'Hawkeye' director: Clint's 'survivor's guilt' is the perfect setup for the show
- "Hawkeye" director Rhys Thomas says that Black Widow's sacrifice in "Avengers Endgame" was right.
- He told Insider that it sets up Clint Barton with "survivor's guilt" for the upcoming "Hawkeye" show.
"Hawkeye" director Rhys Thomas told Insider that Black Widow's sacrifice for Hawkeye in "Avengers Endgame" was the perfect setup for his upcoming show.
Jeremy Renner reprises his role as Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, in the Disney+ series premiering on November 24. In the show, Clint fights reluctantly alongside Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to stop a threat from his past so he can get home to his family in time for Christmas.
In the last Marvel project starring Hawkeye, "Avengers Endgame," Clint had gone on a dark, murderous path after losing his family, killing gang members across the world as the assassin Ronin. Later in the movie, Clint tries to redeem himself by sacrificing himself for the Soul stone but Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Clint's closest friend, sacrifices herself in his place so that Clint could go back to his family.
Fans of Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, were upset about this storyline arguing that Natasha had died too soon. Episode 8 of the "What If" Disney+ show also flipped this situation by having Clint sacrifice himself to save Natasha.
During an interview with Insider, the series' director and executive producer Rhys Thomas defended the storyline when asked whether Clint should have been the one to sacrifice himself during "Avengers Endgame."
"I think, dramatically, it was the right thing to do," Thomas said. "Clint, he's a family man. I think selfishly for our show, it does set you up with a character. That he did these dark things as the Ronin but then yes, had someone sacrifice herself even knowing that so that he could have his life back with his family. And that was an interesting entry point for me."
Thomas continued: "It's just understanding that person and what they must feel, that survivor's guilt and carrying that weight on your shoulders. This is two years after ['Avengers Endgame'] and he's ostensibly got everything that he wanted back. He's with his wife and his kids but can you shut that away? Obviously not and that's what we get to deal with."
"Endgame" writer Stephen McFeely told IndieWire that the writers were initially reluctant to kill off the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first female hero until female crewmembers argued for it.
"A number of women on the crew, when we said, 'Hey, we're thinking maybe Hawkeye goes over,' said, 'Don't you do that! Don't rob her of this!'" McFeely said. "And then it choked me up because I think we would have a much different conversation if Hawkeye had pushed her aside."
In "Black Widow," released earlier this year, it was revealed that Natasha had an adopted family still around in the Marvel Cinematic Universe prompting further questions as to whether Natasha should have been the one to sacrifice herself.
However, a post-credit scene in "Black Widow," wherein Natasha's adopted sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) is told that Clint killed Natasha, implies that "Hawkeye" will have to address Natasha's sacrifice and Clint's dark past as Ronin.