This fan-made Avengers: Infinity War EW cover featuring Hawkeye looks almost as good as the official ones. In less than two months, the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed flick is set to hit theaters and Disney’s marketing machine is already hard-at-work promoting the film. Not that it needs any more hyping up, but keeping the hype train running until April 27th is a good idea just to make sure that they have the best possible box office opening. So far, we’ve seen two previews, a handful of promo art, character posters and tie-in merchandise, but while every other one of the characters expected to make an appearance in the film has appeared prominently in some of the marketing materials, signs of the bow-wielding marksman remain mostly unseen.

The Infinity War Prelude comic reveals that Hawkeye is officially retired when Avengers 3 picks-up. After Cap and Bucky busted him and the rest of Team Cap from their Raft imprisonment near the end of Captain America: Civil War, Clint returned to his family and opted to live the normal farm life. We know that he’s been itching to settle down and leave his superhero gig behind for quite a while now, but with the imminent threat that is coming, it looks like his plans will have to wait a little while longer.

Late this week, EW rolled out a handful of new covers featuring several Infinity War characters, and similar to all the other promo materials for the film, Hawkeye is once again noticeably absent. This gave Marvel Studios Reddit user soyellbryann the idea to take it upon himself to give Clint the front page he deserves. The result looks really cool, it could almost pass as a legitimate entry into EW’s cover series. Check it out below:

This is not the first time that fans have taken it upon themselves to bring Hawkeye into the forefront of the Infinity War marketing. Last month someone created a Ronin-style poster with the character based on the running rumor that Hawkeye will assume the persona of the masterless samurai in either Avengers 3 or its still-untitled sequel. Speculations started when set photos from last year revealed a new suit and haircut for Clint which resembles that of his more ruthless alter ego from the comics. Considering that much of the narrative specifics are being kept under wraps, it’s still uncertain what sparks Clint’s transformation, but we have some ideas. Admittedly, out of all the six original Avengers members, he has had the shorter end of the stick, and this hints that amidst the chaos that Thanos will chaos, Hawkeye will still have a personal arc, and that’s a good thing.

Boom, you looking for this? from r/marvelstudios

While the lack of Hawekeye in the film’s marketing is definitely frustrating for his fans, it’s more likely pivotal in the overall Avengers: Infinity War, otherwise why would Marvel Studios consciously decide to omit him from any marketing for the film? Jeremy Renner doesn’t seem to have a problem with it anyway. In fact, he has expressed excitement over what’s to come for his character, saying that the next Avengers sequel will do wondrous things for the MCU hero.  As of now, whether or not Clint gets to live past MCU Phase 3 remains to be seen, considering the catastrophic nature of the next two Avengers sequels. But if Marvel Studios decides to keep him around moving forward, there won’t be a scarcity of comics narrative to mine inspiration from for the character’s Phase 4 journey.

MORE: Kevin Feige Says Infinity War Deaths May Be Permanent

Source: soyellbryann/Reddit

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