A newly surfaced Hawkeye deleted scene is a defining moment for the Marvel hero

Of all the superheroes in the original lineup, I wouldn’t expect Hawkeye to have one of the most interesting backstories. But as it turns out, he’s not just an Average Dude with a Wife and Kids — he and his mom were criminals who traveled around the country robbing convenience stores. 

A new deleted scene, which just debuted on the Hawkeye season 1 steelbook and is premiering exclusively on Polygon, reveals the moment young Clint Barton’s life of crime went sideways. While the scene previously floated around the internet as a fuzzy leak/rip, the clip now exists in clear and pristine form, so we can appreciate just how much Diesel La Toracca looks like a young Jeremy Renner.

In the scene, one of Clint and his mom’s robberies goes horribly wrong, and the future Hawkeye takes aim with a rifle to solve the situation. But he very deliberately decides not to shoot the man holding his mom. As she’s whisked away in the police car, he apologizes saying that he missed. But as she puts it to him, correctly, “You never miss.”

It’s pretty meaty for a character who’s only really interesting for being a totally normal dude who happens to be really good at archery. Did he shoot people with rifles much as a kid? Has he killed before the age of 12? The mark about never missing seems to imply that he’s at least severely injured someone. Did he switch from a gun to a bow and arrow because of that #trauma?

It’s unlikely that we’ll ever get the full MCU Hawkeye backstory (or even more details about how he met Linda Cardellini). And the likelihood of Jeremy Renner doing a tell-all on the Jeremy Renner app is very low, considering the app is defunct. But hey, we have the Hawkeye steelbook to enjoy.

Hawkeye season 1, along with other Disney Plus series Loki season 2, Ahsoka season 1 and The Mandalorian season 3 are out for the first time on 4K UHD Blu-ray where ever you (wisely) buy your physical media.