Last week, Entertainment Weekly unveiled 15 alternate covers to their latest issue,a double-sized special focusing on ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. The 15 covers included 23 different characters from the upcoming film. Some characters, particularly the lesser-known ones, shared a cover, but most of the original Avengers got their own solo cover. The Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and Spider-Man were also included. There were even a few additional characters like Okoye and Shuri from ‘Black Panther’ and Bucky Barnes. You can see them all below:
And then, one original Avenger didn’t appear on a cover at all– Hawkeye played by Jeremy Renner. Besides Renner, the only other hero that is expected to be in the movie that didn’t get a cover is Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man.
Some have been wondering what it means that Hawkeye has yet to appear in a trailer or on any other piece of promotion including these magazines. While some fear for the worst, we do know that Renner is in ‘Avengers 4’, so presumably he survives ‘Infinity War’… but does he do so by sitting it out entirely?
Sensing the injustice of Hawkeye being screwed out of a cover, an intrepid fan mocked up a Hawkeye EW cover which Jeremy Renner shared via Instagram:
If you squint, you can see Ant-Man on the tip of Hawkeye’s arrow, mimicking the famous cover of ‘Avengers’ #223.
As we learned yesterday, per an ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ prequel comic, after being freed from The Raft prison, following ‘Captain America: Civil War’, Hawkeye announced his retirement and headed home to his wife and kids. We do know that Linda Cardellini appears in ‘Infinity War’, reprising her role as Laura Barton, Clint’s wife. So we will likely get at least one scene of Clint at home. And there have been some images revealed, including on the cover of Vanity Fair, that depicts Renner with a new haircut and suit, but it’s possible that this look could be from the fourth ‘Avengers’ movie.
But rumor has it that Hawkeye does travel to Japan in ‘Infinity War’ and possibly assumes the identity of Ronin. But that’s just a rumor.
There has been some question as to what an ordinary Joe like Hawkeye really contributes to the team, especially when facing such cosmic odds. But considering that he hasn’t really had a chance to really shine, it would be a shame to do away with him without giving him that opportunity.
