The internet has been buzzing with rumours of the MCU Clint Barton aka Hawkeye becoming
the superhero Ronin.
While some of you may be familiar with this samurai inspired character, for those of you
scratching your heads, we’re here to fill you in about this mysterious individual with
our list of the top 10 Ronin Shocking Facts. 10 Creation
The character of
Ronin was created by in 2005, and first appeared in the New Avengers issue 11.
Brain Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada were responsible for bringing the character to
life, but there have been multiple characters who have taken on the Ronin identity who were
pre-existing characters in the Marvel universe.
Speaking of- 9 Four Ronins
There have been four characters to take up the Ronin mantle.
The first was Maya Lopez, the second was Clint Barton, the three was Alexei Shostakov and
the fourth was Eric Brooks.
Each of these individuals had their own alias prior to switching over – Maya was previously
Echo, Clint was Hawkeye, Alexei was Red Guardian and Eric was Blade.
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/77/192105-179881-ronin.jpg - maya
8 Ultimate Marvel Ronin has strayed from those characters in
alternate versions of the character, though.
He’s a part of the Ultimate Marvel alternate universe, where he appears in Ultimate spider-Man
issue 108.
This time around, he’s one of the multiple personalities of Moon Knight who was created
to infiltrate one of Wilson Fisk’s services.
As part of his task to prove himself to Kingpin, he has to retrieve Spider-Man for Fisk.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/2/26/Ultimate_Spider-Man_Vol_1_108.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070420204450 7 Defeated Spider-Man & Killed Moon Knight
at the same time In that same alternate universe, Ronin took
out Spider-Man by heading over to Midtown High School and shooting it up.
Yeah, pretty dark.
Spider-Man responds to the attack, and they fight – a battle that is also intercut with
a fight between Moon Knight and Ronin, with Ronin fighting for control of his mind since
the two are different personalities within the same person.
Ronin then knocks out Spider-Man whilst killing Moon Knight in his mind.
He then makes use of Spider-Man’s web shooters to evacuate the scene.
Side note, Kitty Pryde also makes an appearance in that issue, but is knocked unconscious
as soon as Ronin arrives.
6 Mysterious Persona Jumping back to Ronin’s creation for this
number, writer Brian Michael Bendis wanted to introduce Ronin in an attempt to create
a mystery for readers.
Ronin appeared on several comic book covers, and it caused some major speculation amongst
fans as to who the character could be.
While many fans thought it was Daredevil – who, Bendis would later admit, was his initial
intention – they decided to go with Echo, and the character’s identity was revealed
in Mew Avengers issue 13.
Speaking of Maya-
5 Ronin was Deaf The Maya Lopez version of the character was
deaf.
This is because Maya is a deaf superhero.
She first hit the scene in 1999 in Daredevil Vol 2 issue 9, and is a Native American superhero
who is notably one of the only deaf characters in comics.
She was initially an antagonist of Daredevil’s, sent by Kingpin to intimidate Murdoch and
‘prove his weakness’.
She eventually turns to the side of good after the lies that Kingpin had fed to her since
she was a child are revealed – Fisk had adopted her after he murdered her father.
4 Alexei Shostakov The third individual to take on the Ronin
mantle, Alexei’s Ronin was introduced during the story Widow Maker, which was part of the
Black Widow and Hawkeye and Mockingbird crossover titles.
This Ronin was more of a villain – he was an assassin who eventually targets Black Widow
and Mockingbird, until his identity is revealed - he’s actually the ex-Red Guardian, who
also happens to be Black Widow’s ex-husband.
Drama!
Writer Jim McCann had stated about this decision, I quote, “We’re going to learn that there
is far more to the Ronin identity than anyone knew, pre-dating Hawkeye and Echo before him.
Why does Ronin exist?
That’s a central mystery we will tackle.”
But, it didn’t really impress much aside from a solid battle with the Avengers.
3 Eric Brooks In a more interesting stint, Eric Brooks took
over as Ronin when he became a part of the Mighty Avengers Team.
This was after adopting a temporary identity known as Spider Hero, which he donned in his
first battle with them during the Infinity storyline.
He’s later given a ‘big box of Clint Barton’s old stuff’ which is where he finds the costume.
Fun fact, before Marvel officially revealed that Brooks was the new Ronin, the script
for his first appearance as the character in Mighty Avengers #9 leaked to the public.
2 Clint Barton So why did Clint become Ronin in the comics?
Right after Civil War, when he rejoined the New Avengers.
He took on the persona in The New Avengers issue 27, when he joins the New Avengers – Dr
Strange, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist – in a rescue mission to save
Maya, who had been captured by Elektra and the Hand.
After she’s free, Maya gave it the mantle and let Clint keep the Ronin costume.
He would later return to his Hawkeye persona during the start of the Heroic Age in 2010
after the events of the Siege crossover event.
1 Avengers 4 Photos Photos have leaked from the set of the 4th
Avengers film that recently wrapped principle photography, and one includes Jeremy Renner,
who plays Hawkeye, sporting a new haircut and a long black robe.
It’s what’s underneath the robe that has got fans going wild – part of his leg slipped
out, and a new costume was visible; one that looks a whole hell of a lot like Ronin’s
black and gold threads.
There we have it friends!
Do you think Clint will take on the Ronin alias?
And if so, do you think it’ll happen in during the 4th Avengers film, or after?
Let us know all your thoughts in those comments below!
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