You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The ominous first teaser trailer for Avengers: Endgame?
If, like us, you’ve pored over each and every frame, you’ve no doubt spotted the return of Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, better known to you, I and the founding members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as Hawkeye. But a lot has changed since Renner’s last MCU appearance – for the record, that was Captain America: Civil War, in which the Marvel sharpshooter sided with Team Cap and effectively turned his back on the proposed Sokovia Accords.
Come 2019, Marvel fans will be introduced to a much darker Hawkeye, one which appears to be more in line with Ronin than anything else. It would certainly help explain the brief Yakuza sequence buried in Endgame‘s first trailer, while Jeremy Renner himself has now taken to Twitter in order to congratulate Marvel Studios for the record-shattering reveal.
WOW @marvelstudios this is astounding! Right…? @Russo_Brothers @RobertDowneyJr @ChrisEvans @chrishemsworth @MarkRuffalo #scarjo💕
— Jeremy Renner (@JeremyRenner) December 9, 2018
Because after 289M views in just 24 hours, Avengers: Endgame is now the most-viewed trailer in history, which is quite the feat when you consider that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fast approaching its 11th birthday. It’s a testimony to Kevin Feige and his team, then, that the MCU continues to be Hollywood’s premier export of superhero movies. And with another three slated for 2019 – namely Captain Marvel, Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home – Marvel’s momentum shows no signs of letting up.
Circling back to Hawkeye, though, and it’s great to see Jeremy Renner back in the thick of it, even if he looks a little rough around the edges – physically, if not mentally – since we last saw him in Civil War. Indeed, the original six Avengers have all been put through the mill, so it’ll be fascinating to see how Cap (and Black Widow!) galvanizes the troops come 2019.
