Marvel’s new Hawkeye is non-binary and Two-Spirit

The latest hero to take up the mantle of Marvel’s most famous archer, Hawkeye, is Charli Ramsey – a non-binary and Two-Spirit Native American.

While Ramsey is not Marvel’s first non-binary hero, with supes Jack of Knives and Reed Fox already filling the pages of Marvel lore, they are the first non-binary ‘legacy hero’ – the term used to describe a character who takes on the mantle of a pre-existing supe.

Ramsey was introduced in Ultimates #5, a string of Marvel comics that centres on Earth-6160; an alternate universe without any of the heroes with which fans are so familiar.

For example, on Earth-6160, Peter Parker (Spider-Man) was never bitten by a radioactive spider and Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne (the original Ant-Man and The Wasp) work as exterminators. In an effort to repopulate Earth-6160 with heroes, Tony Stark (Iron Man) and his allies attempt to locate the universe’s would-be supes and set them on a path with more lycra.

As part of the recruitment drive, Tony locates Clinton Barton, the Hawkeye of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (played there by Jeremy Renner) and original Marvel comic book universe, Earth-616.

But after Tony gives Clinton a video message and some swanky archery gear, hero declines the offer, leaving none other than Charli Ramsey to find the package, taking on the legacy mantle of Hawkeye (after a brief scuffle with Captain America).

Speaking about the character on X (formerly Twitter), writer Denis Camp introduced them as “cool, different, and yet undeniably Hawkeye.”

Issue 5 of Ultimates is out today! First appearance of our Hawkeye; we worked hard to make them cool, different, and yet undeniably "Hawkeye".

From @juanmfrigeri @Toonfed @petitobjetb and the whole Marvel crew, thanks to everyone who reads the issue! pic.twitter.com/qrCMYG5Vwl

— Deniz Camp (@DenizCamp) October 9, 2024

Camp went on to say that the issue, which was drawn by artist Juan Frigeri, had drawn “lot of questions about Charli’s gender,” and so he “wanted to make a statement” about Charli’s tribe as a Native American and gender as Two-Spirit – a term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a traditional third-gender social role in their communities

“When I did my research into the water protectors/Standing Rock, something that was emphasised again and again was the importance of queer and “two spirit” organisers to the movement. I wanted to put that into the book,” Camp wrote, referencing Charli’s status as a member of the Oglala Band of the Lakota Nation.

“So, yes, Charli’s pronouns are they/them. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, because it’s not in the book itself, and because I don’t think Charli would make a big deal out of it in that context,” Camp continued.

So, yes, Charli's pronouns are they/them. I didn't want to make a big deal of it, because it's not in the book itself, and because I don't think Charli would make a big deal out of it in that context. But we'll make this explicit when it's natural to the narrative.

— Deniz Camp (@DenizCamp) October 10, 2024

The writer also added that Charli/ Hawkeye’s identity will be made “explicit when it’s natural to the narrative”.

It’s been an unusually good streak for queer representation throughout the many arms of the Marvel conglomerate, which has infamously not been fantastic for platforming LGBTQ+ heroes.

Along with Charli’s introduction in Ultimates #5, which was released 9 October, Joe Locke’s Agatha All Along character Teen has been revealed as one of Marvel’s most recognisable gay superheroes, Wiccan.

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