One of the most interesting mysteries leading into Avengers: Infinity War has been the question of why Hawkeye has been almost completely missing. The Russo Brothers have now spoken out on this ongoing question. As it turns out, Hawkeye isn't simply being ignored because he's not as cool as the other Avengers. The truth is that there's a reason that we're not seeing Hawkeye in the trailers, it's just that we won't know what that reason is until we see the movie. According to Infinity War co-director Anthony Russo...
All will be explained when people see the movie. It's all tied into the story.
So it seems the reason that we haven't seen much of Hawkeye in trailers may be that even seeing him would be something of a spoiler. Previously the Russo's told us that Hawkeye's reaction to the events of Captain America: Civil War has sent him on his own path, separate from the rest of the characters that we know. How that will impact the overall story is far from clear at this point, though, if Hawkeye is off on his own, then any shots of him in the trailers likely wouldn't include any other heroes, and Avengers: Infinity War is really selling itself on the massive team-up aspect of the plot.
Of course, this doesn't explain why Hawkeye is left off of everything promoting the new movie. He's not on the poster and we didn't even see his emoji during the Super Bowl trailer lead up. Indications have been that Clint Barton may have an entirely new look in the film and it may just that Infinity War wants to leave that reveal until it actually happens on the screen.
One has to instantly think about the promotional lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Throughout that entire build, for the first Star Wars movie in years, Luke Skywalker was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, that's because the entire movie was actually about trying to find him. Based on what the Russos tell Total Film (via GamesRadar), it seems something similar is happening here. We're fairly certain with a Mad Titan on the loose looking for Infinity Stones, nobody is going to be worrying too much about where Hawkeye is, but wherever Hawkeye is hanging out could turn out to be important to the overall story. Maybe he has found the Soul Stone and he's guarding it Last Crusade style.
Whatever the reason for Hawkeye being MIA, it's nice that there is a reason, and this isn't just our favorite archer being ignored because they couldn't find space for him among all the other heroes. Hawkeye may not have superpowers, but he's still pretty super and he has fans who will want to see him. We'll finally get to see what Hawkeye has been doing when Avengers: Infinity War debuts April 27.
