One of the most iconic duos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that of Chris Evans’ Captain America and Sebastian Stan’s The Winter Soldier. What started off as an unbreakable friendship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes turned into a duo of two unbeatable and enigmatic superheroes. So when the two got together in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the film was automatically an increasing success.
However, they were not the only two Avengers in the sequel film. Including characters such as the Falcon, the Black Widow, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill. There was a strong chance another character would have been included in the movie, one that would have been given a lot more screen time than Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye.
Hawkeye Almost Made it Into Chris Evans’ Captain America Sequel
Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers had a wide array of characters he interacted with throughout Captain America: The Winter Soldier. From Natasha Romanoff to Sam Wilson, he had an entire journey he went through alongside these characters. According to the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, there was another character who was supposed to make his way into the film: Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. The studios were apparently given the freedom to choose any character they wished to add to the film as long as they were not set to have their own movie.
In wanting to focus the film on S.H.I.E.L.D., they wanted to add characters that were more directly inclined to the affiliation as well. So to incorporate that, the idea of including Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye came into the picture. Following the same, Hawkeye’s scenes were later cut and replaced with Scarlett Johansson’s because Jeremy Renner was preoccupied. He was already busy filming movies like American Hustle and the Messengers, making his schedule an impossible challenge to deal with.
The Contrast Factor
It was only when Hawkeye’s scenes were dropped that the relationship between Black Widow and Captain America could be explored. The entire movie followed Steve Rogers battling his own inner morals when it came to Bucky Barnes, a man he refused to see in the wrong. However, it also focused on the corruption within S.H.I.E.L.D. Removing Hawkeye from the picture opened up an opportunity.
As per MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, it was the contrast between Rogers and Natasha Romanoff that really became an interesting feat to explore. This was seen in a way of how Chris Evans’ character was still adapting to the modern ways, slowly understanding the difference between his time and the time he is now stuck in.
