Kate Bishop's Hawkeye scenes to Clint Barton's credits from the wider MCU, it's fairly clear he's the superior marksman. With that said, there's enough in Kate Bishop's first foray to suggest she could, one day in the future, overtake her favorite Avenger. The biggest distinction between Clint and Kate right now isn't necessarily skill (both make deeply impressive shots few other archers could), but experience and maturity. Hawkeye has a better understanding of the physics behind archery and fires almost reflexively - both skills that only develop over time. With more MCU shooting practice under her utility belt, Kate Bishop will attain the finesse she's currently lacking and, when that happens, she might've finally surpassed Hawkeye to claim the title of world's greatest archer.
Kate Bishop eventually beating Clint Barton with a bow is foreshadowed by her backstory. Hawkeye introduces Kate as a dedicated student in multiple disciplines, sickeningly excellent at everything she tries since the tender age of 5. The 22-year-old Kate Bishop may not hit the bullseye as regularly as the 40-something Clint Barton, but maybe she's already better than Clint at 22. The gap between them isn't that big in Hawkeye, and though the MCU hasn't revealed when Clint first picked up a bow and arrow (yet), he might've started later than the grief-stricken Kate Bishop did after the Battle of New York. Hawkeye's MCU claim to fame remains safe for now, but it's surely only a matter of time before Kate Bishop catches up to really earn the mantle of Marvel's premier live-action archer.
Hawkeye airs Wednesdays on Disney+.
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