Jeremy Renner Claims “No Truth” In Hawkeye Rumors

The Hurt Locker is one of the best movies of 2009 and its star, Jeremy Renner, has a bright future ahead of him. For us comic book movie fans, we hope that future involves Renner taking on the role of Hawkeye in some of the upcoming films by Marvel Studios.

Last month, the rumor of Renner playing Hawkeye made headlines everywhere following the glowingly positive reception of his performance in The Hurt Locker and an interview with Empire where the actor revealed that he went in to talk to Marvel about Captain America but instead ended up talking the character of Hawkeye. Nothing official came of it (that we know of) but if were to happen, he said that the character would likely appear in Thor and that he’d be honored to be looked at for franchise role such as this.

With this match made in Heaven, many thought it had to be the case. Renner as Hawkeye in Thor and The Avengers? Perfect, right? Coming back down to reality, Renner has clarified that it was just an idea “blown out of proportion.”

Movieline caught up with Jeremy Renner to discuss The Hurt Locker and its success, other recent work and the upcoming awards season. But for those eager for more on another potential Roster member in the form of Hawkeye, Movieline made sure to toss in one extra question at the end of the interview about the rumor.

Renner said that’s not much to it other than they discussed the character a while back and nothing’s been signed:

“That was just one of those things that got blown way out of proportion. It was an idea. Those Marvel guys, I’m a big fan of them. They’re so smart about how they want to do these things — they have Captain America, and Thor coming around, Iron Man 2, and then I happen to know Zak Penn, who’s writing The Avengers. So they thought Hawkeye is an interesting role, and asked me if I knew anything about him. I said no, so they gave me their sort of spiel on what he was, and I thought that it was kind of interesting. The only reason it came out this early, because Avengers is two years away, is that they’re thinking OK, we may throw him in Thor, we may not, as a cameo. You know what I mean? So there’s truth that we talked about it, but there’s no truth to me doing it.”

If you’re disappointed by this news, it’s important to realize that this may mean nothing. Whether he’s in it or not, he may say this regardless if it’s meant as a secret. And we know Marvel is keeping some secrets for each of their upcoming films. We’ve seen little surprises in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk and we know that all the films must tie together and introduce secondary characters to be used later.

Believe it or not, there’s still a chance that we may be seeing Hawkeye, a mention/hint of him or some other extra Marvel character in Iron Man 2 if you think about it. After all, we heard from Latino Review a year ago that they were “told that HAWKEYE and BLACK WIDOW are definitely in Iron Man 2 and they wont be cameos either.”

Hawkeye’s comic book history (both the standard and Ultimate versions) is integral with Iron Man, Nick Fury and Black Widow so I can’t see them not including the character in some form, especially after all the talk about the character. He’d be not only a cool addition to The Avengers team but a good balance as he’s not super-powered.

What do you think about Hawkeye’s on-screen potential and what cameos do you expect from Iron Man 2 and Thor?

Thor begins principal photography in a matter of weeks (perfect timing!) and The First Avenger: Captain America is set for a June production start. As for the release dates; Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010, Thor opens May 20, 2011, The First Avenger: Captain America hits July 22, 2011 and The Avengers is scheduled to debut May 4, 2012.

Source: Movieline