‘Avengers’ Screenwriters: Hawkeye and Ant-Man Were Left Out of ’Infinity War’ “Very Much on Purpose”

Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man sat out Avengers: Infinity War “very much on [...]

Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye and Paul Rudd's Ant-Man sat out Avengers: Infinity War "very much on purpose," says co-writer Stephen McFeely. And when both characters return for Avengers: Endgame, the pair will be colored by having never gone against Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Asked by Buzzfeed how McFeely and writing partner Christopher Markus approached Hawkeye and Ant-Man in Endgame, the pair "began to squirm," careful not to reveal too much.

McFeely: It's very much on purpose. So, remember… Markus: (To McFeely) Now just… McFeely: (To Markus) No? Markus: Well… McFeely: What am I saying? Markus: I don't know. Just don't answer his question. Do your… McFeely: Do my "kick in the teeth" answer? Markus: Do your "kick in the teeth"…

"Everyone gets kicked in the teeth," McFeely said.

"Meaning that the snap happened to everyone. But we don't want everyone to react the same. So it was helpful to us to have some people have different experiences of it. You saw the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott is experiencing it clearly differently, whatever that means."

After Markus nearly interrupted, McFeely added, "We haven't shown you how Hawkeye experienced it. Presumably..."

Markus almost interrupted again.

"You can count on it being differently than the other people," McFeely continued. "So those points of view are helpful to us so you can tell different types of stories and not have the same football team going down the field."

After the disastrous events of Captain America: Civil War, also penned by Markus and McFeely, Clint Barton and Scott Lang accepted house arrest deals for violating the government-imposed Sokovia Accords. Barton ends his retirement again when he next rejoins the Avengers to help course correct Thanos' devastating snap, which halved all life in the known universe.

"We [at Marvel] love Hawkeye. There are big, big story things coming up for Hawkeye and Jeremy Renner is as strong an actor as anyone in the MCU and awesome as this character," Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige told i09 last April when addressing Hawkeye's Infinity War absence.

"But 'The guy with the bow and arrow jokes', right? There are a lot of 'Guy with bow and arrow jokes.' He even makes 'Guy with a bow and arrow' jokes in some of the movies. So I love that people go from 'Oh, Hawkeye is just lucky to be there,' to 'Oh, where is he? He's not there? What's going to happen? We need Hawkeye. We want more Hawkeye.'"

"I love it," Feige added. "It's the best."

When Barton returns, he'll assume the costumed 'Ronin' identity, complete with mohawk and tattoos as part of an all-new look. Lang was last seen helplessly stranded in the Quantum Realm in the mid-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp after allies Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) were revealed to be victims of The Decimation.

Avengers: Endgame opens April 26.

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