While movie fans are waiting patiently to see the MCU return to the big screen with (hopefully) Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, TV audiences will soon see an abundance of superhero fare once Marvel's shows start making their long-awaited debuts on Disney+. Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye series is currently filming, and there are so many set photos going around that it seems like there's not much security in place to curb such spoiler-sharing. The production could possibly use some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to help out, and it looks like Hawkeye has already (unintentionally) revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. will be involved in some way. Can we get some Coulson or May involved?
So does this mean fans will be able to catch a glimpse of one or more former Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars joining the fun when Hawkeye arrives? It's obviously not clear yet, but an eagle-eyed fan on Twitter noticed a detail from one of the recent set photos that appears to draw a clear connection between Jeremy Renner's accuracy-minded hero and the secretive intelligence agency: Hawkeye's quiver is seemingly decorated with an official S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. So from here, the lines of speculation are more firmly drawn.
First, there's the idea that this moment could be seen within one of Hawkeye's flashbacks, hearkening back to the time when Clint Barton was a bigger part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad. However, other behind-the-scenes images show depict at least once scene taking place around New Years Day 2025, and both Kate and Pizza Dog look the same, so this probably isn't a flashback.
Second, it's possible that this moment is a direct reference to S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting Clint for a mission similar to the story arc that took place in Matt Fraction and David Aja's standalone Hawkeye series that the TV show will be partially based on. In the comic's fourth issue, S.H.I.E.L.D. tasks Hawkeye with securing some incriminating evidence, so that could very well be how things play out for Jeremy Renner's character. Is it strange that S.H.I.E.L.D. utilizes branded equipment like Nike or Adidas? Probably, but at least it's fun to talk about.
That brings us to the most likely Agents fo S.H.I.E.L.D. candidate who could show up on Hawkeye: Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill. (Smulders is surely more of an MCU film vet than an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it still counts here.) The S.H.I.E.L.D. director is the one who appeared in the Hawkeye comics to talk to Clint – as well as Nick Fury Jr., though he's not an official MCU character just yet. Of course, the setback here is that the current "Maria Hill" on Earth is actually a Skrull, as evidenced by the post-credits sequence for Spider-Man: Far From Home, and it's unclear where the real Maria is. So it's a good thing there are tons of other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that could fill in.
Of course, it's equally possible that all this speculation is for nought, and that the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on Clint Barton's quiver is just cheeky prop decoration as opposed to an indicator of noteworthy cameos. But for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans who were truly bummed to see the TV series come to an end, Hawkeye is keeping hope alive that some of the characters may live on in the MCU's multimedia future, even if Clint Barton himself gets killed off.
Marvel fans can probably expect to see more spoilery images coming out of Hawkeye's production. Already, set photos are responsible for confirming Hailee Steinfeld's casting as Clint's protegé Kate Bishop, which Jeremy Renner later confirmed, as well as the presence of Pizza Dog and Clint's three children, who will all be reprised by the actors who played them in MCU films. Other casting includes Black Widow's Florence Pugh, Better Call Saul's Tony Dalton, The Conjuring films' Vera Farmiga, Westworld's Zahn McClarnon and Les Mis' Fra Fee, among others.
With production fully underway, Hawkeye is ramping up for a big release on Disney+, though it's not clear when that might happen, whether it'll be in late 2021 or early 2022. While waiting to hear more about this MCU spinoff series, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule and our Winter and Spring 2021 TV guide to see what new and returning shows are on the way soon.
