New concept art reveals Hawkeye’s supposed look before becoming Ronin in Avengers: Endgame. After sitting out the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Jeremy Renner’s MCU character returns to the franchise with a brand new persona as the ruthless samurai. Fueled by his anger with the death of his family via Thanos’s (Josh Brolin) snap, the founding hero goes on a killing spree as his way to cope with grief.

It wasn’t until five years after that his fellow Avengers reached out to him, with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) leading the charge. At this point, the heroes had already come up with the idea of the Time Heist that they hoped would be able to bring back all those affected by the Decimation - including Clint Barton’s family. Natasha found him in Tokyo, still maintaining his Ronin persona, but as he joined his allies for their mission, he eventually reverted to his old image as Hawkeye. This was the first time that fans saw the hero back in the MCU since the events of Captain America: Civil War, but a newly-emerged concept art hints that they didn’t want to sideline him that long.

Via Instagram, Andy Park, Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development, shares his concept illustration of Hawkeye before he donned his Ronin costume in Endgame. Check out the image below:

Park’s post didn’t specify exactly when this costume would’ve been for. A separate concept art for Infinity War revealed that at one point, the filmmakers were thinking about having him join the Secret Avengers - Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow, and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as they operated underground following Civil War. It’s possible that this suit was supposed to be for that, leading to the big battle in Wakanda at the end of Infinity War. Otherwise, there’s also a chance that an early version of Endgame’s story showed more of him, instead of going straight to being Ronin.

With the Hawkeye Disney+ series on the Marvel pipeline, it’s possible that fans can still see a version of this suit on the screen. Plot specifics for the show remain uncertain, but according to a recent social media update from Renner, work for the project will begin shortly. Meanwhile, Marvel producer Trinh Tran reveals that the show will explore the backstory of the character, but whether or not that includes the two years prior to the events of Infinity War and the additional five years he operated as Ronin in Avengers: Endgame is still a big mystery. The Hawkeye show is reportedly also looking to introduce Kate Bishop in the MCU.

More: Marvel Phase 4 Timeline: When The New MCU Movies & TV Shows Take Place

Source: Andy Park

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