Warning! SPOILERS for Hawkeye
To the delight of Kate Bishop’s superhero-level archery skills to Hawkeye as she nails every target. Hanging out a window, flying off a bridge, clinging to a moving train, and zip-lining over a city street, Kate Bishop and Clint Barton have been putting Hawkeye’s famous trick arrows to work all over New York City in the latest Hawkeye episodes and there is likely more fun to come.
Disney’s Hawkeye follows the young Kate Bishop as she meets her idol, Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye), who has sought her out after Kate dons his Ronin suit and gets herself in trouble with the Tracksuit Mafia. Clint intends to reclaim the suit and return home to his family for Christmas, but his plans get derailed when the Tracksuit Mafia takes both him and Kate captive. Clint and Kate forge an unlikely friendship and Clint begins to train Kate until, in the most recent episode, Yelena appears and Clint severs ties with Kate in an effort to protect her. The pair goes their own ways at the end of Hawkeye episode 4, but it seems unlikely that the pair will remain apart, with better chances that they are back together and shooting up the town again in the near future.
In Hawkeye season 1, episode 3, viewers begin to see more of Hawkeye’s trick arrows at work as Kate and Clint escape Maya and the Tracksuit Mafia. In a brilliantly comedic getaway sequence, Kate unleashes several of Clint’s trick arrows which cause chaos and breed hilarity. In Hawkeye episode 4, more trick arrows are featured when Hawkeye and Kate Bishop fight Yelena Belova and Maya on the rooftop. Here’s a breakdown of all of Hawkeye’s trick arrows used in Hawkeye episodes 3 and 4 and which trick arrows fans might see in coming episodes.
Putty Arrow
The putty arrow (or what Kate refers to as the “Play-doh” arrow) is the first of Hawkeye’s trick arrows to be used in Hawkeye episode 3, as Kate Bishop is hanging out of her and Clint’s getaway car. With the Tracksuit Mafia in hot pursuit through the city streets, Kate fires the arrow and it lands on the villain’s windshield causing purple goop to bubble up and block their line of sight. Clint tells Kate to “hit their wheels with the putty arrow,” revealing the arrow’s name and providing insight as to another way the arrow could be used. Later, in Hawkeye episode 4, when Kate breaks into Maya’s (a.k.a. “Echo” played by Hawkeye newcomer Alaqua Cox) apartment, she uses Hawkeye’s putty arrows again to cover the alarms.
Explosive Arrow
Following the putty arrow, Kate slips another of Hawkeye’s trick arrows from the quiver inside the car—an explosive arrow—and fires again at the Tracksuit Mafia. This time the arrow can be seen with its head lodged in the front of one of the trucks and blinking red before the truck instantly explodes. The flaming truck careens through the busy city street with little left but the shell—a testament to the force of the explosive.
Plunger Arrow
Another Hawkeye trick arrow launched by Kate during the chase with the Tracksuit Mafia (who always say “Bro”), the plunger arrow leaves Kate underwhelmed. Later, when Clint and Kate are desperate for a way off the bridge, Clint tells Kate to cover him as he makes a dash to recover this trick arrow, then uses it to cling to the side of the train during their escape. Over the sound of the train, Kate yells, “Now I get the whole plunger arrow thing!”
Spider Web Grapple Arrow
The only unnamed trick arrow in Hawkeye episode 3, Kate fires the spider web grapple arrow into the front of the same Tracksuit Mafia truck that was initially the target of the putty arrow. On impact, the arrow disperses multiple wire lines that presumably have grapple points (and are possibly retractable) as they seem to lodge and grab the surrounding trees from the Christmas tree lot Hawkeye is driving through. The lines pull dozens of trees onto the car, prohibiting Kazi’s line of sight and the truck is lost in the tree lot.
Acid Arrow
While driving, Clint hands Kate two acid arrows and tells her to take out the stoplights. Kate shoots the signals and bright green corrosive acid can be seen eating away at the light’s wires. Soon, Hawkeye's trick arrow causes the lights to fall to the ground, leading traffic to swerve and crash through the intersection.
Smoke Bomb Arrow
As Maya pulls up next to Clint and Kate’s vehicle on the bridge, Clint engages with the Tracksuit Mafia thug in the enger seat of the 1972 cherry red Dodge Challenger (a fantastic Easter egg in Hawkeye episode 3). Kate Bishop takes the opportunity to seize her bow from the backseat of the Challenger and uses it to fire a smoke bomb arrow into the Challenger’s dashboard. Hawkeye's trick arrow dispenses a thick cloud of purple smoke and Maya and the thug can be heard coughing before crashing the Challenger.
Pym Arrow
By far the most fantastic and satisfying of Hawkeye’s trick arrows from Hawkeye episode 3, Clint Barton is the one to fire the Pym Arrow. He hands Kate a normal arrow and tells her to “aim high” then releases the Pym arrow, which may be a nod to Hank Pym being the MCU’s new armorer. Clint’s shot taps Kate’s arrow in mid-air activating the Pym particles and the normal arrow becomes giant, crashing down into the back of the Tracksuit Mafia’s truck and wiping it out.
USB Arrow
As Hawkeye makes a dash for the plunger arrow still stuck to the windshield of the Challenger, Kate is left to cover him with the USB arrow. While Kate remarks that only a “dongle arrow” would make the USB arrow useful, the arrow is one of Clint’s most brilliant as it can be fired from a distance to collect information or, as was the case in The Avengers, plant a devastating virus. The USB arrow is also seen in What If... ? season 1, episode 8, What if… Ultron Won, taking down a killer robot. In episode 3, Kate uses the arrow more as a prop while volleying threats at the Tracksuit Mafia in order to allow Clint enough time to grab the plunger arrow, the USB arrow simply bouncing off of the thug when fired and falling to the ground.
Grapple Arrow
In the climactic end to the chase scene with the Tracksuit Mafia, Clint and Kate fling themselves off the bridge and Clint fires a grapple arrow into the bridge’s ironworks. The pair swing into the underbelly of the bridge where they use the plunger arrow to cling to the side of a moving train. The grapple arrow is one of Clint’s most used arrows and is seen again in Hawkeye episode 4, with a slight modification.
Grapple Arrow #2 - Zipline Arrow
In Hawkeye episode 4, Clint fires a grapple arrow to offer Kate (played by Hailee Steinfeld) an exit strategy from Maya's apartment only this grapple arrow offers grappling hooks in two directions, creating a zipline. Kate launches herself onto the line using her bow to glide but gets hilariously stuck in the middle of the line, dangling far above the street. Yelena (Florence Pugh) uses the line in her fight with Clint and allows Kate a safe landing on the rooftop, followed soon by Maya.
