Jeremy Renner’s tenure in the MCU is an interesting one considering how he started with the character and how the character has evolved with the continuation of the MCU. Renner was cast as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, appearing in a brief cameo in Thor. He started having a prominent role starting from the first Avengers film. he has since reprised his character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, and his own TV show Hawkeye.
Renner was initially not very enthusiastic about the character and the role he had in The Avengers. He was not enjoying his time on set and was hoping Marvel would abandon the character by the end of the movie itself.
Jeremy Renner Wanted to Leave Playing Hawkeye in The Avengers
The Avengers was the first time all the MCU heroes assembled and fought together against a common foe, in this case, Loki. The character of Hawkeye spent the majority of the film being Loki’s minion (while being under his spell). The character did not have an interesting arc in the film and has been noticed and criticized by audiences. Audiences considered Hawkeye to be the most useless and boring Avenger and it seems Jeremy Renner himself initially felt the same way about the character. He said (via The Independent),
“I just had a heart attack in every scene. I’d just be walking with Scarlett Johansson and just be like ‘Ugh!’ and they said ‘What are you doing man?’’. I said, ‘I’m giving you an option, if you just want to kick me out of this movie. Just you know, at any given moment, if you wanna kill me off, daddy’s gonna be having a heart attack”
Renner ultimately stayed and played the part of Hawkeye in the film. even though his introduction in the MCU did not fare well with audiences and himself. This would pay off well for him as his character would evolve and become a significant part of the MCU moving forward.
Hawkeye Became More Interesting and Jeremy Renner Started Enjoying the Role
As the MCU went on, Hawkeye appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, where his character started to have significance and contribute to the dramatic proceedings of these films. Jeremy Renner started loving playing the character and the role he was playing in the larger universe. He said (via The Independent),
“I don’t really want him to die now. I really got to explore him a lot and I can’t wait to explore him more and there’s some really cool ideas coming up. Really cool ideas. Great deaths! Amazing ways to die.”
Renner and Hawkeye had a major role to play in the Avengers defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. He also got to delve more into his personal life and grieve the loss of his friend Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson in his TV series Hawkeye.
What is Jeremy Renner Working on Now?
Jeremy Renner’s tenure in the MCU is supposedly over with the Hawkeye series as he has handed over the baton to Kate Bishop played by Hailee Steinfeld. But there is no official confirmation on that and Marvel can still bring the character whenever they need him. He recently suffered severe injuries due to a snowplow accident and has been recovering ever since.
It was recently announced that Renner will return in the third season of his hit show Mayor of Kingstown. He also appeared in the documentary series Rennervations where he helped various communities by reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles.
Source: The Independent
