When Hawkeye appeared in Tales of Suspense #57, he was a supervillain. This wasn’t what he wanted, but when he tried to stop a thief, Iron Man mistook him for the bad guy. Hawkeye went on the run and fell for another villain, Black Widow. The two renegades switched sides at the same time and became the heroes fans know and love today.
They joined the Avengers, and Hawkeye slowly built up his own gallery of villains that he fought regularly. Unlike other heroes, his villains were often assassins and relied on their weapons, similar to how Hawkeye uses his bow and arrow to fight crime. This makes some of Hawkeye’s top villains the deadliest in the Marvel Universe.
10 The Swordsman
The Swordsman was an important person in Hawkeye’s life. He took in Clint Barton and trained him to use knives and swords while another performer at the circus taught him how to use the bow and arrow. As Hawkeye comic fans know, the entire goal was to recruit Clint as a thief to steal precious items.
Hawkeye wanted nothing to do with this and tried to turn the Swordsman over to the police. However, his mentor outwitted the archer and escaped imprisonment. The Swordsman became a deadly Hawkeye villain before he redeemed himself by joining the Avengers. After marrying Mantis, the Swordsman died fighting Kang in the famous Celestial Madonna storyline.
9 The Ringmaster
The Ringmaster led the Circus of Crime, and with Hawkeye’s past as a criminal carny, this was an obvious matchup for the Avenger. What makes Ringmaster so deadly is that he has the entire circus performers at his command.
Ringmaster could hypnotize people to do anything he demanded, which made him a deadly villain when he gained control of the most powerful victims. He even enlisted Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch to join him, but they rejected the offer and Ringmaster ended up as one of Hawkeye’s greatest enemies instead.
8 The Clown
Arguably, Hawkeye’s best critically acclaimed comic book series came in 2012 with the Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Annie Wu run. In Hawkeye Vol. 4 #8, the world was introduced to Kazimierz Kazimierczak, also known as Clown. After his childhood friend dies, Kazimierz turns to a life of crime and, eventually, serial murder.
After killing countless people with no motivation besides causing as much chaos as possible, the Clown is finally stopped by Hawkeye. Later, the Clown tried to murder one of Clint’s friends but was unsuccessful due to the timely intervention of the new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop.
7 Trick Shot
Trick Shot is easily one of Hawkeye’s deadliest villain because he can replicate the archer’s own skills with a bow and arrow. The first Trick Shot was Buck Chisholm, the man who trained Hawkeye in archery and trick arrows, while Swordsman taught him how to use blades. With more experience and skill, Buck usually defeated Clint when they clashed.
Later, another Trick Shot appeared who also had a personal connection to Hawkeye. This was Clint’s brother Barney, who had died fighting the Avengers villain Egghead but was resurrected by Baron Zemo to get revenge on the archer. Zemo's plan failed and the two brothers later reconciled.
6 The Hood
The Hood is a crime lord that at one time wanted to become as big as Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as the Kingpin of Crime, but fell short in the end when Fisk returned to power. The Hood gained Hawkeye’s attention when he appeared in Hawkeye: FreeFall in 2020.
The Hood was so deadly that Hawkeye had to do the unthinkable to beat him. Hawkeye became a mob boss, entering the drug dealing business to steal all Hood’s resources and money.
5 Crossfire
One of Hawkeye’s greatest villains is the marksman named Crossfire. While he is not as well-known as other Marvel bad guys, Crossfire's skill with advanced weaponry, combined with his background as a CIA agent, makes him a force to be reckoned with.
Crossfire's main advantage in his battles with Clint is his cybernetic implants that help his aim and accuracy. Crossfire proved to be a worthy villain by not only fighting Hawkeye to a standstill on occasion but also giving Moon Knight trouble in the past as well.
4 Baron Zemo
Baron Zemo is a deadlier villain than most characters who simply share Hawkeye’s use of weapons. This is because Zemo’s power is his control over other individuals. He is a manipulative and controlling man, the son of a former Nazi and Hydra agent who wants to live up to his father’s name.
Baron Zemo put together several super teams of villains willing to do anything for him, including the Masters of Evil and Thunderbolts. He and Hawkeye have always clashed, and this was no more true than when Hawkeye helped the Thunderbolts become heroes after they broke away from Zemo.
3 Black Widow (Ultimates)
In the Earth-616 Marvel Universe, Black Widow and Hawkeye are the closest of allies. They both turned good and joined The Avengers at the same time and have fought together more than almost anyone else in Marvel. They were also close in the Ultimate Marvel Universe.
The problem is that Black Widow was always evil and worked as a double-agent, betraying the Ultimates. She killed several people, shooting Jarvis in front of Tony Stark and killing Hawkeye’s wife and children when she showed her corrupt nature.
2 Taskmaster
The Taskmaster in the comics differs from the character appearing in the Black Widow movie. In the comics, he is Tony Masters, an assassin with the ability to replicate any physical skill he sees to perfection. As a result, he is among the best fighters in Marvel Comics and almost impossible to beat.
He has Hawkeye’s archery skills, Captain America’s shield and fighting abilities, Black Widow’s shooting acumen, Black Knight’s superior swordsmanship, and more. As an assassin, this makes him one of Marvel’s deadliest villains and someone who has given Hawkeye a run for his money.
1 Bullseye
The deadliest Hawkeye villain in Marvel Comics history is Bullseye. There is not a more precise assassin in comics than Bullseye, a killer who never misses his target unless something disrupts the shot.
He has killed more people than almost any human mercenary in the Marvel Universe. Bullseye developed into one of Hawkeye’s deadliest villains when Norman Osborn chose him to impersonate the archer during the Dark Avengers storyline. This rivalry grew deadly as Bullseye tainted the archer’s good name.
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