*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Hawkeye is the PTSD sufferer that everyone thinks of.
The kind people fear.
The kind that's complete bullshit in real life.
The bullshit fear that affects everyone from dates to potential employers.
He has just enough of a moral compass to butcher career criminals instead of a crowd of random bystanders, but otherwise he's a classic case of snap and go on a rampage. Clint Barton just turned to the pile of dust that used to be the Punisher and said "hold my beer." Because there's nothing left in life for him except butchering scumbags until one gets lucky enough to take him down.
Thor, on the other hand, is PTSD as I've watched it happen to too many people. He just slowly, quietly gives up. If the rat hadn't turned on the quantum tunnel, Thor would have kept stumbling on until he found a quiet way to die. Stumbling outside in the snow to take a piss and then freezing, heart attack with a game controller in hand, a cocktail of painkillers that ran out of pain to kill and just turned on him, slip in the bathroom and fall on Stormbringer's blade, the method doesn't matter. What matters is that he goes off to die alone and everyone in his life lets him.
What saves both of them is a combination of people who give a shit about them and being able to do something tangible.
Clint isn't fixed just because he gets to hug it out with his hetero lifemate after too damn long. His new purpose comes in trying to save lives instead of just trying to end more. Which is part of what makes his fight with Nat so heartbreaking. They're not only fighting with each other, they're listening to the part of themselves that's got them convinced there's so much blood on their hands that the world is better off with them dead.
And Thor is probably the most shit on character in the entire MCU. Mom murdered. Dad dead. Best friends murdered by his sister. Homeworld obliterated. Half of the surviving Asgardians butchered at Thanos' hands (which is like hunting down half of surviving alderannians after firing off the Death Star).
And on top of all that, Thor was the absolute last hope before the snap. And he blew it. His fuckup cost 3 Billion people their lives.
And yeah, he pushes everyone away and everyone has their own trauma to deal with (personal headcannon: that scene of Nat at the range in the trailers but not in the movie was her Netflix and chill for five years. Just off camera was a case of targets and a pallet of ammo, just to supply Nat's habits for a week or two.)
But once there's a tangible chance to save the world again? They go out of their way to bring him on board.
Yeah, rocket's an asshole. Yeah, Rhodey's a war buddy flavored asshole. And Frigga made that salad crack out of nothing but love.
(Frigga fucking rocks. Haven't seen Captain Marvel, I could care less about Deus Ex Space Lady at the moment. The MCU did not deserve the badass that is Frigga.)
So yeah, not a fan of using Clint to fulfill an ugly fucking bullshit stereotype.
But Thor's journey? Proving that a hero can fail spectacularly, fall out of everyone's good graces, but still trust in loved ones, cry without shame, and still wind up worthy in spite of it all?
That was worth telling.