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Kevin Feige explains how Hawkeye's Rogers: The Musical began as an 'innocent suggestion'
Feige explains how the Broadway show became a part of the new Disney+ series.
On Nov. 24, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will reach new heights when a highly, highly anticipated show premieres, one that will let longtime fans see an iconic Avenger in a whole new light. What’s that? Oh! No, not Hawkeye, though that show does premiere on Disney+ on that date. See, what’s really exciting is the premiere of Rogers: The Musical, a Broadway play about Captain America that Clint Barton and his kids watch in the premiere episode.
While viewers don’t get to see the full play, the first episode does feature a lot of the fictional musical’s showstopping numbers set at the Battle of New York titled, fittingly, “I Can Do This All Day.” It’s a hoot to see how the Avengers have become part of pop culture in the world of the MCU, even if Rogers: The Musical probably wouldn’t be winning any Tonys. The play is more than just a laugh, however, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says it’s an integral part of Hawkeye’s premise, which sees the Avengers’ resident archer (Jeremey Renner) visiting the Big Apple with his kids before he’s wrapped up in an adventure with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and trying to make it home for Christmas.
The musical, Feige explained during a press conference that SYFY WIRE was present for, was “an idea early on about why [Clint] comes to New York.”
“It was an innocent suggestion in one of our calls that I tried to backtrack on,” clarified director Rhys Thomas. Still, his spitball turned what at first was “a bit of a generic Christmas in New York [plot],” according to Feige, into something special. Traveling to Midtown Manhattan with his kids to see a play was a unique hook, and there’s something thematically important about Clint seeing “himself” up on stage.
“It gave us context for the opening episode, context for why he is in New York, and context for how Clint sees himself,” Feige said.
I had met the amazing composer Marc Shaiman at an event," Feige continued, explaining how he got the acclaimed Tony, Oscar, and Emmy-winning composer behind such hits as Hairspray to lend his talents to Rogers: The Musical. "His husband is a giant Marvel fan."
Later in the press conference, Renner was faced with a question about post-credit scenes, as is only natural for anything involving the MCU. Hawkeye last appeared in Black Widow’s post-credits scene, when Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) attempts to convince Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) that Hawkeye is responsible for Natasha’s death — and that Clint is Yelena’s next target.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Renner was not able to confirm nor deny if Yelena’s vendetta would cross over into Hawkeye.
“I can’t tease too much about that. I’m aware that that’s there,” Renner said of Black Widow’s post-credits scene, wryly. “I’m aware that that’s happening.”
Hawkeye premieres on Disney+ on Nov. 24.
