The Russo Brothers Address Hawkeye's Absence From Infinity War Trailers And Posters

Jeremy Renner Hawkeye

One of the most interesting mysteries leading into Avengers: Infinity War has been the question of why Hawkeye has been almost completely missing. The Russo Brothers have now spoken out on this ongoing question. As it turns out, Hawkeye isn't simply being ignored because he's not as cool as the other Avengers. The truth is that there's a reason that we're not seeing Hawkeye in the trailers, it's just that we won't know what that reason is until we see the movie. According to Infinity War co-director Anthony Russo...

All will be explained when people see the movie. It's all tied into the story.

So it seems the reason that we haven't seen much of Hawkeye in trailers may be that even seeing him would be something of a spoiler. Previously the Russo's told us that Hawkeye's reaction to the events of Captain America: Civil War has sent him on his own path, separate from the rest of the characters that we know. How that will impact the overall story is far from clear at this point, though, if Hawkeye is off on his own, then any shots of him in the trailers likely wouldn't include any other heroes, and Avengers: Infinity War is really selling itself on the massive team-up aspect of the plot.

Of course, this doesn't explain why Hawkeye is left off of everything promoting the new movie. He's not on the poster and we didn't even see his emoji during the Super Bowl trailer lead up. Indications have been that Clint Barton may have an entirely new look in the film and it may just that Infinity War wants to leave that reveal until it actually happens on the screen.

One has to instantly think about the promotional lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Throughout that entire build, for the first Star Wars movie in years, Luke Skywalker was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, that's because the entire movie was actually about trying to find him. Based on what the Russos tell Total Film (via GamesRadar), it seems something similar is happening here. We're fairly certain with a Mad Titan on the loose looking for Infinity Stones, nobody is going to be worrying too much about where Hawkeye is, but wherever Hawkeye is hanging out could turn out to be important to the overall story. Maybe he has found the Soul Stone and he's guarding it Last Crusade style.

Whatever the reason for Hawkeye being MIA, it's nice that there is a reason, and this isn't just our favorite archer being ignored because they couldn't find space for him among all the other heroes. Hawkeye may not have superpowers, but he's still pretty super and he has fans who will want to see him. We'll finally get to see what Hawkeye has been doing when Avengers: Infinity War debuts April 27.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.