Marvel held their third “Next Big Thing” panel this week where it was announced that this April will see Captain America and Bucky changed to Captain America and Hawkeye with #629 (right), written by Cullen Bunn (Fearless) with art by Alessandro Vitti. The Hawkeye arc will last for four issues with other characters being brought in. Each new arc will feature new characters and new artists.
It definitely looks like Hawkeye is getting quite the push from Marvel, just in time for The Avengers movie!
Just Monday saw Marvel release a first look at Rick Remender’s first arc on Secret Avengers, which features Hawkeye taking the lead in that series.
Might as well throw in that Hawkeye recently debuted in his own book in the Marvel Ultimate line as well.
Regarding Nova, Marvel posted a poll in the panel asking fans who they want to team with Cap, with the Human Rocket coming out on top by a large margin. (Hopefully this time Nova gets to keep his helmet! And I suppose it may mean something that Marvel actually picked Nova as a contender!)
Here are some highlights from the panel, which you can check out below in a replay.
Ӣ Captain America & Hawkeye will run for a four-issue arc, then the title will change once again, as this will be a Captain America team-up title featuring various other characters
”¢ “The simple way to describe the first arc is that Captain America and Hawkeye go out and fight a bunch of dinosaurs. That’s how I pitched it.” -Cullen Bunn
”¢ “Cap and Hawkeye have gone through so much together, but they have a very different approach to how they do things. I wanted to explore that relationship and how they see each other.” -Cullen Bunn
”¢ Cap will only be teaming up with Hawkeye for the first four-issue arc, then he’ll be teaming up with someone else for the next arc–the series will have a rotating cast in that way
”¢ “When you look at Alessandro Vitti’s style, it’s very distinct, and I like that. The first pages he turned is for this was a big action scene, and there’s something about they way he conveyed it in a fluid nature, really made it flow and come alive, that blew me away.” -Cullen Bunn
”¢ Iron Man and Black Widow will both have arcs upcoming, as will non-Avengers and some who will “really surprise people”
”¢ “I want this book to reference larger goings on in the Marvel Universe as a whole, but I also want somebody who is a Hawkeye fan or a Black Widow fan to be able to pick it up without being confused. I’m going to try to play in both fields.” -Cullen Bunn
”¢ “Absolutely. Iron Man will follow Hawkeye and the Black Widow arc has been approved, but there are a number of other characters I’ve mapped out, and a lot are ones he has not interacted with in a major way. But there will also be characters who have history with Cap. And there will be new characters introduced who will have an impact not only on the arc they appear in, but on Captain America moving forward.” -Cullen Bunn
Ӣ This April, Captain America & Bucky becomes Captain America & Hawkeye, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Alessandro Vitti. Each new arc, Cullen will team Cap with a new character drawn by a different artist.