Who knew that Hawkeye was so popular? Before the lack of attention he's been receiving from Marvel Studios during Avengers: Infinity War's marketing campaign, the answer was probably no one!
The fact that no one knows where he is or what he'll be doing in the movie has increased interest in Clint Barton's future tenfold and the whole #WheresHawkeye hashtag has definitely generated even more interest in this highly anticipated superhero ensemble. Now, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has explained why he believes the mystery surrounding the character is ultimately for the best.
"I think it’s one of the best things that ever happened to Hawkeye. We [at Marvel] love Hawkeye. There are big, big story things coming up for Hawkeye and Jeremy Renner is as strong an actor as anyone in the MCU and awesome as this character. But ‘The guy with the bow and arrow jokes’, right? There are a lot of ‘Guy with bow and arrow jokes.’ He even makes ‘Guy with a bow and arrow’ jokes in some of the movies. So I love that people go from ‘Oh, Hawkeye is just lucky to be there’ to ‘Oh where is he? He’s not there? Whats going to happen? We need Hawkeye. We want more Hawkeye.’ I love it. It’s the best."
It definitely sounds like we should expect Hawkeye to get something good to do here then and the Russo Brothers went on to make it clear that they have a very specific reason for not including him.
"As we were working on both films, we were thinking about story real estate. We had the luxury of cracking both scripts at the same time and we wanted to give each character, especially the original Avengers, their moments. It led us to certain choices, especially considering the events of Civil War where [Hawkeye’s] included in this group of insurgents and has to deal with the ramifications of siding against the U.S. government. So that led us to a very specific story with him that, as I’ve said before is a long play, not a short play. Audiences just need to be patient."
What do you think the future holds in store for Clint Barton moving into Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4? Do you think the character will have a key role to play or be just another background player? We have only days to wait before finding out but be sure to stay tuned for additional details.