Fans almost got a VERY different version of Hawkeye! Producer Andrew Guest reveals new details on the series’ behind-the-scenes turmoil.
Hawkeye is generally considered to be pretty good. The series was far from groundbreaking, but it avoided a lot of the pitfalls the other Disney Plus fell into, and generally left fans wanting more – not less. This left many to assume that the project wasn’t mired by the production and developmental issues that others on the streaming service were subject to.
That isn’t exactly true, however. Series producer and Wonder Man writer Andrew Guest reveals that the series only came together in the eleventh hour. In fact, it was only a week before production properly began that he was brought on to rewrite massive swathes of Hawkeye. And he wasn’t even the first person to helm revisions!
“[Trinh Tran] says, ‘I’m going to send you six one-hour episodes,” Guest explained on an episode of The Watch. “I want to meet tomorrow to talk about it. We start shooting in New York in a week and a half, and we want to rewrite the whole thing.'”
“I came in towards the end. I mean, they had had a writer’s room. They had rewritten [the show] after that writer’s room a couple of times. I was literally the last call they could make to anybody. They want to make sure they shoot something and that they actually make it. And then I think there is this belief that we can ‘Fix it as we go.’ And that was very much the case with Hawkeye.”
The Many Problems Of Hawkeye
The rewrites weren’t minor, either. While many might assume that Andrew Guest was brought on to trim a few scenes and punch up a few jokes, the reality is that the series needed major overhauls to get to the spot it is today. This includes cleaning up convoluted storylines and heightening the chemistry of Hawkeye leads Kate Bishop and Clint Barton.
“You know, Hailee Steinfeld’s character was written too young. The dynamic between her and Jeremy [Renner] wasn’t there. There was a lot of extra twists and turns that were sort of gumming up the works. I needed their help as much as they needed mine. And we got through that process.”
Given how harshly some other Disney Plus projects were treated due to some less-than-ideal plot developments, it seems as though Hawkeye dodged a bullet with these last minute rewrites. And with reports that a season 2 may be in development, fans can only hope that they come back to the series more prepared than last time!
Hawkeye is currently streaming on Disney Plus. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
