It’s been ten years since Jeremy Renner made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Thor, via a cameo that was blatantly added very late in the day in order to briefly introduce Clint Barton to general audiences ahead of the release of The Avengers the following summer.
Since then, Hawkeye has become an integral supporting player in the overarching tapestry of the MCU, without ever coming close to sniffing leading man status. However, that all changes in two days when his solo series finally premieres on Disney Plus, even if the expert archer is set to share top billing with Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop.
Ahead of the bumper two-episode debut that marks the franchise’s fifth and final Disney Plus exclusive of the year, artist Andy Park has shared his very earliest concept designs showcasing how Hawkeye could have looked when he made his live-action debut, as you can see below.
That isn’t too far away from what we ended up getting, although it does lean a little heavier into the character’s comic book origins than the more grounded aesthetic Clint’s been sporting so far. Renner has already anointed himself as the MCU’s dad, which just goes to show how long he’s been waiting in the wings for Hawkeye to finally take center stage at long last.
