‘Avengers: Endgame’ trailer shows Hawkeye’s new form Ronin. Here’s what happened in the Marvel comics

SALT LAKE CITY — In a way, the new “Avengers: Endgame” trailer unveiled a new superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Ronin.

What happened: On Friday, Marvel Studios dropped the new “Avengers” trailer, which showed our mighty group of superheroes in peril after the end of “Infinity War.”

• For a brief moment, fans have a chance to see Jeremy Renner, who played Hawkeye in previous MCU films, but hadn’t been seen in “Infinity War.”
• However, this time Hawkeye appears to have a new identity in which he wears a black and gold suit and a katana-like blade.
• This, according to multiple reports, is a sign that Renner’s character Clint Barton will assume the identity of Ronin.

Who is Ronin?: Polygon had a great explanation of the Ronin character:

• “Ronin was an identity that Clint Barton used, instead of Hawkeye, from about 2007 to 2010 in Marvel Comics. Why the name, costume and weapons change_? Well, in 2004, Clint died. Then, in 2007, he was brought back to life. (How all that happened is not really important for our purposes — just take my word for it.)”
• “While he was dead, the world had necessarily moved on. A Young Avenger named Kate Bishop was calling herself Hawkeye — and wearing a purple costume and using trick arrows — and Clint thought she was doing pretty well with the name. Wishing additionally to hide his return from the wider world for a bit, he borrowed a code name, costume and weapons from a fallen Avenger, Maya Lopez, to become Ronin.”

Not the first: The character Maya Lopez, who is also known as Echo, first appeared as Ronin before Hawkeye took up the mantle, according to the Marvel Database.

• Other characters have since taken up the position, including Barton, in the Marvel comic book universe.

Barton: This will be the first time we see Barton in any form since “Captain America: Civil War.” He previously announced he was retiring from the superhero game in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

• I reported back when the “Infinity War” trailer dropped that people were worried about the fate of Hawkeye since he didn’t appear in the trailer.
• Interestingly, directors Joe and Anthony Russo said Hawkeye would have a special role in the film. He didn’t appear. But it looks like he’s setting up for a return in “Endgame.”
• “Coming out of ‘Civil War,’ he’s in the same position that Cap and Falcon are at the end of that movie,” Joe Russo said, according to Collider. “And Ant-Man. And coming into this movie you know … the characters on Cap’s side coming out of the Civil War, some made certain decisions and others made other decisions that led to different paths in them dealing with oversight in this movie in a different way. So Hawkeye’s on his own journey in this movie.”