Rhys Thomas talks about Hawkeye and the future of MCU; Credits: The Digital Fix

MCU is going towards a phase of cinematic creation that has never been yet witnessed in its, both literally and figuratively. Now storylines take into account what the general public perceives and wants to envision in their heroes. Hence, a more phenomenal approach to film direction has given rise to the evolution of the superhero film franchise, which will not only be about swell heroes with big biceps but more about what makes them heroic. 

Examples include Spider-Man trying to heal the villains as Gen Z focuses on understanding the root cause of evil and Chloe Zhao helming Eternals with compassion and sentiments rather than focusing on brute strength.

The same can be seen in the latest MCU film, Hawkeye. The film encompasses the heroic vision of a normal guy, who has sort of a laid-back charm that minimally shines through rather than bold magnificence. While he does come with good archery skills, he neither has fictional superpowers nor the mystique, brains, or sassy attitude of so many other superheroes from the Studio. 

In fact, many critics wondered if such a lackluster character needed to demand his very own series on Disney Plus. Yet Marvel made sure to make it clear that being a superhero is so much more than donning a shining metallic suit or shooting webs through your fingers. 

Needless to say, the very modest Hawkeye managed to rake over 92% of critics' scores on Rotten Tomatoes and a whopping 90% from the audiences. The series is just more of a reminder that somewhere amidst the fiasco of mundane everyday life, there still exist people who manage to be heroes without the much fuss of showing their greatness. Without a doubt, we too, at times are fortunate enough to be counted amongst these people.

The film stars Hailee Steinfeld in Hawkeye, who is  Kate Bishop, along with Vera Farmiga, who plays Eleanor Bishop. Other noteworthy characters are Alaqua Cox, who stars as Echo/Maya Lopez, Tony Dalton, playing Jack Duquesne, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and Vincent D’Onofrio, who is cast as Kingpin. 

Taking after the Marvel tradition of bringing characters from various franchises together and jumbling up their narratives in a distinct world of heroes, the future of Marvel will continue to uphold the longstanding tradition. In Hawkeye, this was done by introducing Kingpin, from the Netflix series Daredevil. The character also gets to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

Rhys Thomas explained, "Like, we were always circling this other “big bad guy,” but there was a moment when a Marvel executive came over and said, “You know, this is what we’re gonna do about that.” As far as a larger plan and a crossover with “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” I did not know that they would do that. They do a wonderful job at Marvel of keeping everybody quite siloed, and I think they do this for your own security." 

Needless to say, the Studio continues to be tight-lipped as ever but that only increases the fun, right? Thomas continued, "People seem to sort of assume that there is this room where everything is all mapped out, but, no, they keep you kind of focused on your own show and only give you the information that they feel they need to give." 

Now that the series has already made a big impact, it really matters to know what the Marvel community would need for its continuity. Not only does this apply to the characters and what the future holds for them, but also the franchise as a whole as the future of Marvel will be in more works of multiverses, as seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the latest Doctor Strange film. Thomas explained, "The wonderful team at Marvel helps keep you honest on that front. I learned early on that the best thing I could do about that was not to worry too much about it and just try to keep doing what I could with Kate, Clint, Yelena, and all of those characters to do them justice on their own show and to treat it as such." 

"Luckily, I could keep that in focus, and when the legacy stuff or the multiverse stuff needed to come in you always had someone at Marvel to help out or to at least keep an eye on it." He added, "So, as a director, when you step onto a set and you’ve got Jeremy Renner dressed in a Hawkeye costume that you’ve been helping design, and you’re introducing new characters like Echo and Kate Bishop and Jack Duquesne, and you also have to fit this in all around the holidays, it makes it all so surreal." 

The director elaborated, "As I was directing, I realized that you’re supposed to treat it as slightly different parallel realities from the one you are in right now, and you have to go along with it and follow its rules."

Most importantly, when talking about the future of Marvel and its heroes, it has become important to make the characters humane and show that they too are vulnerable. Their fancy suits might take a bullet for them but in the end, they are just people like us and fall susceptible to ailments like any other human, despite their hardiness. 

Following on a similar line of thought, the filmmaker said, "Part of the thing that makes Clint Barton so singular and so charming and appealing is that he is a human. He does not have superpowers — he can’t just bounce off of a car and get back up easily. When he smashes through that window in the first Avengers movie, he ends up suffering a lot of pain."

The director talks about why the character of Hawkeye needed impairment; Credits: Comicbook

The director explained, "All of his crime-fighting took its toll. In some of the comics, he does have the impairment, and it is also a nice way of connecting Echo/Maya, who is deaf in the comic books, to him. It is their unifier. It also gave Clint an in to communicate with her on a different level."