Avengers Endgame: Why Hawkeye got so DARK and became Ronin REVEALED

Avengers: Endgame began in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War with half of life wiped out of existence. Everyone lost somebody, as was illustrated by the official clip Marvel showed of Captain America leading a support group. But one character’s transition was the darkest of all. Warning: spoilers ahead for Avengers Endgame.

Why did Hawkeye become so dark?

There is always the obvious – his family was snapped out of existence.

At the beginning of Endgame, we see Hawkeye in a field with his wife and three kids.

He was distracted for a moment, and when his attention returns everyone he loves is gone.

But the decision to make him into Ronin, and opening Endgame with this scene was a deliberate choice.

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Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely talked about Hawkeye’s character arc with the New York Times.

McFeely said of Hawkeye: “He’s a good example of people who had much stronger stories after the Snap.

“What was the story to tell with Hawkeye in the first movie that was different than anybody else’s?

“Leaving his family to go fight again? Yeah, he did that in “Civil War.”

“The hope is that he’s killing bad people.”

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Markus added: “There was a time where we contemplated having that archery scene in the first movie, after the Snap.

“You snap, and then you pop up in Clint’s farm — what are we watching? — and that’s the first indication it had a wider effect.

“But he literally had not been in the movie prior to that point.

“It’s cool, but it’s going to blunt the brutality of what Thanos did.”

Ultimately it was Joe Russo’s decision to put that scene at the beginning of Endgame.

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Most of the second act of the movie features the characters figuring out what to do with themselves when their plan fails.

McFeely and Markus told the New York Times they began working on the character’s trajectory back in 2014.

McFeely said: “Chris and I wrote a master document while we were shooting Civil War, and one of the things we were interested in exploring is – remember the What If comics?

“Well, this is our what if,” he said. What would happen to these characters in they lost?

Markus added: “Clint becomes a murdering maniac.”

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in cinemas.