It was first rumored back in 2017 that Jeremy Renner‘s ‘Avengers’ character Clint Barton would be trading in his Hawkeye guise to become Ronin, as he did in the comics.  But then Renner was absent completely from ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.  But when the first trailer for ‘Avengers: Endgame’, fans finally caught their first glimpse of him carrying a samurai sword, dressed in the black hooded costume of Ronin.

In the trailer, Renner is only shown from behind and the scene takes place at night, so viewers didn’t quite get a complete idea of what to expect.  But now, some concept art by V2V Designs has appeared on Reddit, which will perhaps give fans a better idea of what to expect when the film finally arrives.

Ronin concept by v2vdesigns from r/marvelstudios

For those unfamiliar, Ronin is a generic identity that has been used by a few different characters, the first being Echo, or Maya Lopez, a deaf woman with the ability to mimic the fighting abilities of anyone else.  Clint Barton had been dead, but was restored to life, but discovered that Kate Bishop had adopted the Hawkeye identity during that time, so he became the new Ronin instead.

Hawkeye was first trained to fight and use the bow and arrows by Jacques Duquesne, The Swordsman, so it make sense he would have also become proficient with blades.  He also spent years training with Captain America and others in martial arts, allowing him to convincingly fill this new role.

As for the film version, though it isn’t stated, fans speculate that Barton’s family, shown in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, will have been “dusted” by Thanos’ snap, causing him to lash out and embark on a killing spree.  That would make sense.  And the Ronin identity would allow him  to do so without drawing the attention of his former allies or harmfully impacting their heroic reputations.

As for what he’ll bring to the table in a rematch with Thanos… that remains to be seen.  In fact a lot remains to be seen when it comes to ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ caps off ten years worth of cinematic storytelling.  For the time being, the cast is confirmed to include Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Karen Gillan, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, and the voice of Bradley Cooper.  Katherine Langford is also confirmed to appear but her role hasn’t been revealed.  (Could she possibly be stepping in as the film version of Kate Bishop?)

Source: Heroic Hollywood