Hawkeye was pegged as a limited “event series” after its first year, but there is still a chance it could return for a second season or more.
What Is It?
A year after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Clint Barton must partner with Kate Bishop to confront enemies from his past as the Ronin to get back to his family in time for Christmas.
Aired: 2021, One Season Totaling 6 Episodes
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Tony Dalton, Fra Fee, Brian d’Arcy James, Vincent D’Onofrio
Created By: Jonathan Igla
Was It Cancelled?
This was the fourth MCU series to stream on Disney+ following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and What If…?, and when it first arrived, it was unclear if it would be a limited series like the first two shows or more open-ended like the latter two. The first season did wrap up many of its storylines, but it certainly seemed to suggest that Kate Bishop would be taking over as Hawkeye, and that the show could have continued with a focus on her. The viewership for the show was decent, but when Disney+ designated it as a mini-series for the Emmys, it appeared that it would wrap up with just the one season. Wilson Fisk’s fate was addressed in the spin-off series Echo, but neither Clint Barton nor Kate Bishop appeared in that series.
There were talks that one of the reasons a second season never happened was that Jeremy Renner refused to return to the show because he was offered only half the money of the first season to do the same amount of work, though he did eventually say that he thought a second season would happen at some point. In a recent interview, showrunner Andrew Guest indicated that it was more of a timing issue:
There was talk at a certain point. …We did explore creatively what season 2 of Hawkeye might be if we were able to do it. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out in terms of Marvel and all the various pieces that need to come together. But I loved working on Hawkeye. I think [Jeremy] Renner and Hailee Steinfeld are so terrific together, and I would love to see more of those two.
He also indicated that he would like to return to the show at some point.
Word is that Kate Bishop is poised to return as Hawkeye at some point, perhaps in an upcoming Young Avengers movie. So it is possible that Disney+ could consider a second season of Hawkeye, though it seems like it might be difficult to get that on the schedule, seeing as the Mouse House has slowed down MCU development.
What Can Fans Do to Help the Show?
Hawkeye did not appear to develop as large a fanbase as some of the other MCU shows, but if they are out there, they should start staging watch parties to convince Disney+ that a second season is worth the effort. If they were able to get the show to rise up in the rankings of Disney+ originals, while also making a social media push, that would definitely bring it some attention. And if they were to stage subscription drives to get people to sign up for the service to watch the show, the execs at the company would pay attention, because it would impact the bottom line. If fans could enlist the support of the Daredevil following, that would surely help, because they made a lot of noise in support of that show and got it revived after cancellation (and a Daredevil/Hawkeye team-up would be really cool).
It may be difficult to get Disney to move on this, seeing as they are such a large company and the MCU production schedule is pretty full at this point. But a second season of Hawkeye could help prepare the arrival of Kate Bishop on the big screen, and it seems like both the showrunner and Renner are willing to do it, so a push from the fans could help make it a reality.
Did you watch Hawkeye, and would you support fan efforts to bring it back for a second season? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments below.
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