Iron Man. Hulk. Thor. Captain America. Black Widow. Each and every one of the original MCU Avengers has led at least one solo project…except Hawkeye. That all changes tomorrow when the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Hawkeye kicks off with a two-episode debut.
Star Jeremy Renner has been on board as the Avenging Archer since 2011’s Thor and was pretty vocal about the treatment his character received in 2012’s Avengers. The character started to take on a bigger role beginning in Avengers: Age of Ultron and was given plenty to do in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame and it was during the filming of the latter that discussions about the project that became the Hawkeye series began. However, according to Renner, a Hawkeye project has been in the works significantly longer than that.
“I think there [were] ideas of adapting it initially, but it was 11 years ago,” said Renner in an interview with Jimmy Fallon. “I remember one of my first thoughts in like 2010, 2011, was like, I don’t want to be 50 in tights! No one wants to see me at 50 in tights.“
As it turns out, the decision to wait to go ahead with the project might end up being one of the best choices Marvel Studios has made. The comic upon which the series is based, Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye, wasn’t published until 2012 and it’s the relationship that Clint has in that run with Kate Bishop that is central to the Disney Plus series. Renner and co-star Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Bishop, are both stand-outs in the series which will complete its 5-week run on December 22nd.
