Avengers: Infinity War - 10 Tricks Marvel Pulled On The Fans
6. Hawkeye's Absence
Give that Hawkeye was a founder member of the Avengers in the MCU, his omission in Infinity War was a big deal. Although there's a compelling reason why Clint Barton isn't at large in story terms, fans were nevertheless shocked by his absence.
Granted, Marvel Studios never came out and said Jeremy Renner's master archer would be a part of the film. Everyone just assumed he would be and the comic book giant's film arm was more than happy for them to presume.
Renner's comments ahead of the movie's release seemed to suggest he was in Infinity War. He even told Collider that his Avengers commitments were threatening to keep him out of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which ended up being the case.
“I’m not sure what’s happening. I know they [the Mission: Impossible producers] really want to get it going and having spoken to Tom [Cruise] about where it’s at I know there might be some conflict with schedules, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Avengers is going to eat up a lot of next year, I certainly hope it doesn’t ultimately get in the way of Tom and I and the gang getting back together for that because I’d love to.”
The Russo Brothers also discussed Hawkeye's role in the MCU at length in interviews conducted long before Infinity War came out, yet gave no indication they were talking about Avengers 4, rather than the next entry in the series.