The

Hawkeye

Disney+ series

is set to flesh out the heroic journey of Clint Barton in a whole new light, further exploring the character’s past while also looking ahead in terms of finding a

potential replacement

in the form of Kate Bishop. The series will see the return of Jeremy Renner as the titular Avenger, and a

previous rumor

suggests that he will be joined by several notable additions that will shape the narrative.

In the past months, there has been plenty of buzz surrounding

Hawkeye

, ranging from the

potential debut

of Madame Masque as one of the show’s villains to the inclusion of a Daredevil character in

the form of Echo

.

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The latter proved to be an intriguing addition to the growing cast of

Hawkeye

, seemingly hinting that Barton

could end up losing

his hearing at some point in the series. Now, a new rumor appears to hint that this plot point might very well end up being true.

RUMOR

Murphy’s Multiverse

shared in a report

that

Hawkeye

is

“actively looking”

for a

“middle-aged Chinese audiologist who works in a rundown building and is off-the-books.”

This casting addition could potentially hint that Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton will eventually lose his hearing in the MCU series.

WHAT THIS MEANS

Last June, it was rumored that Marvel Studios

considered the idea

of Clint going deaf in

Hawkeye

, and it seems that this plan will push through due to this recently-uncovered casting addition. This plot point being explored in live-action shouldn’t be surprising for fans of the character since there’s precedent from the comics that he is deaf at one point.

During

1983’s

Hawkeye #4

by Mark Gruenwald, it was revealed that Hawkeye blasted his eardrums with a sonic arrowhead to defeat Crossfire, and this incident eventually led to the character’s loss of hearing. Not only that, Matt Fraction’s

Hawkeye

comics, which is being touted

as the inspiration

of the Disney+ series, also placed the spotlight on Clint’s deafness.

On the flip side, this casting addition could also allude to the looming debut of another deaf superhero, Echo. It’s possible that the audiologist is working alongside Echo before eventually being tracked down by Clint for help.

Whatever the case,

Hawkeye

is shaping up to be an exciting way to expand Clint’s story in the MCU, especially after serving as a side character for the majority of his silver screen appearances for the franchise.