Hawkeye arrived on Disney+ in 2021 as a comparatively modest entry in Marvel Studios’ expanding television slate. Centered on Clint Barton and newcomer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), the series leaned into grounded stakes and character repair rather than spectacle.
At the time, that approach appeared deliberate. Marvel was experimenting with tone and scale across its streaming lineup, testing how legacy Avengers might transition into mentor roles while setting up younger successors for future phases.
Behind the scenes, however, the production was far less settled. A recent account suggests the series underwent sweeping creative changes late in development, reshaping major story elements just weeks before filming began.
Those revelations arrive as Marvel continues to reassess how its television projects are made. Hawkeye now stands as an early example of a system that relied heavily on late-stage rewrites and rapid course correction.
A Last-Minute Creative Overhaul for ‘Hawkeye’
Speaking on The Watch podcast, writer Andrew Guest said Avengers: Doomsday co-director Joe Russo — a former collaborator from Community — personally called to ask if he could help shape the Clint Barton and Kate Bishop storyline.
Guest described the timing as unusually urgent. “[Trinh Tran] calls me three minutes later,” he said, explaining that he was sent six completed episodes and informed production would begin in New York in just over a week, with plans to “rewrite the whole thing.”
The request came after multiple rewrites and a full writers’ room cycle had already taken place. Guest said he was brought in at the very end of the process, calling himself “literally the last call they could make.”
According to Guest, the prevailing mindset was that the show could be “fix[ed] as we go.” That assumption shaped how the series moved forward, compressing development decisions into an unusually tight window.
He identified several structural problems. Kate Bishop, Guest said, had been “written too young,” and the on-screen chemistry between Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner “wasn’t there” in earlier drafts.
The narrative itself had also grown unwieldy. Guest said the story accumulated too many twists, which were “gumming up the works” and distracting from the emotional throughline between mentor and protégé.
Despite the circumstances, Guest emphasized the collaborative nature of the rewrite. “I needed their help as much as they needed mine. And we got through that process,” he said.
The experience ultimately strengthened Guest’s relationship with Marvel Studios. He was later hired as head writer on Wonder Man, a project that moved forward briefly before being halted and restarted.
That pause was not unique. In 2023, Hollywood-wide strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA forced studios to shut down productions and reevaluate development pipelines.
At Marvel, that moment coincided with an internal reassessment of its television strategy. The studio began moving away from its earlier “fix-it-in-post” approach to streaming series.
The shift became most visible with Daredevil: Born Again, which underwent a major creative overhaul mid-production after concerns emerged about its structure and tone.
The Question of a Second Season
Whether Hawkeye will return remains unresolved. In January, industry insider @JamesMackwl claimed Marvel is developing a second season led by Kate Bishop rather than Clint Barton.
The proposed season was described as a “definitive send-off” for Barton and Jeremy Renner, potentially closing the book on one of the MCU’s original Avengers.
Renner himself has publicly cast doubt on a return. During an interview with High Performance, he alleged Disney offered him “half” the salary he received for the first season.
“I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount,’” Renner said.
The comments followed a life-changing accident in January 2023, when Renner was crushed by a 14,330-pound snowplow and required extensive recovery.
Renner’s absence from the announced cast of Avengers: Doomsday has further fueled speculation. Marvel is known to withhold character appearances, particularly ahead of major crossover films.
There is also Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, and the possibility that the storyline could be split across multiple films remains open.
Clint Barton has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Thor (2011), appearing across several Avengers installments as one of the franchise’s foundational members.
Hawkeye revisited Barton’s Ronin period from Avengers: Endgame, exploring the violent path he took after losing his family during the Blip.
The series also grappled with Barton’s guilt over Natasha Romanoff’s death, positioning Kate Bishop as both a legacy successor and a moral counterweight.
Off-screen, Renner has faced renewed scrutiny. Chinese filmmaker Yi Zhou has accused the actor of sending “unwanted/unsolicited” explicit images and later threatening to call immigration authorities.
Renner’s representatives have strongly denied the claims. His attorney has labeled the allegations “false, outrageous and highly defamatory.”
Both sides have exchanged cease-and-desist letters, and the dispute continues to draw media attention.
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