When Is Hawkeye Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
It’s Hawkeye week, which means that we’re all getting excited for the latest Disney+ show to arrive, and with it comes the arrival of Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop! The show itself is a Christmas spectacular that has Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton just trying to spend time with his kids. This makes sense since they were snapped away by Thanos for five years … but how long has it been since Clint got them back?
In an interview with GamesRadar, one of the directors talked about where in the MCU timeline Hawkeye takes place! Rhys Thomas, who is also directing the series with Bert & Bertie, told them about when the series is set: “Clint’s someone that we haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with obviously, over the course of the films. We get to see where he’s at, we’re two years after the events of Endgame. And so we get to see what he’s been doing and how he’s dealing with his past.”
Two years after Avengers: Endgame
What we’re seeing from the Disney+ era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an exploration of the world after what happened at the battle at Avengers Compound. Whether it is a month later or, now, two years, we’re seeing these smaller stories to help fill out the MCU. WandaVision was the direct aftermath for Wanda Maximoff, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed us a world six months after, and now, with Hawkeye, we’re getting two years later. The movies are also expanding this, but the shows have a unique ability to explore this time in greater depth.
So, having Hawkeye set 2 years later means that things are a bit back to normal in the world (“normal” in the sense that everyone is still dealing with half the population getting snapped away). But it fits with how this show kicks off. Everything seems “normal” enough and, granted, the world of Kate Bishop is a rich one, but if this show were right after Endgame, it might feel strange.
That’s especially true since the show is set at Christmas, which would be just 2 months after the death of Tony Stark and the reverse snap. Thomas went on to talk about the setting of the show and the Christmas feel.
“Having the Christmas framework was an exciting way in, because I think it delivers a unique energy and atmosphere,” Thomas said. “We had that tool in our toolbox. Part of the fun is that, because Clint is a human character with no superpowers, it was a joy being able to focus in more on character. The baseline for the tone definitely comes from the Matt Fraction run of comics, and I really love the way that he approached Clint’s character as this individual dealing with his sense of self-worth, and the world just constantly invading his space. So that was part of it, just looking at our MCU Clint and trying to imagine what would annoy him over the course of this week [laughs]. Things like the musical, etcetera, were fun to conjure up to do that.”
Hawkeye premieres this Wednesday, November 23, and is a wonderful introduction to Kate Bishop and the world of this new Hawkeye. I can’t wait for everyone to get to see it!
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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