Paul Rudd Would've Appeared In Hawkeye If Director Had His Way

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Hawkeye.

Marvel Studios is officially underway with its fifth Disney+ show of the year after Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye released its first two episodes. Setting Clint Barton in a post-Avengers: Endgame situation as he tries to get some quality time with his family during the holidays, Hawkeye looks to take the MCU's Disney+ storytelling to a street-level narrative with the original Avenger's solo story.

Of course, Clint is far from alone in this series with Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop making her presence felt; both episodes set the stage for her origin story as a Young Avenger and detailed her inspiration to become a master archer. Early teases were also laid out for Alaqua Cox's Maya Lopez, who will start off her MCU run in Hawkeye as a villain before likely moving toward a hero's journey in anticipation of her own solo Disney+ series.

With this show being set in the extensively connected MCU, there are plenty of opportunities for other characters in Clint Barton's life to add a new dynamic to his first solo streaming story. Following the first two episodes' debut, one of its directors shared his thoughts on who he would have wanted to include in this respect.

Hawkeye Director Wanted Ant-Man on Disney+

Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas, while in an interview with The Playlist Podcast Network, revealed that he was especially keen to include Ant-Man star Paul Rudd in the Disney+ series.

Rather than look at Ant-Man and Hawkeye's on-screen work together, Thomas referenced Rudd and Renner's chemistry off-screen in previous press tours like the one for Avengers: Endgame. The director saw a potentially "fun way" to work the two of them into the show together, looking at how ridiculous Clint Barton's current situation is, but was seemingly unsuccessful in getting a cameo from Rudd's Scott Lang.

When asked which MCU character was on the casting wish-list, Thomas replied:

"Oh, that’s a loaded one, because…you don’t want to reveal anything. Here’s one, Ant-Man, obviously, both Paul and Jeremy’s dynamic together, I sort of enjoyed. I enjoyed their press tour dynamic when they were on the Avengers run. And so, he was a character that just felt like a fun way to play it, the absurdity of Clint’s situation. I got to have a little nod to that."

Ant-Man and Hawkeye Almost Teamed Up Again

Paul Rudd's Ant-Man has certainly had memorable interactions with Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye in past MCU movies, particularly in scenes from Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. With Clint bringing Scott Lang into the airport battle in Germany and both of them teaming up for hilarious antics during the iconic time heist, their partnership added an unexpectedly fun dynamic to their two movies together.

Add in the fact that both of them were absent from Avengers: Infinity War due to their Sokovia Accords-related house arrests, and they have more than enough to bond over for a long-lasting friendship.

With only two episodes having been released thus far, it's unclear how Rudd's miniature hero would have fit into a story with Clint Barton, Kate Bishop, and the Tracksuit Mafia, particularly ahead of his own Quantum Realm-centric threequel. Regardless, the potential for Lang and Barton to find themselves in the same fight again is something fans would likely welcome in a big way.

The first two episodes of Hawkeye are now streaming on Disney+. Paul Rudd will make his MCU return as Scott Lang in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which recently completed filming.