The Russo Brothers Answer The Burning Question: “But What About Dat Hawkeye, Tho?”

Unless you live under a rock (or, like myself, were at SXSW and too busy watching movies), you probably saw last week's Avengers: Infinity War trailer and poster. And, like most, you probably noticed a rather conspicuous absence from these new marketing materials, as Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye was nowhere to be found in either. 

Being the cunning crew of Sherlock Holmeses that they are, Twitter soon filled up with questions like "but wat about Hawkeye tho?" Or, "#WheresHawkeye?". While curious, some simply chalked his disappearance up to the fact that literally every comic book character ever invented is seemingly in Infinity War and, I dunno, maybe there just wasn't enough room to get Dat Boi Bullseye into the mix. 

Of course, it was only a matter of time before someone asked sibling directing duo Joe and Anthony Russo. A recent set visit report revealed the following insight from Joe Russo:

“Coming out of Civil War, he's in the same position that Cap and Falcon are at the end of that movie. And Ant-Man. Coming into this movie, you know...characters on Cap's side coming out of Civil War, some made certain decisions and others made other decisions that led to different paths in them dealing with oversight in this movie in a different way. So Hawkeye's on his own journey in this movie."

Anthony Russo follow his brother's statement with:

"He has a unique reaction to the Civil War situation that puts him in a special spot in this film." 

The crossroads they're referring to in Civil War (a/k/a "the Civil War situation") is the result of Captain America and his squad (including Hawkeye) going against the government order outlawing the Avengers. Due to them defying the new Sokovia Accords, the heroes are fugitives on the lam. Only it seems Hawkeye isn’t going rogue like Cap, Black Widow, Falcon, and the others. Instead, he’ll probably retire to the farm we saw in Age of Ultron, to spend some quality time with his wife and kids. Kind of a bitch move, really, but everybody has their limit, I guess. 

As for the rest of the Avengers, they've got Thanos and some Infinity Stones to deal with. As the set report also points out, Infinity War picks up...

"...two years after Civil War, and in the time since everyone has been doing their own thing. Cap has been a fugitive in Wakanda, still working with Black Widow. The other members of Cap's team, Wanda and Sam, have already been seen joining the fight in Infinity War. It's just the conspicuously absent Ant-Man and Hawkeye who are the question marks."

Looks like we're going to see where all of these paths take our favorite heroes when Joe and Anthony Russo's Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters April 27th.