Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow

Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow

Welcome to WatchMojo and in this installment of Versus, we aim to settle who’s the best bow-slinging hero: DC’s Green Arrow or Marvel’s Hawkeye. Since both heroes can easily hit bullseyes, we’ll be comparing everything from origin stories to creativity to determine the best archer.

Which of these sharpshooters do you think is number one? Let us know in the comments below.

Round 1: Origin Story

When Green Arrow was created in 1941, his alter-ego Oliver Queen was an archaeologist who got into crime-fighting after thugs attacked his museum. His sidekick Speedy was orphaned in a plane crash and learned to survive in the wilderness. Over time, Green Arrow’s origin would assume elements from his protege’s story. Instead of being an assailed scholar, Queen became a wealthy playboy who ends up falling off a boat and getting stranded on a remote island. He survives by becoming a highly skilled bowhunter. After Queen uses his bow to fight criminals, he decides to continue helping others off the island. While he arrived there as a spoiled playboy, he’d leave as a burgeoning hero.

The story of how Clint Barton became Hawkeye has remained more consistent since his introduction in 1964. Back then, Hawkeye was a Coney Island carnival marksman who wanted to become a costumed vigilante after witnessing Iron Man save the day. However, after whipping up a suit and quiver of special arrows, he was mistaken for a criminal. He even leaned into the bad role and fought Iron Man with Black Widow when she was also a villain. But Hawkeye eventually cleared his name and earned a spot on the Avengers. He’s gone on to become a reliable member of many incarnations of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Not bad for someone who started off in a carnival.

While Barton’s carnival origins and redemption arc make for a great yarn, we find Green Arrow’s perilous island backstory more exciting and compelling.

WINNER: Green Arrow 1 / Hawkeye 0

Round 2: Sidekicks/Allies

Green Arrow’s first sidekick was Roy Harper, aka Speedy, a talented archer that Queen adopted and continued to train. Though Harper struggled with personal demons, he still served as leader of the Teen Titans and became a full-fledged hero in his own right. Mia Dearden also served as the Green Arrow’s crimson-clad companion. On the live-action “Arrow” show, both Roy Harper and Thea Queen served as Oliver’s archer sidekicks. Green Arrow also has former soldier and fan favorite character John Diggle on his side. While we won’t list all his numerous Justice League allies and sidekicks, rest assured that he has a wide roster of heroes ready to back him up.

Clint’s had relationships with Black Widow, Mockingbird and She-Hulk. The tight bonds he has with each of those heroines mean they’re often reliable allies when he gets into trouble. Hawkeye also has Kate Bishop as a sharpshooting sidekick. After surviving several traumatic incidents, Kate decided to turn herself into a strong and capable fighter and archer. Although she initially had a rocky relationship with Hawkeye, he eventually gave her his blessing. When Clint isn’t mentoring Kate, he's probably leading a superhero group. He’s been in charge of the West Coast Avengers, Thunderbolts and Secret Avengers. Hawkeye’s time as a team leader and mentor has given him a deep bench of allies to rely on.

Green Arrow’s had a ton of solid sidekicks and allies over the years. But while his numbers are great, the amount of experience Hawkeye has leading superpowered teams is more impressive. Not only can the Avenger call upon a veritable army of allies, but they constantly trust him to lead them all to victory.

WINNER: Green Arrow 1 / Hawkeye 1

Round 3: Ingenuity

When Queen washed up on that remote island, he fashioned a bow, arrows and clothes from scavenged materials. What’s even more impressive is that he actually whipped up a few trick arrows with limited supplies. Once off the island, Green Arrow developed more sophisticated projectiles to help with his crime-fighting activities. His quiver has included arrows with suction cups, buzz saws, boomerangs, boxing gloves and so much more. However, he’s not just a maker and user of wacky projectiles. Oliver can pick up other weapons like firearms if needed. He’s also proven himself as a solid detective, businessman and mayor. Oliver’s got the intelligence and improvisation skills to succeed in virtually every area of his life.

From a young age, Marvel’s bowman’s been a cunning tactician and quick thinker. After being orphaned as a child, he managed to start a new life at a circus. Clint’s training there gave him the ability to turn almost anything into a weapon. He’s carried a katana, borrowed iconic Avenger weapons and used a wide variety of trick arrows. Clint even stopped a bad guy in his tracks with a spoon and hairband! The accurate archer performed a few of these amazing feats while dealing with hearing loss. Although it took him a while to adjust, he continued to fight crime while accepting new challenges. Fans expected nothing less from a hero who spent his life defying the odds.

Oliver's survival skills, political career and trick arrows are all extremely impressive feathers in Green Arrow’s cap. But the way Hawkeye built himself up from nothing and pushed through his personal struggles with hearing loss while shooting a few trick arrows put him ahead here.

WINNER: Green Arrow 1 / Hawkeye 2

Round 4: Live-Action Adaptation

While there’s been more than one live-action interpretation of the Green Arrow, Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen is the most well-known. To prepare for his role as the vigorous vigilante, the actor trained almost as intensely as his fictional alter-ego, and performed impressive parkour stunts. His dominating physical presence complemented one of the darkest depictions of the emerald archer yet. “Arrow’s” Oliver started his vigilante career willing to seriously harm or even take the lives of his enemies. However, after working with a team, he learned how to pull back on his violent tendencies and became an inspiring figure. Stephen Amell’s complex and layered performance made his series a huge success and helped spawn multiple Arrow-verse shows.

Jeremy Renner has portrayed Clinton “Clint" Barton in around a half a dozen MCU projects as a supporting character and is a lead character of a self-titled tv show. To prepare for all these appearances, the actor studied Arnis, a Filipino martial art, as well as Muay Thai boxing. Renner’s training has made him look like a believable fighter whether he’s battling beings with or without superpowers. Although Hawkeye didn’t originally get a whole lot of time to shine outside of fights, that changed over the years. Several cinematic scenes have taken the time to dive into his backstory and motivations. The more we learn about where Hakweye’s been, the more we appreciate who he is today.

Renner’s Hawkeye has a great physical presence and a handful of solid performances under his belt. But not only have we seen Amell’s ruthlessly athletic Oliver Queen grow over the years, but his success in the role paved the way for dozens of other heroes to step into the spotlight.

WINNER: Green Arrow 2 / Hawkeye 2

Round 5: Close Quarter Combat

Green Arrow pushed his body to the limits of human performance through rigorous physical and mental conditioning. He’s an accomplished fighter who trained with some of the best, like Wildcat, a heavyweight boxing champion, and Natas, an assassin turned martial arts master. His training has enabled him to withstand so much pain that it’s difficult to get him to stay down. Oliver’s endurance and fighting skills allowed him to out scrap heavy hitters like the insanely dangerous Dark Archer and the expert assassin Deathstroke. In the “Arrow” show, he was such a talented fighter that Ra’s Al Ghul wanted Oliver to command the League of Assassins. Oliver has shown us many times that he doesn’t need a bow to take his enemies down.

While Hawkeye’s not the strongest Avenger, once you learn how easily Barton can pull back a bow that requires 250-pounds of draw strength, you just know he throws one hell of a right hook. It helps that he’s been trained by Captain America and the Swordsman, an Olympic-level athlete with near superhuman combat skills. Hawkeye’s been able to best multiple supervillains at the same time and win a deadly duel against an enemy when he could barely see. Not only is he an incredibly skilled fighter but he has quick reflexes. Hawkeye’s been known to dodge bullets and other fast-moving projectiles. His reflexes and combat skills make him difficult to defeat even when he doesn’t have an arrow around.

These archers are formidable fighters. But while their clash would be close, Hawkeye’s impressive strength and speed would likely give him the edge he needs to beat the archer.

WINNER: Green Arrow 2 / Hawkeye 3

With a score of 3 to 2, Green Arrow just missed the bullseye and allowed Hakweye to walk away with the victory.