Several weeks after Avengers: Endgame claimed the biggest summer box-office take and eventually capsized James Cameron’s Titanic, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are still dropping bits of behind-the-scene information for fans. In this case, Joe (who appeared in the movie as a member of Steve Rogers’ support group) has explained to the Empire Online Podcast that there’s one scene that pulled his heart strings the most. He’s not talking about the two big ones — Tony Stark’s death and resulting funeral and Black Widow’s death and, uh, no funeral. Instead, Joe says that Hawkeye’s arc upset him the most, especially with the opening scene when Clint Barton’s playing ball with this wife and kids, who all get dusted. Via ComicBook.com, this hit home with Joe:
“I’ve got four kids, and it’s a very tragic scene to open the movie with. It’s one of the few scenes in the movie that actually makes me tear up when I watch it, because I think about my own family. And then you think about what would happen to you, as a father. You’d become very self-destructive.”
Indeed, this scene did carry plenty of emotional impact and set the stage for the upcoming tragic endings in the rest of the film. It also put Barton on a new path, turning him either into Mohawkeye or Ronin, which led Natasha Romanoff to track him down and reel him back into the Avengers initiative. And that, of course, led to Hawkeye and Black Widow’s battle for who would sacrifice their life to secure the Soul Stone. In turn, the stones were all secured, and the final battle to defeat Thanos commenced.
It’s definitely saying something about Hawkeye, the most “average guy” of the Avengers, for Joe Russo to admit that his plight upset him the most. Does that make Clint Barton relatable? Well of course, but we’ll find out how attuned fans remain to the character when his standalone series hits the Disney+ streaming service, although he’ll be heavily invested in training the next (younger) Hawkeye. Can he please keep the Endgame katana blade?
(Via Empire Online Podcast & ComicBook.com)