Looks like, as per Anthony Mackie’s comments earlier this year, Captain America: Civil War is going to be more akin to Avengers 2.5 than a simple Captain America threequel. The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that Jeremy Renner will be once again picking up his trusty bow to play ace archer Hawkeye in the super-crowded film, making him its seventh (you read that right, seventh) super-powered cast member.
News of Renner’s role in Civil War was buried in a report about Renner joining Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi drama Story of Your Life. Discussing the actor’s busy 2015, the writer stated:
“He will shoot Captain America: Civil War this spring, then segue to Story of Your Life in mid-June, working with Villeneuve, considered one of the hottest directors in town and who just booked the sequel to Blade Runner.”
That sounds like a pretty solid confirmation. Now, the real question emerges: whose side will Hawkeye be on?
Civil War finds Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) at loggerheads over the Superhero Registration Act, which requires all superheroes to conduct their activities under the surveillance of a designated oversight committee. The former, having destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. to incapacitate the parasitic HYDRA operatives within it in The Winter Soldier, is opposed to the idea, while the latter, cowed by the events of Age of Ultron, is in favor. Their conflicting opinions on the matter lead to an epic battle between former allies, with Captain America leading the anti-registration forces and Iron Man, along with the world’s militaries, championing the pro-registration cause.
It seems pretty likely that already-confirmed Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Mackie) and the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) will take Cap’s side, given their close ties to him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hawkeye, though, has a history of working as a government operative, so, despite Black Widow (whom he’s close with) siding with the Cap, it wouldn’t be totally out of left field for him to join up with Tony Stark. Jury’s still out on the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), who is at least making a cameo appearance. Civil War will also feature the villainous Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) and Crossbones (Frank Grillo).
Honestly, though, it seems likely that almost all the Avengers (save for maybe Chris Hemsworth’s Thor) will show up in Civil War. It would be bizarre for the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) not to take sides, so we’ll probably be hearing about at least cameos for those characters soon enough.
Captain America: Civil War opens May 6, 2016. For an idea of what causes the schism between Cap and Iron Man to widen, check out Avengers: Age of Ultron when it arrives May 1 of this year.
