The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was about the state of the world post-Avengers: Endgame and the chaotic geopolitics that resulted from Thanos' genocide was front and center. During the five years of The Blip, humanity had to adjust to half of the world's population vanishing. One of the results of this 'new world order' was countries opened their borders to welcome immigrants in order to bolster their populations. For many people, the five years of The Blip were actually beneficial in of finding homes and jobs. But after Smart Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo) Infinity Gauntlet snap brought the dead back, the world was forced to suddenly reset to the 'old world order.' The same countries that welcomed immigrants decided to expel the newcomers to make room for everyone who returned, which gave rise to the Flag-Smashers, who were among those forcibly relocated. The Global Repatriation Council forming to relocate the refugees who were no longer welcome in the homes they'd made during The Blip set up the central conflicts in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

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The "Thanos Was Right" sentiment in Hawkeye is an offshoot of the Flag-Smashers' politics in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Led by Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman), the Flag-Smashers gained a huge groundswell of global because they wanted to restore the state of the world during the five years of The Blip. Although they didn't vocalize it as "Thanos Was Right," the Flag-Smashers' belief in "One World, One People" is derived from how unified they felt the world was as a result of Thanos' genocide. In effect, the Flag-Smashers tacitly agreed that "Thanos Was Right" because the Mad Titan's core belief that eliminating half of society would strengthen the remaining half turned out to be true, at least in the point of view of a segment of the survivors.

Although Captain America Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) defeated the Flag-Smashers, the popular for the masked super-soldiers obviously hasn't died down in Hawkeye's New York City, where The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's finale took place. There were thousands of Flag-Smashers ers in NYC and all over the world, and they wouldn't all suddenly abandon their politics and beliefs because of the deaths of Kari Morgenthau and her followers. As grim as it sounds to universal genocide, it's not surprising that Thanos became a folk hero to some if they benefited from the Mad Titan's genocide and then found their lives taking a turn for the worse after the Avengers brought back everyone Thanos killed.

Hawkeye isn't about MCU geopolitics like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was but Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) keeps encountering "Thanos Was Right" during his stay in New York, which serves as a reminder that not everyone is grateful that he and the Avengers saved the world. While plenty of people thank Clint in person for defeating Thanos, seeing "Thanos Was Right" written all over New York City shows the disturbing schism that exists within the population of the MCU. "Thanos Was Right" is just part of the backdrop of Hawkeye but it furthers the fractured state of the MCU in Phase 4 that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced. For the people who believe "Thanos Was Right," there's no easy way to convince them otherwise.

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Hawkeye streams Wednesdays on Disney+.