Hawkeye Musical Composer Talks Post-Credits Scene Disappointment

Rogers: The Musical composer and co-lyricist Marc Shaiman has revealed his reaction to fan disappointment surrounding the post-credits scene of the Hawkeye series finale. The six-part Marvel/Disney+ series saw Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) form an unlikely partnership with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to confront the powerful enemies he made during his time as Ronin. One of the highlights of the series was undoubtedly a scene in the series premiere “Never Meet Your Heroes” in which Clint and his kids attend Rogers: The Musical, an in-universe Broadway show about the life of Captain America. Though Clint disapproves, the cheesy lyrics and choreography were a hit for many musically-inclined Marvel fans.

In the epic finale “So This Is Christmas?”, the duo battled against the Tracksuit Mafia, their boss Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio), and Black Widow assassin Yelena (Florence Pugh) so that Clint could make it back to his family in time for Christmas. However, instead of a typical Marvel post-credit scene, fans of Hawkeye were treated to a full-length performance of the Rogers: The Musical song “Save The City,” which is about the Battle of New York as seen in The Avengers (2012).

Those who were expecting a teaser for a future Marvel project were disappointed - even Hawkeye’s director was confused by the decision to allocate a coveted post-credit scene spot to the joke musical. But now, the composer behind “Save The City” has weighed in on the lukewarm response to the Rogers: The Musical scene. In an interview with Inverse, Shaiman states that it was “an idea that almost came up as a joke one day, and then they didn't let it go.” He also admitted that writing a song specifically made for people to roll their eyes at was hard. Read his full quote below:

"I mean, it was really a one-off. It was just there. It was an idea that almost came up as a joke one day and then they didn't let it go. It just kept coming up. But it was just to serve that one purpose of Hawkeye being in New York. [...] The hard part was writing a song that had to be something that Hawkeye or people who don't like musicals would roll their eyes at. It's been tough because we did our job well, and that means there are a lot of people who were like, what is this? I understand that there are a lot of people who would've expected and wanted the post-credits scene to be some new kernel of what's gonna happen next in the MCU. I completely get it. But it has been tough to know that by doing our job well, we made something that not everyone likes. It’s been bittersweet almost, but to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is crazy."

It's easy to understand why so many Marvel fans were frustrated by the post-credits scene. Many agree that cutting to an unexpected character’s reaction in the audience would have been a simple but effective way to make it feel worth revisiting. Others think that the original plan for the post-credits scene would have worked better, as seeing the owl take the shrunken Tracksuit Mafia bros to its nest would have been amusing and offered more closure. The extended cut of the musical number was fun to see, but it ultimately didn't offer anything new.

That being said, the performers of Rogers: The Musical deserve some appreciation for putting so much effort into a pretty elaborate joke. It’s also a reminder that post-credits scenes don't have to be teasers for Marvel's next big project. Arguably, the finale of Hawkeye teased plenty of things before the credits by hinting at more of Daredevil in the MCU and revealing Laura Barton’s past as a SHIELD agent. However fans feel about the Hawkeye post-credit scene, Shaiman and co-lyricist Scott Wittman deserve credit for making the perfect cheesy Broadway song.

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Source: Inverse