Hawkeye’s Captain America Musical Explained: All Hamilton and MCU References

Warning: Mild SPOILERS for Hawkeye episode 1.

The Captain America musical, “Rogers: The Musical,” in Hawkeye is filled with references to both Hamilton and the rest of the MCU. Premiering on Disney+, Hawkeye follows the adventures of Clint Barton two years after the events of Avengers: Endgame. In the first episode, Clint attends a musical with his children, based on the life of Steve Rogers (Captain America). Although Clint does not enjoy the experience, viewers get to watch part of the song “Save The City,” which recounts the 2012 Battle of New York from The Avengers.

While “Rogers: The Musical” may be fictional, it was inspired by the real-world musical Hamilton. Written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton debuted in the Public Theatre in 2015 and soon moved to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre due to its popularity. The musical tells the story of the American founding father Alexander Hamilton and has developed a devoted audience.

According to Jonathon Igla, the head writer of Hawkeye, a billboard for Hamilton that he drove by on the way to work gave him the idea for “Rogers: The Musical.” Due to this, the fictional musical not only describes Captain America’s life, but alludes to both Hamilton and the MCU. Here are all of the references in Hawkeye’s Captain America musical.

Hamilton References

“Rogers: The Musical” and Hamilton are similar in that they both tell stories about the lives of men who helped shape the United States in their respective worlds. However, the two musicals also have more direct similarities. For example, the “Rogers: The Musical” poster has a similar design to a popular Hamilton poster. Both feature a silhouette of their musical’s protagonist on a yellow background. The posters also both include star imagery. While Captain America’s shield has a star painted on it, Hamilton stands on a star in his poster. In addition, the set of the Captain America musical has a similar layout to Hamilton’s set. Both have a balcony upstage with stairs on either side that lead down to the main portion of the stage. These add layers to the stage for performers to dance on, which both “Rogers: The Musical” and Hamilton use frequently.

MCU References

Given that “Save The City” is the only song in the first episode of Hawkeye, “Rogers: The Musical” includes many references to The Avengers. For example, the song lyrics explain that Iron Man has “nukes to catch,” referring to him redirecting a missile to save New York. During the song, Stark’s actor doppelgänger also says that the Avengers will “get shawarma when [they’re] done,” which is a direct reference to the meal the team had after their climactic fight in their first joint film. Other references to The Avengers include quick mentions of the Chitauri and the Tesseract.

The Captain America musical also references Ant-Man by simply including his character. As Clint points out to his daughter Lila, Ant-Man was not present at the battle of New York, especially since Scott Lang had not become Ant-Man yet at the time. However, “Rogers: The Musical” not only includes Ant-Man, but gives him as much attention as the other Avengers in the musical.

Although the movie is often forgotten in the MCU, “Rogers: The Musical” references The Incredible Hulk, as – when describing the most often uncredited Avenger –  “Save The City’s” lyrics directly describe him as incredible. In addition, the song includes a major build that leads to the Hulk saying that the “magic word” is “smash.”

Hawkeye‘s Captain America musical also less directly references Captain America: Civil War. During “Save The City,” the lyrics explain that New York was “trashed” after the battle. Due to this, the city will “blame [the Avengers] then, but [they’re] good for now.” This is a reference to how the United Nations would later blame the Avengers for the destruction of New York despite initially viewing them as heroes for winning the battle.

Lastly, “Rogers: The Musical” includes Captain America’s catchphrase, “I can do this all day” as a repeated song lyric. Since Captain America said this in multiple movies, this lyric refers to several movies at once, including Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Endgame. Through these references, “Rogers: The Musical” not only celebrates Captain America’s life, but shows his role – and the role of Hawkeye – in the greater MCU.

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