Spoilers for the third episode of Hawkeye, "Echo," lie ahead.
Hawkeye has been feeding fans’ hunger for Marvel Cinematic Universe content as of late. And like some of its fellow MCU Disney+ shows, the miniseries appeared to really hit its stride with the third episode. While the installment formally introduced Tracksuit Mafia boss Maya Lopez, it also featured a sweet Ant-Man reference. Fans were likely excited by the amazing moment, and this was definitely true for lead actor Jeremy Renner, who really let his inner comic nerd out while talking about it.
Viewers likely had their eyeballs glued to their screens when Clint Barton and Kate Bishop fled from the Tracksuit Mafia in a spectacular car chase. While attempting to escape their clutches, both heroes used their common proficiency – archery – to fend off their antagonists. And Barton skillfully finished them off with the help of a certain arrow with the PYM Technologies logo on the tip. With such a cool moment of interconnectivity, Jeremy Renner gushed to Marvel.com about what it was like to include such a cool reference to the tiny (but mighty) Avenger:
If you're going to have a special tip arrow, it should be a Pym arrow. Because [of Hawkeye’s] relationship with Ant-Man. That was such a cool, cool thing. Now we're talking; now we're feeling more Avenger-like.
Of course, the actor was all for the reference, and who can truly blame him? It was a nice nod to Clint Barton and Scott Lang’s interesting and fun friendship, which is actually shared by Jeremy Renner and Paul Rudd in real life. Given that the characters are well-acquainted, it makes total sense that Lang would've pulled some strings to have special arrows made for the founding Avenger. In the sequence itself, Barton uses one to enlarge another arrow shot by Kate. The massive projectile eventually falls on one of the Tracksuit Mafia's vehicles. With visual effects involved, Renner couldn't see while filming, but he lit up when he saw a cut of the scene:
You don't really know what’s happening all the time when you're filming it. When you do see it, like maybe a preview, you think like, wait, what? That's going to be in the visual effects? And so yeah, that was something I got very, very, very excited about and can't wait for that to land.
Most superhero and action movies rely on visual effects to create those “wow” moments and, after all of the MCU work he's done, Jeremy Renner can certainly appreciate how it all comes together. Hopefully, the Pym Tech arrows will be used more on the Disney+ series or in a future project.
Of course, arrows and the formal arrival of Echo might not be the only elements viewers need to be on the lookout for. The young crime boss might not be the only adversary the two archers cross paths with, as the episode may have teased the possibility of Wilson Fisk becoming MCU canon. Time will tell if this turns out to be true, but it's definitely an exciting prospect.
Only three episodes of Hawkeye remains and, based on what audiences have seen so far, it's sure to come to an explosive end. If you want to catch Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld's characters get into more trouble, check out new episodes of the show when they drop on Wednesdays on Disney+.
