At any moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something can happen that’ll change everything. Most of the time these occurrences are obvious, like when Thanos snapped away half of existence. Other times, they’re a little more subtle, and one of those moments is where Hawkeye fully came to be.
Speaking at the global press conference for the upcoming show, which is out next week, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige explained that a key moment in Avengers: Age of Ultron was one of the earliest seeds of what a Hawkeye show could be. “There are moments within all of Jeremy [Renner]’s appearances where you see this reluctant mentor under the surface,” Feige said. “One of my favourite scenes in all of our films is this scene with Clint and Wanda in Sokovia, when he basically says, ‘You go out that door, you’re an Avenger’ and motivates her to to to join the fight. And that was the kernel of how we could connect our MCU incarnation of Clint Barton into the Matt Fraction storyline and the relationship with Kate Bishop.”
From there, Feige and his team decided Hawkeye would be set at Christmas. Why? Well, Feige loves shows set at Christmas but it also gives the characters grounded goals and a deadline. Clint Barton has six days to solve the mysteries he and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) get into so he can be home for the holiday with his family. Feige said he felt that was a very distinct juxtaposition to some of the usual, and more recent, Marvel projects.
“This is fun because it is a Christmas story that is taking place during the holidays, and it is also based on early discussions about a limited time period,” Feige said. “About setting a series in, not quite real-time, but essentially in a six-day period. Six episodes, six days. Will Clint make it home for Christmas? Which was fun and a breath of fresh air after world-ending stakes and Celestials bursting out of planets and multiverse shenanigans that this is, like Hawkeye himself, a grounded, family-based show.”
And while Feige, as well as the cast and crew who joined him in the press conference, were very guarded about where things could go for characters like Jack Duquesne (played by Tony Dalton), a possible Young Avengers lead-in, and more, Feige did confirm where the events of Hawkeye would be felt most immediately. “As announced on Disney+ Day last week, the Echo series, as we see Maya Lopez go from the end of this series into that series, will be the next direct link,” Feige said.
Hawkeye will debut its first two episodes on Disney+ on November 24. It’ll then continue for four more weeks, six episodes total, with one episode out each Wednesday. Keep it locked on Gizmodo for more on Hawkeye.