Rick and Morty has never been shy about criticizing the Avengers, the entire MCU, and even the wider superhero genre as a whole, yet one insult was more blatant than most others, as it specifically called out one MCU Avenger in the best way.
The original Avengers in the MCU were Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Thor. As outlined in their debut film, each Avenger brought their own flair to the team in a way that no one else could. Captain America was the leader, Iron Man was the tech genius, Black Widow was the super-spy, Hawkeye was the expert marksman, Hulk was the muscle, and Thor was a literal god. While this team was enough to carry the entire MCU franchise during its golden era, there was always clearly one member who arguably stood out as being equal parts redundant and pointless on this particular superhero team: Hawkeye – and Rick and Morty calls that out hilariously.
Rick and Morty Perfectly Mocks MCU’s Hawkeye
In Rick and Morty: Crisis on C-137 by Stephanie Phillips and Ryan Lee, the Smith family is recruited by the last-remaining Vindicator, Supernova, to help fight their dog-turned-supervillain, Snowball (formerly Snuffles). To do that, Rick has to give every member of his family ‘super powers’ in the form of skin-tight superhero suits that also act as their official costumes. Morty got laser cannon wrist gauntlets, Beth got a ‘Winter Soldier’ arm and a ‘Captain America’ shield, and Summer got a giant cell phone/axe weapon. Meanwhile, Jerry got the worst costume/powers of all: a suit with tons of unnecessary flair reminiscent of Hawkeye’s comic book costume, and a bow and arrows as his only weapon.
By making Jerry the team’s resident ‘Hawkeye’, readers are told everything they need to know about how the series feels about the MCU Avenger. Jerry is the worst, and everything he does is lame, therefore – in the eyes of Rick and Morty – Hawkeye is lame. Not only that, but the comic goes even further by pointing out specifically that wielding a bow and arrows during a superhero battle just doesn’t make any sense. In fact, Jerry himself asked if it came with something like a laser function to be more effective. Then, when he actually tries to use it, the weapon has absolutely no effect on the villains he’s fighting, confirming that a bow and arrows aren’t the best things to fight with during a battle that could decide the fate of the entire world.
While there’s clearly a huge gap between the skill sets of Jerry and Hawkeye when it comes to wielding a bow and arrow, the larger point Rick and Morty is trying to make still rings true. When the entire planet is on the precipice of total annihilation, someone skilled in archery is probably not the most well-equipped hero to handle it, especially next to the likes of supersoldiers and gods. In that regard, Rick and Morty called out one MCU Avenger, Hawkeye, in the best possible way.
