Avengers: Infinity War directors are finally addressing Hawkeye concerns

Joe and Anthony Russo understand that a vocal part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned about Clint “Hawkeye” Barton.

The Russo brothers spoke to Joe.ie about what’s going on with Barton, who has been missing in action from Infinity War marketing materials — for a very good reason. Co-director Joe Russo in particular expanded upon what we previously knew about Hawkeye, suggesting the directors have special plans for the hero.

“We keep saying, ‘Patience is a virtue,’” Russo said. “We did not forget the twice-nominated Jeremy Renner. We cooked up a story for him that is a little bit of a long play. Not a short play.”

The Russo brothers followed up the interview with a cute joke about Hawkeye on their Facebook page.

There are a couple of big takeaways from Joe Russo’s comments. The first, and most important, is that Hawkeye will get time in the spotlight again. This will please the very vocal Tumblr community, whose posts clog up my own feed on a near daily basis. The other takeaway, however, is that Russo’s comments seem to confirm that the hero Ronin will appear either in Infinity War or Avengers 4.

Ronin is the name that Hawkeye takes on for himself after the events of Civil War in the comics. The name refers to the Japanese term for a “lone warrior,” which Hawkeye may have become after everything that’s happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Barton returning under the Ronin identity isn’t implausible, and leaked photos from the set of Avengers 4 seem to hint that it’s almost certainly the case.

There you have it, Hawkeye fans. Your boy is definitely going to be in, well, at least one of the Avengers movies coming up. He might even have a bigger role than before. It’s an exciting time to be a Hawkeye fan, and when was the last time anyone’s been able to say those words?

Avengers: Infinity War will be released on April 27.