It looks like in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, Jeremy Renner‘s Clint Barton may be putting down his bow and picking up a katana and nunchuks. He may also be ditching his sunglasses for a full-face cowl. Rumor has it, Barton will abandon his Hawkeye identity and become the masterless samurai Ronin.
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arton adopted the Ronin guise during the ‘Secret Invasion’ crossover, during a time when shapeshifting alien Skrulls kidnapped and impersonated several of Earth’s superheroes. Before that, the Ronin title belonged to Daredevil supporting character Maya Lopez a.k.a. Echo. Lending credence to this theory is that part of ‘Infinity War’ takes place in Japan, a natural setting for a martial artist. And while he is known for being an expert marksman, his S.H.I.E.L.D. training surely included a martial arts component, which would make him adaptable to this new role.
I don’t know the specifics and don’t really want to, but rumor has it that something very bad happens to Clint in ‘Infinity War’ and his switching of identities is a direct reaction to that. We do know that at one point, Joss Whedon considered killing him in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and the storyline seemed to point to that fate until the film pulled a switcheroo and another character was killed in his place.
The Marvel movies have a tendency to not only pull from the mainstream 616 Universe but also the Ultimate ‘verse and if you read ‘The Ultimates’ which featured Clint as a core member, you know he survived a truly horrible ordeal and went down a dark path to exact his revenge.
Renner’s Hawkeye debuted in a cameo in 2011’s ‘Thor’ and has appeared in both ‘Avengers’ movies and ‘Captain America: Civil War’, but from the start, his placement on the team has met with skepticism from fans who don’t comprehend why an ordinary guy with a bow and arrows belongs on a team with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk. Even the non-powered Black Widow has had her role beefed up and justified, but Hawkeye has been allowed to linger in the background. Sure, he gets his licks in but has been the least developed of the heroes. Even newbies like Scarlet Witch and Vision have been given deeper characterizations.
Renner himself acknowledged this when he spoofed his role during a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit. He has also suggested giving Hawkeye a TV series on Netflix in order to develop his character further than the movies have allowed. Could this transformation in ‘Infinity War’ finally silence the doubters?
‘Avengers: Infinity War’, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, stars Renner, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Benecio Del Toro, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Benedict Wong, Terry Notary, Tom Vaughn-Lawlor, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. The film opens on May 4th, 2018.
Source: MCU Exchange
