‘Hawkeye’ director explains lack of Avenger cameos

The last Marvel series of 2021, Hawkeye ended last week with an explosive season finale. With new and old characters appearing and getting their moments in the spotlight, it was an exciting and fulfilling end to the series. However, some fans wanted and even expected to see more cameos from other MCU characters, most notably Spider-Man and Ant-Man.

Considering that Spider-Man: No Way Home released the Friday before the Hawkeye finale premiered and the movie took place around the same time, many people hoped and even assumed that we’d see the web-slinging hero join Hawkeye and Kate Bishop during their final fight. Rhys Thomas, who directed episodes one, two, and six, actually brought up the idea of a Spider-Man and Hawkeye team-up, but ultimately it didn’t happen.

In an interview with Metro.co.uk, Thomas remembered, “I think I asked that question too, because I was just like, we’re in New York and especially in this finale, there’s a lot going down here, it feels like someone might come to help and he’s doing this all by himself.” He went on to explain that because it was never discussed in detail, it never came to fruition.

What Thomas was really interested and invested in, though, was the possibility of Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang coming to set and interacting with Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton. He described the two actors’ relationship as “fun and amusing” and wanted to see how it translated on screen. However, it was decided that, “Ultimately, we had a lot of characters in the show, we’re going to keep it focused to him.”

Considering that it’s Hawkeye’s show, the showrunners decided to keep the focus on him as a character, which was a good choice in the long run. We got to see Clint experience grief, heartbreak, and the inner turmoil of being a hero while also trying to be a good dad to his kids and mentor to Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop. While cameos from other heroes would have been awesome, the ones we got were perfect and didn’t detract from the main focus of the show: Clint Barton.