With such a large ensemble on Joss Whedon's hands in Avengers Assemble, it was perhaps inevitable that some characters would fall through the cracks. In the end, it was Jeremy Renner's arrow-firing Hawkeye who got short shrift, possessed by the villainous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in the opening minutes of the film and relegated to doing, erm, not very much at all.
It was a state of affairs that irked Renner himself ("At the end of the day, 90% of the movie, I’m not the character I signed on to play. I’m literally in there for two minutes"). However, those disappointed by Renner's relative lack of screen time can take heart in Whedon's assurance that Hawkeye will have more to do in next year's Avengers: Age of Ultron.
"It’s very much a global Avengers film," Whedon explained to Screenrant. "A lot of the movie has to do with their place not just in America, but the world. Part of the fun for me, definitely this time around, is writing Hawkeye. He did get possessed pretty early by a bad guy and had to walk around all scowly for most of the movie so now it’s nice to actually have the character there and see him interact with the other guys."
What do you think? Is it time for Hawkeye to stand proud alongside the likes of Iron Man and Thor? Tell us in the comments.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is released on 24th April 2015.