In 2012, under director Joss Whedon, The Avengers took the world by storm. The genre-defining film featured Jeremy Renner as the bow-wielding superhero Hawkeye, also known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Clint Barton.
Credit: Marvel Studios
The cast included Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Incredible Hulk. Samuel L. Jackson portrayed Nick Fury, who assembled these powerful heroes to face Tom Hiddleston’s character, Loki Laufeyson/Loki Odinson, during his invasion of New York City.
Credit: Marvel Studios
After Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), Hawkeye/Clint Barton () helped in defeating Thanos (Josh Brolin) alongside heroes like Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and many others.
Following the loss of his close friend Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye eventually returned to the superhero scene with his own Disney+ (Disney Plus) series, Hawkeye (2021). This series also introduced Hailee Steinfeld’s Young Avenger, Kate Bishop, as Hawkeye’s apprentice.
Now, insiders are sharing that a new season of the Christmas-adjacent Disney+ original is on the horizon — with an interesting twist.
A New Hawkeye Season, and Reported Lead Replacement
The (by now well-known) unfortunate event during New Year 2022 at Renner’s residence in Tahoe involving a snow plow that struck the actor, leading to significant blood loss and leaving him in critical condition, is now two years in the past.
The 2021 Clint Barton story is now reportedly getting an update at Disney’s Marvel Studios, with anonymous Hollywood and Marvel insider My Time To Shine Hello sharing that a new season is in the works.
Posting to X/Twitter, the source also shared that interestingly, the season might not revolve around Renner’s Clint Barton entirely, with a “major role” going to a new character, allegedly named Barney — Clint Barton’s brother. They added that the second season would also be inspired by The Raid (2011), with most of the action set in one location, where Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop and Hawkeye/Clint Barton would be “stuck”:
Hawkeye has been renewed for a second season. Clint’s brother, Barney, will play a major role, and the season will be inspired by The Raid, with Kate and Clint stuck in one location.
Hawkeye has been renewed for a second season. Clint's brother, Barney, will play a major role, and the season will be inspired by The Raid, with Kate and Clint stuck in one location. pic.twitter.com/lqif4FRYnh
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) May 15, 2024
It’s definitely possible that the introduction of this new “Barney Barton” is meant to lessen the physical “action scene” load of the film’s lead, Renner, in order to meaningfully deliver enough action to satisfy fans while still centering the story around the original Avengers star.
What do you think about Disney and Marvel possibly reducing Jeremy Renner’s role in Hawkeye Season 2? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
More on Hawkeye
At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, Kevin Feige revealed that the MCU intends to introduce specialized teams tailored to confront a diverse array of threats, spanning challenges on the “cosmic-level,” “supernatural-level,” and those rooted in the “street-level” dynamics.
Although Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil have been designated as the MCU’s “street-level” team leaders, it’s possible that Hawkeye, his protegee Bishop, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) might turn up as fellow “street-level” heroes in the upcoming Spider-Man 4, likely to culminate the Wilson Fisk/Kingpin villain storyline, as part of a new Avengers team.
Averyl is a freelance writer and general nerd about entertainment, food, theatre, D&D - and of course, theme parks. Based in Singapore, she could wax poetic about the immersive genius of the Haunted Mansion, or regale you with her undying love for the campy beauty of Sindbad's Storybook Voyage - but she won't, because she has some compassion.