From a983bb2ec74269a30bad2f985650ef2efcda6e58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: fselmo <fselmo2@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2023 09:03:25 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Change ``eth_call``  return type to reflect pythonic
 formatter conversion

- Pythonic result formatters convert ``eth_call`` response to ``HexBytes``. Due to differences between the ``HexBytes.hex()`` method and the ``bytes.hex()`` method, the former more accurately represents the type that is returned.
---
 newsfragments/2842.bugfix.rst | 1 +
 web3/eth/async_eth.py         | 6 +++---
 web3/eth/eth.py               | 6 +++---
 3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 newsfragments/2842.bugfix.rst

diff --git a/newsfragments/2842.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/2842.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..610ff20bb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/2842.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+More accurately define the ``eth_call`` return type as ``HexBytes`` since the response is converted to ``HexBytes`` in the pythonic formatters and there are differences between ``HexBytes`` and ``bytes`` types.
diff --git a/web3/eth/async_eth.py b/web3/eth/async_eth.py
index 307bd7aac7..09929f409e 100644
--- a/web3/eth/async_eth.py
+++ b/web3/eth/async_eth.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ async def fee_history(
                 Optional[BlockIdentifier],
                 Optional[CallOverride],
             ],
-            Awaitable[Union[bytes, bytearray]],
+            Awaitable[HexBytes],
         ]
     ] = Method(RPC.eth_call, mungers=[BaseEth.call_munger])
 
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ async def call(
         block_identifier: Optional[BlockIdentifier] = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
         ccip_read_enabled: Optional[bool] = None,
-    ) -> Union[bytes, bytearray]:
+    ) -> HexBytes:
         ccip_read_enabled_on_provider = self.w3.provider.global_ccip_read_enabled
         if (
             # default conditions:
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ async def _durin_call(
         transaction: TxParams,
         block_identifier: Optional[BlockIdentifier] = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
-    ) -> Union[bytes, bytearray]:
+    ) -> HexBytes:
         max_redirects = self.w3.provider.ccip_read_max_redirects
 
         if not max_redirects or max_redirects < 4:
diff --git a/web3/eth/eth.py b/web3/eth/eth.py
index c62967bc80..a1c43f8469 100644
--- a/web3/eth/eth.py
+++ b/web3/eth/eth.py
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ def fee_history(
     _call: Method[
         Callable[
             [TxParams, Optional[BlockIdentifier], Optional[CallOverride]],
-            Union[bytes, bytearray],
+            HexBytes,
         ]
     ] = Method(RPC.eth_call, mungers=[BaseEth.call_munger])
 
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ def call(
         block_identifier: Optional[BlockIdentifier] = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
         ccip_read_enabled: Optional[bool] = None,
-    ) -> Union[bytes, bytearray]:
+    ) -> HexBytes:
         ccip_read_enabled_on_provider = self.w3.provider.global_ccip_read_enabled
         if (
             # default conditions:
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ def _durin_call(
         transaction: TxParams,
         block_identifier: Optional[BlockIdentifier] = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
-    ) -> Union[bytes, bytearray]:
+    ) -> HexBytes:
         max_redirects = self.w3.provider.ccip_read_max_redirects
 
         if not max_redirects or max_redirects < 4: