On Twitter a friend and I were speculating that perhaps his absence is in some way a setup for Avengers 2, like maybe he decided to walk away from SHIELD after the Loki stuff, but they need him to help defeat Ultron (I think Hawkeye is important to the Ultron storyline) so he comes back in Avengers 2. I'd be on board with that!

I was thinking something similar, especially since it sounds like Natasha's been working with Steve a lot at SHIELD (from what Scarlett said at SDCC.) I'd be cool with that too.

Yeah, if Steve is her new partner, it must be because Hawkeye hasn't bee around for a while, right? Unless they're on the outs for some reason, or he's been on a longterm mission...

I could be okay with that too, as long as there's makeup sex it gets resolved at some point. I'm not gonna get worked up over it right now because tbh we're not going to really know until Avengers 2 and that's 1.5 years away.

I think the must still be good with the necklace and everything. I'm guessing long-term mission. Or he was booted from SHELD or on an extended leave b/c of the Loki thing in Tahiti. Its a magical place.