1 Original Avenger Must Return In 2025, Or Marvel Risks Another Annoying Loose End

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No original Avenger is confirmed for Marvel"s 2025 lineup, but one needs to appear to resolve a glaring story issue. 12 years after The Avengers, only a few of the original team are still active in the MCU timeline. Iron Man and Black Widow sacrificed themselves to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame and Captain America retired with Peggy Carter. Thor, Bruce Banner, and Hawkeye are the only original MCU Avengers left, and they still have more to do. However, it"s unknown when these characters will return next.
The MCU"s 2025 lineup includes three movies (Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and three Disney+ shows (Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and Wonder Man). Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye aren"t expected in any of these projects, but Hawkeye has connections to Thunderbolts* and Daredevil. While Hawkeye wouldn"t have a starring role, the character needs to return in 2025 to address the narrative ties he has to these two projects.
2025 Won't Have Any Original Avengers Appearances As Things Stand Marvel's 2025 Slate Features Mostly New Faces

2025"s MCU lineup doesn"t include any reported appearances from returning Avengers. While rumors suggest Robert Downey Jr. could appear in The Fantastic Four, it would be as Doctor Doom, not Tony Stark, teasing his upcoming role in Avengers: Doomsday. Despite many characters from 2008"s The Incredible Hulk returning in Brave New World, Bruce Banner is reportedly absent from the film. Thor is also not set to return for these projects, which makes more sense since he has little connection to these upcoming installments.
Steve Rogers is supposedly still alive, but he likely won"t be recruited, since he"s now an elderly man in the main MCU timeline, and Sam Wilson is now Captain America. Black Widow and Tony Stark are dead, but Stark"s legacy lives on through Riri Williams in Ironheart as she continues to improve her Iron Man suit. Hawkeye is supposedly retired, but Clint could come out of retirement again like he did in Captain America: Civil War. If there is a surprise appearance from any original Avenger, it should be Clint Barton, as he still has something at stake in these projects.
Thunderbolts & Daredevil: Born Again Are Both Linked To Hawkeye Hawkeye Has Open Storylines In Both 2025 Marvel Shows Close Hawkeye has connections to several characters in Thunderbolts* and Daredevil: Born Again. In the post-credits scene of Black Widow, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine visits Yelena Belova at her sister"s grave. She names Hawkeye as her next target, saying he"s the person responsible for Natasha"s death. It"s later revealed in Hawkeye that Eleanor Bishop hired Yelena to kill Clint. Eleanor also worked with Kingpin, who told Maya Lopez, a.k.a. Echo, to kill Hawkeye, after he killed her father when he was Ronin.

Related Every Future MCU Project Clint Barton's Hawkeye Could Return In Clint Barton"s Hawkeye still has a place in the MCU, and here are the future movies and shows that could help bring the Marvel archer back.
Posts It"s unclear why Valentina wanted to kill Hawkeye, but he may be one of the biggest obstacles to her plans. Valentina becomes the director of the CIA in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and could be involved in shady deals that require the Thunderbolts" help. Discretion is her friend, and Hawkeye could be one of her main threats in outing what she"s doing. Trying to kill an Avenger would be a massive scandal for a government official, and it"s a storyline that Marvel shouldn"t ignore.
Thunderbolts Can't Avoid Addressing Hawkeye's Assassination Plot Hawkeye's Absence Creates A Significant Plot Issue Close Valentina has achieved a new level of power in Thunderbolts*, being both the director of the CIA and the owner of the Avengers Tower. Why she bought it is unclear, but it"s prime real estate for anyone who wants to display authority. However, it"s unlikely that Clint would be content with Val owning Avengers Tower, especially after she tried to kill him. While he may not yet know she was the one who hired Yelena, it would be odd for him to avoid investigating the new owner after everything else that"s transpired. Hawkeye may be retired, but he could work independently to uncover Val"s plans.
Yelena also doesn"t trust Val after she manipulated her into doing her dirty work. While Yelena does join the Thunderbolts*, part of her has to be suspicious that Val has an ulterior motive behind why she assembled the team, and may even end up going along with things to gain more intel on her. Yelena knows Hawkeye could be the best person to take Val down, especially with her possible connection to Kingpin. As such, Yelena could get Hawkeye involved in Thunderbolts*, which would be a meaningful way to tie up all the loose threads from Hawkeye in one 2025 Marvel release.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
Upcoming MCU Movies

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Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025

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Thunderbolts*
Release Date May 2, 2025

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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Release Date July 25, 2025

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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Release Date

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Spider-Man Homecoming 4
Release Date July 24, 2026

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Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027

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