The Russo Brothers say Clint Barton was supposed to be in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
One of the biggest questions surrounding Captain America: The Winter Soldier leading up to its release was: where was Hawkeye? The S.H.I.E.L.D. operative played by Jeremy Renner seemed a natural fit for Cap's second adventure but was nowhere to be found. And since the movie ended up being quite superb on its own, Hawkeye's absence was quickly forgotten.
But now directors Joe and Anthony Russo have revealed that Hawkeye was in fact supposed to be in the film, in an action sequence that started with the strike team tracking Cap (Chris Evans) to the city gym. Speaking with ScreenRant, here's what Joe Russo said:
"What it was going to be, we were trying to complicate the relationship between Cap and his S.H.I.E.L.D agent friends. If Hawkeye got a call from S.H.I.E.L.D saying Captain America is a fugitive, would he listen to that call or not listen to that call? That sequence actually was heartbreaking for us to cut it. I think it ultimately might have been a conflict with Renner’s schedule. But there was a great sequence where Hawkeye was chasing Cap through Washington D.C. There was an awesome sequence where they confronted each other in a ravine on the outskirts of D.C. and Hawkeye was shooting a series of arrows closing in on Cap, Cap closing in on him. And then Cap took him down and he realized for the first time that Hawkeye was trying to trick S.H.I.E.L.D, where he whispered something into Cap’s ear that Cap had a tracker on his suit and to punch Hawkeye to make it look real, because there was a Quinjet hovering above where they were watching the feedback back at S.H.I.E.L.D."
Joe added:
"So it was a cool sequence. But look, there’s a million iterations of films, and especially when dealing with Marvel movies where characters can come in or come out during the creative process. And you keep working and working like a Rubik’s Cube till you find the right configuration where everything lines up. So even though we lost that sequence, I think we may have streamlined the movie and made it a little bit more propulsive."
Joe might be onto something there. While the scene does sound like it could have been cool, jamming Hawkeye into a Cap standalone movie where Black Widow, Falcon and Nick Fury already have very substantial roles might have seemed like an afterthought -- just like the clumsy way Hawkeye was introduced back in 2011's Thor.
But Hawkeye fans shouldn't give up hope yet: Barton is said to have a more substantial role in next year's The Avengers: Age of Ultron and there are strong hints from Renner and the Russos themselves that he could show up in Captain America 3 in 2016. But knowing about the deleted scene from The Winter Soldier, are you disappointed that it was left out or did the filmmakers make the right call?
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out on Blu-ray/DVD next Tuesday (September 9).
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