Hawkeye marked the final MCU project of 2021, bringing with it action, heart, and a healthy dose of the holiday spirit. Fleshing out the world of Clint Barton in a post-Avengers: Endgame world, the series also introduced a new archer to the universe in Kate Bishop. Notably, the six-episode seasons also saw the return of Black Widow's Yelena Belova, resolving that film's post-credits tease.
Hawkeye also brought a lot of new things to the MCU proper such as more grounded, street-level action and the return of a fearsome foe from the Marvel Netflix world. Even the show's end credits scene was a departure from the norm, giving fans a fun musical sequence based around the events of 2012's The Avengers instead of a dramatic teaser.
Rhys Thomas, one of Hawkeye's directors, revealed in an interview that he was initially conflicted about the decision to include the musical number as the end credits scene. However, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was a big fan of this moment, pushing for its inclusion in the series.
Even so, some small details within this musical scene left fans scratching their heads, questions which a co-writer of the number recently addressed.
How Cap’s Iconic Line Showed up in Hawkeye’s Musical
In a recent interview with Inverse, Marc Shaiman, composer and lyricist of the "Save the City" musical number from Hawkeye, touched on some elements of the song that seem a bit confusing.
During the number, actors reference bits of dialogue that fans may be quite familiar with, like Captain America's oft-repeated "I could do this all day," or Iron Man's shawarma request after the chaos of the Battle of New York. This left fans confused, curious as to how the writers of the musical would have knowledge of these interpersonal moments and details.
Shaiman explained that he had supposed that these bits of information would become public in one way or another, noting that "It could have come up somehow."
We just figured in the universe, people writing a musical or writing a book or writing a magazine article would've done their due diligence and homework and interviewed people who had been there. Perhaps, even in things that we've never seen, members of the Avengers had actually given interviews about this or that.
There was a certain amount of liberty about that. Maybe Natasha in some interview on CNN might have said, “Oh, you know this guy, he's always like, ‘I could do this all day.’” It could have come up somehow. The same thing applies to including lyrics about getting some shawarma when we're done. I wrote these things and no one objected to them! But we did talk about that. And we just figured that they don't say these things in a total vacuum.
Additionally, Shaiman spoke to Marvel's thoughts on including these references, saying that "from Kevin Feige on down, they were like 'This is good.'"
How Hawkeye’s "Save the City" Works to Expand the MCU
Based on Shaiman's comments, it seems clear that the folks at Marvel supported his understanding of events, buying that these fun bits of information eventually made their way out into the public consciousness. Additionally, it seems like there was little concern around providing explanations for these lines, instead preferring to let them speak for themselves.
It's interesting to get a sense of how much the regular people of the MCU know about the heroes of their world. Just like real-life fans, it seems the denizens of that world pay close attention to the exploits of the Avengers. The inclusion of these lines does more than just provide fan service, also fleshing out the world of the MCU in small, yet unique ways.
It seems somewhat strange to imagine people like Black Widow readily giving interviews on CNN, but it makes sense that such a high-profile figure would, even if fans were never privy to these events. Perhaps more seemingly mundane moments like this will work their way into the MCU proper as the franchise continues to expand.
Shaiman's insight into Hawkeye's musical moment is just another example of how this most recent series builds out the MCU in new if somewhat slight ways. With upcoming series continuing to focus on this sort of street-level world, fans may see more of this in the future.
