Jeremy Renner Hates What Marvel Did To His Character

Jeremy Renner nearly walked away from Marvel because of his distaste for Hawkeye's story arc in the first Avengers film.

By Douglas Helm | Updated

jeremy renner hawkeye avengers

Jeremy Renner has been an essential part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for over a decade now, but he was once ready to call it quits altogether. The Things reported on a Comic-Con appearance Renner made in the past where he discussed how he was disappointed with his character’s arc in the first Avengers film, saying “I never really told anybody this, but… I was just getting to know who Hawkeye was, and then zap, I go round like a zombie, I’m like Loki’s minion.” Fortunately, everything worked out in the long run, as Renner’s Hawkeye got more chances to shine in future projects.

Jeremy Renner would start to make more of an impact as Hawkeye in Marvel’s second Avengers film, Avengers: Age of Ultron. There we got to meet Hawkeye’s family and see him become more of a fully-fleshed-out character. We then got even more time with Hawkeye in films like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame where he became the vigilante Ronin after his family was taken by Thanos’ snap.

Jeremy Renner even got his own Marvel project when he co-starred in the Hawkeye Disney+ series with Hailee Steinfeld. Fans have long wanted a solo Hawkeye film, but multiple episodes of a TV series gave us even more time with the character. Plus, the show reintroduced us to Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, who made his first MCU appearance.

Jeremy Renner Marvel
Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld in Hawkeye

Undoubtedly, we’ll see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in future Marvel projects, but for now, everyone wants Renner to rest and recover from his recent accident. Renner is currently in the hospital after suffering critical injuries from a snowplow incident. The actor has been updating fans on social media about his progress and is in stable condition.

Hopefully, everything goes well with Jeremy Renner’s recovery, and he’ll be back and ready to pick up his acting career where he left off. In the meantime, the second season of Renner’s Mayor of Kingstown just hit Paramount+. The next episode is set to hit the streaming platform on Sunday, January 22.

Mayor of Kingstown is quite different from Jeremy Renner’s Marvel fare. The series is co-created by Hugh Dillon and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and follows the mayor of Kingstown, Michigan, where the city’s local prison is the primary economy. Along with Renner, the show stars Kyle Chandler, Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird, Derek Webster, Hamish Allan-Headley, Aidan Gillen, Pha’rez Lass, and more.

It’s anybody’s guess when we can expect to see Jeremy Renner in another Marvel project. While fans are clamoring for another season of Hawkeye, Disney has yet to provide any official confirmation on renewing it for a second season. Of course, there’s a good chance we could see Renner in the two upcoming Avengers films that Marvel has planned.

In 2025 and 2026, we’ll see the one-two punch of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. These are set to be huge crossover events, so it would be surprising if we didn’t see a mainstay character like Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye appear in one or both films. In the meantime, we’ll keep you updated on any upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe news.