Cast your mind back to November of last year, long before Infinity War made its grand debut, and you’ll likely recall a number of paparazzi photos captured from the set of Avengers 4.
Among them was an up-close look at what appeared to be some Yakuza-themed buildings and decorations, indicating that Joe and Anthony Russo have one or two tricks up their collective sleeve when it comes to next year’s MCU blockbuster. It’s one that’s taken on a life of its own since the release and subsequent success of Infinity War – not to mention the threequel’s haunting finale – while enthused fans have been searching all four corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to locate the elusive Clint Barton.
Yes, just as those pre-release posters implied, Hawkeye was left on the sidelines all throughout Infinity War, where he joined Ant-Man and the Wasp ahead of their own return this summer. For Barton, though, he’ll be aiming to make a big splash during Avengers 4 next year, and Christopher Markus is fully confident that both he and co-writer Stephen McFeely have cooked up a “really good story” for Marvel’s sharpshooter.
“We like Hawkeye. We like Hawkeye so much we gave him a really good story,” the scribe said.
Those comments come to us by way of BuzzFeed, and they’ll certainly fuel rumors that Hawkeye is about to assume a whole new identity come 2019 – Ronin.
Initially dreamed up by comic book duo Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada, Ronin is essentially another alias for Clint Barton who comes into play soon after the events of Marvel’s Civil War. Both Moon Knight and Echo are mentioned in the comics, though we can’t imagine Joe and Anthony Russo will dedicate much time to the character’s fantastical elements; instead, this may well be a fun expansion of what is arguably the most underused hero in the entire MCU.
Goodbye Hawkeye; arise, Ronin? We’ll find out once Avengers 4 begins screening in precisely 362 days. Not that we’re counting or anything…