Avengers 5 Can Finally Make Use Of An Unused 11-Year-Old Hawkeye Plot Promise

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could pay off a Hawkeye MCU story that was first teased over a decade ago. While the line-up for Avengers 5 has not yet been officially confirmed by Marvel Studios, Clint Barton is expected to return alongside other former Avengers like Thor and Bruce Banner/Hulk. Despite Avengers 5‘s production problems of late, the film is still scheduled for a 2026 release date that could pay off a host of teases from the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.

However, through characters like Hawkeye, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty‘s story could even go as far as to wrap up forgotten plot points from the Infinity Saga. One of these teases in question goes as far back as 2012’s The Avengers and concerns Hawkeye’s MCU future. While Hawkeye’s role in the Infinity Saga was not as vital as characters like Tony Stark/Iron Man or Steve Rogers/Captain America, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could rectify this by providing Clint Barton with an MCU future that is over a decade in the making.

Avengers 5 Can Finally Make Hawkeye A Team Leader

Concerning furthering Hawkeye’s character development, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could finally make Clint Barton a team leader. While none of the MCU’s earlier films seemed to imply that Hawkeye was being groomed as a future leader, some outside information from 2012’s The Avengers explains how and when this potential role for Clint was introduced. In the book The Art of Marvel’s The Avengers, Andy Park – the Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios – stated:

“Hawkeye to me is Hawkeye when he was leading the West Coast Avengers. He was a leader, yet he was not perfect. He’s no Cap, yet Hawkeye is noble and a leader in training.”

As teased by Park, it could be the case that Barton has been subtly built up to be a leader in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. This certainly tracks with what was shown in 2021’s Hawkeye in which Barton became a more responsible member of the MCU by mentoring Kate Bishop. In Avengers 5, these aspects of Barton’s character could come full circle by making him a leader of a team in the MCU, something teased by Marvel Studios creatives as far back as 2012.

Why Hawkeye Wouldn’t Need To Lead The Avengers For His Best MCU Future

That said, the idea of this plot point may lead many to think that Hawkeye does not deserve to lead the Avengers over characters like Doctor Strange, Captain America, or Captain Marvel. However, Hawkeye would not need to lead the Avengers to have his best MCU future. The reason for this was also teased by Park who made a mention of a team like the West Coast Avengers from Marvel Comics which Hawkeye led. Of late, the MCU has shown an increasing willingness to set up different teams from the Avengers.

From the supernatural team of Midnight Sons and the antiheroes of the Thunderbolts to the mutants of the X-Men and the overt set-up of the Young Avengers in The Marvels, the MCU is not opposed to introducing various teams. As such, Hawkeye could be provided with one of these teams to lead while Captain America or another major character leads the core Avengers. Not only would this help expand the universe beyond solely the Avengers’ influence, but it would allow Hawkeye to fulfill his destiny as a leader in the MCU which could begin as soon as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.