[dropcap size=small]C[/dropcap]lark Gregg, better known as Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., teased a possible appearance of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye on the ABC show.
Gregg shared the image on Facebook, which comes from the most recent issue of the Marvel comic series Secret Avengers, where both Coulson and Hawkeye, a.k.a. Clint Barton, play major roles. Secret Avengers is easily one of the best and most consistently engaging titles that Marvel is producing right now, thanks in large part to fantastic writing by Ales Kot and Michael Walsh’s great minimalist artwork, which is reminiscent of David Aja’s work on the current Hawkeye run. Have a look at Barton and Coulson’s standoff below:
When doing a Reddit AMA session in October, Renner was asked about making an appearance and was vague so as not to get himself in trouble with Marvel but seemed open to the idea:
“I guess, again — those are questions that are tough to really answer, because it’s above my pay grade, haha! It’s not something I sit and think about. But I suppose if it was offered up, there’s an outside chance it could happen. I haven’t seen the show, so I don’t know how it works, but I’m sure the folks at Marvel have ideas, and when they’re strong enough, they’ll bring ’em to me. But I love me some Clark Gregg, he’s so great. We killed him and brought him back to life to do Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he’s so good!”
Renner making an appearance on the show would follow in line with crossovers between the S.H.I.E.L.D. series and the MCU as Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), and Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif) have all shown up previously. The show featured an extensive tie-in storyline with the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and according to showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, there is a planned crossover with Avengers: Age of Ultron later in the season.
In an interview with EW.com, Whedon hinted at the tie-in:
“You should expect something. ‘The Avengers’ is the big tent that all the franchises play under. Obviously, we’re included in that.”
Tancharoen also spoke about the upcoming crossover:
“I don’t think any movie has the potential to impact us in the way that ‘Captain America 2’ did, but there will be connections.”
So there may not be something as large as an infiltration of Hydra agents into S.H.I.E.L.D., but Hawkeye showing up could very well be one of those small connections to the Avengers sequel that Tancharoen mentioned. With the recent arrival of Adrianne Palicki as Mockingbird, it would only make sense that Hawkeye and Mockingbird would interact on the show, given their previous romantic history in the comics.
It will be interesting to see how Hawkeye will be worked into the show, but more importantly, I’m looking forward to seeing Renner play a Clint Barton that’s not under Loki’s control. The last 30 minutes of The Avengers definitely weren’t enough.
Are you excited to see another MCU crossover on the small screen? Let us know in the comments!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return to ABC in March 2015 after its winter hiatus. Agent Carter will be filling in as an eight-episode run beginning January 6, 2015.
