Marvel Villain Becomes Ronin

Marvel’s Ronin persona has fallen into the wrong hands. Different Marvel heroes have taken on the Ronin guise over the years, from Echo to Red Guardian to Blade. In the series Hawkeye: Freefall, Clint Barton returned to the persona in order to play dirty in his war against supervillain crime boss The Hood. That decision came back to haunt Clint in the most recent issue of the series. His secret is exposed, and the Ronin persona is in the hands of a deadly Marvel villain. SPOILERS for Hawkeye: Freefall #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt follow.

Clint Barton’s grudge match against The Hood began after Hawkeye busted on of The Hood’s operation. That was great until Hawkeye attended the court hearing. The Hood’s poor goons were sent to prison, but The Hood himself was able to buy himself out of the situation.

No longer believing the justice system can be trusted to handle the likes of The Hood, Clint dusted off his Ronin persona. He’s gone to extreme measures in his fight against The Hood, to the point that he’s kept the operation a secret from his Avengers ally. He even hired a Skrull to impersonate him so that he can be in two places at once.

That decision is Hawkeye’s undoing. Becoming frustrated with Ronin’s assault, The Hood hired the deadly assassin Bullseye to find who was under the mask and to stop him. Bullseye found Clint’s Skrull impersonate and forced him to reveal Ronin’s identity. That led Bullseye to the basement of Hawkeye’s building. Bullseye finds Clint’s hideout, kills his assistant, and take the Ronin costume for his. What happens next will be revealed in Hawkeye: Freefall #6.

What do you think of Bullseye stealing the Ronin persona from Hawkeye? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section. Hawkeye: Freefall #5 is on sale now.

Hawkeye: Freefall #5
(W) Matthew Rosenberg (A) Otto Schmidt (CA) Kim Jacinto

Hawkeye’s relationship to Ronin has even his friends turning against him. He’s been lying about a lot of things. But you can’t lie to Captain America. Meanwhile, his war with the Hood is beginning to spin out of control as the people close to him are put in real danger. Having to deal with the Hood was bad enough, but now Clint finds himself in the sites of another former Hawkeye. No. Not her… Enter BULLSEYE.